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[T4keD0wN]

It's just a sad reality that those companies simply don't care about losing customers in other countries, all for the sake of preventing a small minority from taking advantage of regional pricing outside of the U.S. Even when we're talking about games that have sold (or are extremely likely to sell) millions of copies, maximum profit margins must be protected at all costs.

If this is truly the main reason why i find it pretty disgusting that they would punish the innocent instead of raising the price in the countries where the perpetrators originated from, not like there is a reliable way to recognize when someone is abusing it with good enough accuracy.

This is just periodic regional price adjustment, inflation is crazy in many third world countries, specially these days in Latin America.

Companies do this all the time, but they can't catch up each week when inflation randomly duplicates, leaving their $60 game be $30 over the course of some days.

Just because something happens regularly doesnt make it right and give them some immunity, this anti-consumer move should still be criticized (every time). Games should cost equivalent of 60usd in every country because that can be half of monthly income somewhere, the price should be determined by buying power.

I know, living in a first world country give you the assumption that process can stay the same for years but not the case in most other countries, in reality, inflation fluctuates way more frequently there.

Games used to cost 25% of what they cost now when i was a kid. Our currency has since doubled in value and games went up in price instead of down, curiously these currency adjustments only go one way and thats up.

 

[Sleepwalker]

Damn guys Microsoft stole your breakfast or what? You jumped as soon as you saw something allegedly "negative" without barely understanding what it means lol, wtf is this?

This is just periodic regional price adjustment, inflation is crazy in many third world countries, specially these days in Latin America. Most probably they're way too outdated, haven't you seen inflation in Argentina?

To give you an example, Dark Souls 3 was 110k Colombian pesos for years, then it's was 250k suddenly early this year, then 350k and o just got it this weekend for 300k.

Companies do this all the time, but they can't catch up each week when inflation randomly duplicates, leaving their $60 game be $30 over the course of some days. I know, living in a first world country give you the assumption that process can stay the same for years but not the case in most other countries, in reality, inflation fluctuates way more frequently there.

Dark Souls 3, a game from 2016 should not be 300k pesos anyway, that's $70.

 

[Fbh]

Is this to stop all the ebay code selling? I'm pretty sure all the cheap ones are Argentina ones.

Based on what was posted here earlier it seems like a reaction to a large number of people using VPN to abuse regional pricing.
I always thought implementing some system where you need a credit/debit card that's issued in the country of origin was a good system to stop people from other countries abusing regional pricing. But I guess either Steam doesn't have that requirement or there's some way to circumvent it (virtual credit cards and stuff like that I guess?)

 

[StereoVsn]

Step one, buy as much as you can.

Step two, increase prices across the board.

Step three, GP becomes an even better and more obvious deal as a result.

Step four.... profit.

Forgot the following:

Step 4 - Increase GamePass price
Step 5 - Profit .

 

[Deerock71]

So Microsoft wasn't just targeting Sony with this move...

 

[adamsapple]

Dark Souls 3, a game from 2016 should not be 300k pesos anyway, that's $70.

This is the biggest problem with digital storefronts, there is no consistency. Sales happen, yes, but then they also un-happen. On Physical, once a game goes down or becomes used, its price doesn't really skyrocket again unless it turns into a super rare collectible year(s) later.

 

[chromhound]

Upping the prices while everything is expensive while wages are not going higher is crazy...

 

[M1chl]

Fucking vultures

 

[Wildebeest]

My guess is they are target markets for cloud gaming. I wouldn't be surprised if CMA were spot on when they said that cloud gaming was Microsoft's long term plan for monopolistic power in the gaming market.

 

[Kataploom]

It's just a sad reality that those companies simply don't care about losing customers in other countries, all for the sake of preventing a small minority from taking advantage of regional pricing outside of the U.S. Even when we're talking about games that have sold (or are extremely likely to sell) millions of copies, maximum profit margins must be protected at all costs.

That's not only that, some of those countries like Argentina literally increases their inflation exponentially in a matter of months, I'd say even 700% price increase is not enough if they want to be more or less caught up for the rest of the year

 

[ChoosableOne]

It's par for the course recently that Turkey and Argentina get their prices adjusted. Regional pricing is heavily abused and the value of their currencies keeps going down fast.

Nothingburger IMO.

They were already selling their new games (like MW 3) at a high price. If they wanted to, they could have brought updates to the old games as well, before this deal. They raised the prices of all their games after the Microsoft deal.

 

[Gudji]

Best value in gaming confirmed.

