Based on what has been said, it sounds like the manufacturing costs are higher? It's the only thing that makes sense to me.
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Rime comes out in May. Costs £10 more on Nintendo Switch.
- Thread starter Savantcore
- Start date
Based on what has been said, it sounds like the manufacturing costs are higher? It's the only thing that makes sense to me.
Right but it doesn't explain the digital version's price or the cost of the Steam version >.>
Which of those are being published on cart tho?
Real talk - it costs more because they are charging you the early adopter tax in the beginning stages of a console's life cycle. They do it because they can. There will be enough people starved for games on their shiny new console, and sales history has proved that these people can be fleeced.
I understand your position on it, but it is the truth.
binding of isaac
For the same price as this game?
RichiRamjag
Member
I can even understand it more in their case as they're launch games (not okay with it personally still). In this case, switch users aren't even getting it at the same time as the other versions so it stings even more. It's just a bad decision all around.
I feel bad for the community guy, but even he's gotta know it looks horrible to consumers.
SlaughterX
Banned
720p tax
DeuceGamer
Member
What are you doing differently that requires you to charge extra when other indie developers are able to have price parity on the console?
I feel like there was excitement for your game on the Switch but that will all be wasted with you charging more. If you can't release at the same price it would have been better to simply save you investment as I can't imagine it selling well now, especially with all the comments in this thread.
You probably already saw this by now, but just in case not, Puyo Puyo Tetris debunks that possibility as its retail and digital prices are different from one another.
Angel Whispers
Member
CRime doesn't pay, as the saying goes, and these CRime Merchants can fuck the fuck off. As a PS4 owner, too, I'll play the waiting game, and PS+ it as a point of principle.
First of all thank you for coming into this thread. It cannot be easy to be the one to enter the lions den after breaking bad news.
Would you be able to answer a few questions?
1. What has inflated the cost for the Switch version of your game?
I know for the physical version of the game there will be costs involved for the carts and the packaging. So if that is what is taking the price over I think it is reasonable to charge slightly more for the game to make up for those costs. But that brings me to the more important questions.
2. Why does the digital Switch version not cost the same as the digital versions on other platforms?
If Nintendo is forcing price parity that is of course out of your hands but as the digital version of Puyo Puyo Tetris shows, Nintendo does not forbid different price points for digital and physical.
So I ask respectfully for the reasoning behind this. Personally $40 seems like a fair price for your game. And if it was $40 across the board I would not have hesitated for a moment to pick it up. Also if the Switch physical version was $40 and all digital versions were $30, I would still pick up the physical Switch version realizing that I was paying a $10 premium for the card and packaging. I had every intention of buying this game.
But without an explanation for the price discrepancy I am feeling that I will probably pass on this title (or get it on a Steam sale down the line). I believe you when you say it is not your intention to overcharge Switch customers, but you need to further communicate why this price is justified. The problem right now is messaging. No one wants to feel like a sucker.
I thank you for supporting so many platforms and I wish you luck with your game but this will need to be cleared up or I can see the Switch version of this title underperforming. Customers have been led to expect that a later port of a game will either contain extra content or be priced lower. A game launching later for a higher price has historically not fared well. (See Mass Effect 3).
Anyway I look forward to hearing more about this title and the Switch version and I am definitely in a place to be persuaded back into buying it. I just need to know that I am being respected as a customer.
Thank you again for your time.
Fredrik
Member
It's been 18 pages of discussion so far, someone here will support this bullshit.
I won't though. This is a vote with your wallet situation for me. I won't buy it on any other platform either. This is unacceptable. It's like when iOS games were sold for twice the price on 3DS. Not okay.
Unless the uproar make the devs change their minds I'll be sure to spread my way of thinking. I'd advice people to buy it used if it gets great reviews.
GodfatherX
Member
It just did, in the last week it jumped from 15 to 25, and was on sale a lot of places. But yes you essentially got the same content for ten dollars cheaper
J
Jpop
Unconfirmed Member
Welp, I'll wait till I can get the game used. On the cheap side.
Zombie James
Banned
I doubt Tim here is allowed to discuss cartridge costs but it seems safe to say that's a key factor from what I'm reading. Maybe larger publishers are more able to absorb those extra costs that a small indie can't.
I am sure that is the main factor in the physical version. And it is totally understandable. The fact that the digital version is the same price is confusing though. Puyo Puyo has already shown that Nintendo does not require physical and digital prices to be the same.
Fredrik
Member
So lower the price on the digital version. They haven't worked on the Switch version for long, it's a port, the dev costs alone shouldn't have surpassed the dev costs on other platforms. It's like they're trying to cover the long dev time on PS4 with an unreasonably high price on Switch.
Same price for all digital versions and a higher price for retail versions with manual, that would've been perfectly okay.
Pancakes R Us
Member
Whichever answer we get, we're gonna be suspicious of. Vote with your wallet and don't buy until there's price parity or we get a bargain in a sale.
They have the distinction of being funded and then dumped by both Microsoft and Sony.
davonaytor
Member
Well this is a stupid business practice. I was originally going to buy it on the PC (if it reviewed well), until I found out there was a Switch port coming. Now I won't be buying it on any platform.
TDLink
Member
The thing about this is I think people were mentally prepared to pay $40 for this title period. If it was priced that way on all platforms no one would be complaining and everyone would still be hotly anticipating this.
The problem is that you guys have undercut peoples' expectations with a $30 price point...on everything but one system. That means now people will think they're getting ripped off if they want to buy it on the Switch, opposed to just purchasing it for what they initially expected.
It's incredibly rare for there to be a price difference between systems for any game releasing within the same period of time. It's somewhat insulting that the price is higher only for the version coming out later.
