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[Fbh]

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This might come across as entitled and I'm not sure how relevant it will be around here since I know a large portion of GAF users are from North America and Europe (though I know there's still a lot of people from other places)
But having gotten a taste of playing on PC over the past couple of years (playing on a laptop though) has really made me wish MS or Sony would embrace some form of regional pricing for next gen. In threads about game prices around here you often see the argument that games have been USD $60 for a long time, but in other places where imported goods usually fluctuate in price depending on the exchange rate, game prices have shifted considerably over the years.

For example, back when I worked in gaming retail (2009.. or 10) here in Chile the price of a new console games was usually around CLP $30k to $35k, now a new game like TLOU2 or Ghost of Tsushima is around CLP $50k - 55k, that's an increase of over 60%, and if next gen sees the standard price of console games raising to USD $70, the difference is only going to increase. In a country where the minimum wage is around USD $380 and the average income isn't that much higher at around USD $700, console games are becoming less and less accessible.

On PC it's a different story. Almost every major storefront like GOG, Steam and Epic has been offering regional pricing for some time now, and even though prices may vary quite a bit from one publisher to the other, overall it has allowed PC games to be much more affordable. Despite only having a 1050ti, I've often found myself buying most third party games on PC instead of my Ps4Pro because the price difference is just too big to ignore.
I'd also imagine that since all of these storefronts have continued offering these price they must have data to support that increase in sales volume makes up for the decrease in revenue from each sale.

At least to me, if either Sony or MS adopted some sort of regional pricing next gen it would be a major factor when deciding which one to get.
Otherwise going all in PC continues to be a tempting option. Despite the much higher hardware cost, between regional pricing, third party key resellers and free multiplayer, I'm starting to think the lower cost of games will end up paying for the hardware in the long run.

 

[Kuranghi]

Yeah, as someone who lives in the UK I miss the unrestricted regional pricing because it let me try games I wasn't that bothered about, because I could pay ~£20 for them, now that its a lot tighter with region restrictions I don't buy those games anymore, so they don't get any of my money. Surely getting a smaller profit (vs what it costs in my region) from me in the UK is better than no sale at all?

I know thats nothing to do with your situation but thought I'd add my experience.

 

[Vawn]

If it's cheaper for me, I'm all for it. No reason to pretend otherwise.

 

[ZywyPL]

Some publishers tried that, but it didn't work well for them, most people started switch regions to buy the games (digitally) from Indian, Russian, Brazilian etc. stores for the equivalent of 10/12/15$, so the publishers decided to use 60$ price across the globe, and I'm afraid that's never going to change back again.

 

[Guilty_AI]

I find it a bit hard to happen. Regional pricing on PC appeared mainly as an anti-piracy measure, since people on developing or poorer countries would be more likely to pirate games if prices weren't affordable. That pressure isn't as present on consoles that are basically big DRM boxes.

 

[Hostile_18]

Selectable regional pricing was forced in fairly recently for EU countries on Sony's console.

 

[Fbh]

Some publishers tried that, but it didn't work well for them, most people started switch regions to buy the games (digitally) from Indian, Russian, Brazilian etc. stores for the equivalent of 10/12/15$, so the publishers decided to use 60$ price across the globe, and I'm afraid that's never going to change back again.

Yeah I guess there's always the fear of people abusing such a system.
Though at least on PSN (not to familiar with the Xbox store) there's no way to change regions besides creating a new account, and you can only use credit cards that were issued in the country of the store you want to buy from. Though I guess they'd have to find a way for PSN Store Gift cards not getting abused.

I find it a bit hard to happen. Regional pricing on PC appeared mainly as an anti-piracy measure, since people on developing or poorer countries would be more likely to pirate games if prices weren't affordable. That pressure isn't as present on consoles that are basically big DRM boxes.

True.
Though while (mostly) piracy isn't an issue on console, these prices sure have pushed most people I know to the second hand market. Buy used, resell and then buy the next game used.
Ultimately I think the question is, would you rather have 1 person buy a game for $60 or 2 buying it for $40, though of course they'd have to look at their own data to know if that's really the case.

 

[ZywyPL]

Yeah I guess there's always the fear of people abusing such a system.
Though at least on PSN (not to familiar with the Xbox store) there's no way to change regions besides creating a new account, and you can only use credit cards that were issued in the country of the store you want to buy from. Though I guess they'd have to find a way for PSN Store Gift cards not getting abused.

You can change the region on your MS account on demand on PC, go buy the game(s), and switch back. And with Play Anywhere you actually own copies for both PC and the console. I remember that Gears Ultimate Edition, Gears 4 and Tomb Raider were being bought mostly that way. It was also the case on PS3 back in the days, where people had multiple accounts, like Honk-Kong one, just to get titles that were dirty cheap there, with any credit/debit card. That's when the companies learned that despite their good will, people abused the systems and now MS uses universal price tag and Sony blocks credit cards outside of the region.

 

[Fbh]

You can change the region on your MS account on demand on PC, go buy the game(s), and switch back. And with Play Anywhere you actually own copies for both PC and the console. I remember that Gears Ultimate Edition, Gears 4 and Tomb Raider were being bought mostly that way. It was also the case on PS3 back in the days, where people had multiple accounts, like Honk-Kong one, just to get titles that were dirty cheap there, with any credit/debit card. That's when the companies learned that despite their good will, people abused the systems and now MS uses universal price tag and Sony blocks credit cards outside of the region.

But I'm sure these companies could implement some forms of limitations to try and limit the abuse.
Every big PC storefront offers regional pricing, I'm sure they wouldn't do so if they had data to support that a massive amount of people are taking advantage of the system.

Though as someone above said, PC always has the underlying issue of piracy. I guess these companies would rather have people pay less for games than straight up pirating them.

 

[joe_zazen]

Some publishers tried that, but it didn't work well for them, most people started switch regions to buy the games (digitally) from Indian, Russian, Brazilian etc. stores for the equivalent of 10/12/15$, so the publishers decided to use 60$ price across the globe, and I'm afraid that's never going to change back again.

.

it can only work for strictly non digital items. It hurts poorer people the most. Same with textbooks.