 

[Kataploom]

My guess is they are target markets for cloud gaming. I wouldn't be surprised if CMA were spot on when they said that cloud gaming was Microsoft's long term plan for monopolistic power in the gaming market.

BS. How are third world countries target for cloud gaming? I'm on 300 Mbps fiber and I rather not play and do something else than relying on cloud, it's unplayable, one or more seconds of input lag at all times.

There's literally no way cloud gaming is gonna be something in these countries for the remaining of the decade at least.

Stop bitching and learn that inflation out of the first world is some crazy shit, prices stay the same or mostly in the USA but almost everywhere else they fluctuate daily and can drastically change in a matter of weeks.

 

[Fake]

It’s funny because Brazilians were all like “we want this”

Brazilians are the worst gamers around and I'm brazilian. Some even defended Nintendo leaving Brazil.

 

[Kataploom]

If the company keeps doing dumb shit I will keep ragging on it for doing dumb shit (just like with Sony and Nintendo, none of these companies are my friends).

The solution? They should stop doing dumb shit.

Like doing business? Because they're literally updating price due to inflation

 

[Astray]

Like doing business? Because they're literally updating price due to inflation

Poor company can't afford to "lose money" on half-decade to decade old games.

If it was brand new games that didn't pass break even point then I might have been more amenable to it, but trying to convince me that old games need their prices hiked when it's all long-tail post-profit revenue is bullshit and you know it.

 

[X-Wing]

Because they're the ones who tried to double the price of their online multiplayer service in the middle of a pandemic. Duh!

That doesn’t even remotely answer the question.

 

[Wildebeest]

BS. How are third world countries target for cloud gaming? I'm on 300 Mbps fiber and I rather not play and do something else than relying on cloud, it's unplayable, one or more seconds of input lag at all times.

There's literally no way cloud gaming is gonna be something in these countries for the remaining of the decade at least.

Stop bitching and learn that inflation out of the first world is some crazy shit, prices stay the same or mostly in the USA but almost everywhere else they fluctuate daily and can drastically change in a matter of weeks.

I expect it to be made to be seen as a less bad option rather than a good option. Probably dependent on 5G rollout for most.

 

[FearlessBelgian]

Not a good time to be turkish lol, For a new activision game ( 1999TL) you need to give for some turkish 2/3 of what you earn in one month lol

 

[TVexperto]

Not a good time to be turkish lol, For a new activision game ( 1999TL) you need to give for some turkish 2/3 of what you earn in one month lol

they are really completely out of touch with reality

 

[Filben]

New thread concept. If Microsoft does anything you must put "After Microsoft Purchase" in the title somewhere.

I wonder, too, if there's any causality between these two events.

Given that some (indie?) dev is referenced and that the new policy say it must be above 1$ I doubt this had anything to do with MS, or at least we have two separate things going on here.

For example that geoblocking has been judged illegal (in the EU at least) and this is now Valves way to compensate for?

 

[squarealex]

Damn guys Microsoft stole your breakfast or what? You jumped as soon as you saw something allegedly "negative" without barely understanding what it means lol, wtf is this?

This is just periodic regional price adjustment, inflation is crazy in many third world countries, specially these days in Latin America. Most probably they're way too outdated, haven't you seen inflation in Argentina?

To give you an example, Dark Souls 3 was 110k Colombian pesos for years, then it's was 250k suddenly early this year, then 350k and o just got it this weekend for 300k.

Companies do this all the time, but they can't catch up each week when inflation randomly duplicates, leaving their $60 game be $30 over the course of some days. I know, living in a first world country give you the assumption that process can stay the same for years but not the case in most other countries, in reality, inflation fluctuates way more frequently there.

The timing is just..... something...

 

[GHG]

Damn guys Microsoft stole your breakfast or what? You jumped as soon as you saw something allegedly "negative" without barely understanding what it means lol, wtf is this?

This is just periodic regional price adjustment, inflation is crazy in many third world countries, specially these days in Latin America. Most probably they're way too outdated, haven't you seen inflation in Argentina?

To give you an example, Dark Souls 3 was 110k Colombian pesos for years, then it's was 250k suddenly early this year, then 350k and o just got it this weekend for 300k.

Companies do this all the time, but they can't catch up each week when inflation randomly duplicates, leaving their $60 game be $30 over the course of some days. I know, living in a first world country give you the assumption that process can stay the same for years but not the case in most other countries, in reality, inflation fluctuates way more frequently there.

Thanks for the information.