Look at this from the consumer's point of view. Why would anyone wait to purchase on the Switch for $10 more when they can get it cheaper on one of the systems it's available for on May 26th? No one but the most die hard Switch fans will be purchasing it there now. People who potentially were going to buy it on Switch will now buy it elsewhere or not at all.
It's a huge mistake. Obviously you guys don't see that but a lot of people in this topic do. If you needed the Switch version to be $40 then the right call would have been to make all versions priced at $40. But it's too late to undo that now, you'd only piss more people off.
The right call now is to take the loss and price the Switch the same as the other versions at $30. People can deal with the delay, but not with a price difference like this. They'll never understand it even if the reasons are legitimate. I would go as far as to say that releasing a version on Switch for $10 more and at a later date almost makes producing a Switch version entirely pointless. At the very least I wouldn't expect many to buy it until it is at a similar price as the other systems or at an even deeper discount depending on where other version prices have fallen by time that happens.
Why Should someone with ps4 ect. buy it for Switch anyhow? Pls Dont say mobile xD
Puyo Puyo Tetris will be $30 on PS4
Puyo Puyo Tetris will be also $30 digitally on the Switch.
Puyo Puyo Tetris will be $40 retail on the Switch. But at least they tried to come up with some crap excuse that you are getting 2 keychains with the Switch version, so that's the reason for the $10 increase.
SO Puyo Puyo Tetris shows digital and retail for the same platform can have different prices, with digital undercutting retail.
It's a shame the Rime publishers decided what they did, and Rime digitally costs more on Switch compared to other consoles. That really sucks.
It's weird how I rapidly lost interest in this game now, even on Steam. Switch was going to be my go to console for indie games because of the portable and TV screen factor.
Puyo Puyo Tetris will be also $30 digitally on the Switch.
Puyo Puyo Tetris will be $40 retail on the Switch. But at least they tried to come up with some crap excuse that you are getting 2 keychains with the Switch version, so that's the reason for the $10 increase.
SO Puyo Puyo Tetris shows digital and retail for the same platform can have different prices, with digital undercutting retail.
It's a shame the Rime publishers decided what they did, and Rime digitally costs more on Switch compared to other consoles. That really sucks.
It's weird how I rapidly lost interest in this game now, even on Steam. Switch was going to be my go to console for indie games because of the portable and TV screen factor.
Fredrik
Member
Higher than the whole PS4/XB1/PC dev costs?
Yeah, no.
This is Switch covering up for the higher than planned dev costs for the whole game on all platforms. Laying it all on the Switch version is just bad practise.
The unfortunate thing is that if the price was the same they could've had an amazing launch with lots of praise everywhere, as long as the game is as good as it looks, but now they've ruined it by this odd pricing and no matter how great it is it'll still be a toxic release. I don't get how they could think this was a good idea. Yes money is great but just thinking about PR alone should've got them to cancel this idea.
I've never seen a game release like this. What if it were coming to the Switch and Xbox day 1 and PS4 a month later and the PS4 one was $10 more for no real reason? This is utter bullshit. Why not spread the cost among SKUs and make the game $35 everywhere? Nope, gotta fuck up the Switch version somehow!
This is the most unfortunate part of it. So many of the people upset are the ones who were planning on getting this.
But I don't think it's too late. Even if the physical copy continues to cost $40, If they can get the Switch digital price down to $30 or explain the necessity for the price increase in a clear, logical and humble manner, I think a lot of people will come back.
I will.
Everyone makes mistakes and hopefully the big mistake here is just with messaging.
I really hope they don't wait until it IS too late and clear this up ASAP. The longer they leave things vague the more suspicious it looks. Still, I am rooting for them. The game really does look very good. I hope they can sway me to once again be intending to purchase it on the Switch.
Fredrik
Member
Same here. And they're f'ing up all versions because of this. I won't support them by buying the other versions instead, I'll just ignore the game all together and it seems like I'm not alone going by this thread. Great PR by the suits in charge!
And just two months before the launch of a several years long dev time. Ouch.
Fredrik
Member
Definitely, but they need to do this now because news travel fast, especially bad news.
They should do a new Switch trailer, the coolest yet, and announce the $30 digital price right from the start so people simply can't miss the updated price.
They likely just mean HD rumble.
miller.skippins
Banned
Why are we even discussing about a game that we don't even know whether it's good or not.....
the game barely got any gameplay shown other than a few artistic concept trailers.
the game barely got any gameplay shown other than a few artistic concept trailers.
Why single out one version instead of adding up the total cost of publishing across all systems and figuring out a common retail price from that?
People are mainly concerned that this might set a precedent.
Very few of us, I think, are going to miss not playing RiME.
That's too normal. They'd rather handicap their Switch version so they can complain when it doesn't sell I guess.
They likely have figures that show a) their day 1 primary markets are the other consoles b) any increase in price on the other two consoles will affect figures in a way that will negatively impact their sales and profit in their lead devices.
As Switch is an afterthought and not a primary market they already know their audience will be small. A higher price will make this smaller but likely not impact their overall revenue/profit in as much a way as lost sales from higher prices elsewhere would.
So players get to absorb the cost for HD Rumble on both the controllers, and the games? Well shit!
shadow2810
Member
Are Nintendo forcing them to implement HD rumble? Even Zelda doesn't have it...
Fredrik
Member
EA and Ubisoft can do this but an indie dev doing this isn't doing themselves any favors. Good PR is so important in the long run. It's a mountain to climb if you fall off on the wrong side of things.
This is likely just the suits in charge coming up with a crappy idea to cover up the costs for the long dev time.