In light of this it appears that not only are these price revisions are critical to Microsoft's survival, but they are also beneficial to the consumers whom they concern.

Praise be.

 

[lyan]

If this is truly the main reason why i find it pretty disgusting that they would punish the innocent instead of raising the price in the countries where the perpetrators originated from, not like there is a reliable way to recognize when someone is abusing it with good enough accuracy.

I think just declining foreign (relative to the purchase region) cards should stop most casual abusers.

 

[Sanepar]

MS strategy is to make customers rent games not buy them.

 

[Madonis]

That's not only that, some of those countries like Argentina literally increases their inflation exponentially in a matter of months, I'd say even 700% price increase is not enough if they want to be more or less caught up for the rest of the year

You would have a point, if the price increases in all of the countries involved (not only Argentina, which is a special case) were directly proportional to their current inflation levels or fair projections. I have no problems with raising game prices to match inflation rates per se. However, that isn't entirely accurate based on what's happening right now.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Congratulations to PC gamers who supported Microsoft's acquisition of ABK

 

[Kataploom]

Poor company can't afford to "lose money" on half-decade to decade old games.

If it was brand new games that didn't pass break even point then I might have been more amenable to it, but trying to convince me that old games need their prices hiked when it's all long-tail post-profit revenue is bullshit and you know it.

That's your POV though, companies exist with the sole purpose of making money, they act accordingly... and that's not just my POV.

You would have a point, if the price increases in all of the countries involved (not only Argentina, which is a special case) were directly proportional to their current inflation levels or fair projections. I have no problems with raising game prices to match inflation rates per se. However, that isn't entirely accurate based on what's happening right now.

That's not the case most of the time either way, inflation fluctuates a lot and companies trying to guess will always fail since today it may be one thing and next week it probably won't. They probably don't know how to set a proper price.

Maybe they don't have an "auto" option that lets the price scale depending on current dollar price, which would be ideal. It would remove the benefit of regional pricing but would allow them to just set up a price and be done, which is what companies do in USA.

Thanks for the information.

In light of this it appears that not only are these price revisions are critical to Microsoft's survival, but they are also beneficial to the consumers whom they concern.

Praise be.

Of course setting prices properly is important for a company no matter the size. Business as usual, I don't get why is it so hard to get for some people.

 

[Kataploom]

I expect it to be made to be seen as a less bad option rather than a good option. Probably dependent on 5G rollout for most.

IDK, Cloud gaming is in a weird situation imo, the ones that would benefit the most from not having to spend on new hardware (third world countries) can't because of infrastructure and the ones that can (first world countries) mostly don't need it.

 

[Astray]

That's your POV though, companies exist with the sole purpose of making money, they act accordingly... and that's not just my POV.

They exist to make money, true. But I don't exist to kneel at their feet and justify their bad actions either.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

Just:

Stop being poor. No biggie.

Is she? Asking for a friend.

 

[FearlessBelgian]

Congratulations to PC gamers who supported Microsoft's acquisition of ABK

I don't think it's Microsoft's fault... Microsoft games are sold at 900 TL on average while the next Call of duty will be sold at 1999TL...

 

[Putonahappyface]

Consolidation is good.

 

[Solidus_T]

Is this how their games will be brought to more players?

 

[systemr123]

Is she? Asking for a friend.

No idea, I heard there’s some movies you can check out for research material though.

 

[Heisenberg007]

I don't think it's Microsoft's fault... Microsoft games are sold at 900 TL on average while the next Call of duty will be sold at 1999TL...

Microsoft is the sole decision-maker now. If they don't want it, no one can charge that price.

 

[adamsapple]

Microsoft is the sole decision-maker now. If they don't want it, no one can charge that price.

 

[GHG]

https://twitter.com/fyrewulff?lang=en

What games has this person released and how much do they ordinarily cost?

 

[Heisenberg007]

Who is he? And he is talking about minimum prices, 11 TL. This seems completely different.

 

[adamsapple]

Who is he?

A steam developer who posted pictures of him getting warnings about price adjustments.

Don't know what games he's developed, that's irrelevant to the subject.

 

[GHG]

A steam developer who posted pictures of him getting warnings about price adjustments.

Don't know what games he's developed, that's irrelevant to the subject.

It's very much relevant because in an attempt to reduce shovelware crap on the steam storefront they have imposed minimum prices for products that are sold there. This is not something that would be relevant to full priced AA/AAA games.

So again, what games is he selling on steam?

 

[Heisenberg007]

A steam developer who posted pictures of him getting warnings about price adjustments.

Don't know what games he's developed, that's irrelevant to the subject.

Relevant because (1) could be a fake profile for all we know, and (2) he seems to be talking about minimum suggested prices (11 TL).

Completely different situation when Microsoft is selling ABK games now for, what, 2,000 TL?

 

[SenkiDala]

All of them are gonna be on Game Pass soon anyway.

Well that's the problem, they force people to sub on GP and cancel ownership. That is bad. "You want the game ? Sub on GP. Wanna cancel GP ? Lose all your games, you can't own them anyways". That is not what I expected from MS, I didn't think they'd go that far.

Well it isn't done yet but it seems that it's what they wanna do.

 

[adamsapple]

It's very much relevant because in an attempt to reduce shovelware crap on the steam storefront they have imposed minimum prices for products that are sold there. This is not something that would be relevant to full priced AA/AAA games.

Valve, Devolver, Capcom, Sony and likely others not reported started increasing their regional prices after Valve's recommendations went live. It's relevant in the sense that the recommendation allowed everyone to do that.

So again, what games is he selling on steam?

You've got his twitter bio, probably easier to shoot him a DM.

Relevant because (1) could be a fake profile for all we know, and (2) he seems to be talking about minimum suggested prices (11 TL).

If you're implying that bio was created for the sole purpose of this topic's news, it wouldn't be tweeting against the Acti acquisition.

But, sure, if you want to believe it's a fake bio, I can't change that.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Valve, Devolver, Capcom, Sony and likely others not reported started increasing their regional prices after Valve's recommendations went live. It's relevant in the sense that the recommendation allowed everyone to do that.



You've got his twitter bio, probably easier to shoot him a DM.



If you're implying that bio was created for the sole purpose of this topic's news, it wouldn't be tweeting against the Acti acquisition.

But, sure, if you want to believe it's a fake bio, I can't change that.

I mean, we don't even know what games he makes, who he is, if he's a fake "developer" or a real one, at what prices his games are being sold, and whether or not his case is similar to AAA games.

You're using it as an argument that Microsoft didn't raise the price, and Steam instead forced Microsoft to raise these prices. That's a pretty big statement to make, but you don't really know anything. You're just going by someone's tweet, the images in which tell a completely different story -- that it's about charging the minimum price.

He is telling something else; and he is showing something completely different.

 

[adamsapple]

I mean, we don't even know what games he makes, who he is, if he's a fake "developer" or a real one, at what prices his games are being sold, and whether or not his case is similar to AAA games.

You're using it as an argument that Microsoft didn't raise the price, and Steam instead forced Microsoft to raise these prices. That's a pretty big statement to make, but you don't really know anything. You're just going by someone's tweet, the images in which tell a completely different story -- that it's about charging the minimum price.

He is telling something else; and he is showing something completely different.

I didn't say prices aren't increased, but don't you think it's a little bit disingenuous to say "lol look Micro$$$oft increaed prices", the acquisition finished 2 days ago, I doubt Phil came to office Monday morning and said "fuck Brazil and Turkey in particular".

This was probably something in consideration for a while.

And, again, I don't have an answer to your "is he a fake developer" comment. Considering he's posting steam payment info, I doubt he wants to out what dev/pub he works for.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Didn't quite a few companies increase their Steam prices recently?

 

[Spitfire098]

I didn't say prices aren't increased, but don't you think it's a little bit disingenuous to say "lol look Micro$$$oft increaed prices", the acquisition finished 2 days ago, I doubt Phil came to office Monday morning and said "fuck Brazil and Turkey in particular".

This was probably something in consideration for a while.

Good guy MS is going to reverse these prices any day now, right?

 

[adamsapple]

Good guy MS is going to reverse these prices any day now, right?

Once all these go on game pass, it wont matter

 

[Heisenberg007]

I didn't say prices aren't increased, but don't you think it's a little bit disingenuous to say "lol look Micro$$$oft increaed prices", the acquisition finished 2 days ago, I doubt Phil came to office Monday morning and said "fuck Brazil and Turkey in particular".

The acquisition closed 5 days ago. It is fast, hence the big news.

Microsoft obviously knew the exact day that they would be able to close the acquisition -- Tom even reported on the date, and Microsoft had the ABK trailer ready to be launched. It is very much possible that Microsoft had already been working on increasing ABK game prices in these regions and was able to do so in the next 5 days.

As I said earlier, Microsoft now owns ABK. There is no one else making the decisions now. Even if ABK made the decision on their own, they cannot announce it now without Microsoft's approval.