Home Gaming Battlefield 1’s price on Origin has skyrocketed in South Africa

Battlefield 1’s price on Origin has skyrocketed in South Africa

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BF1price

If you happened to pre-order Battlefield 1 on Pc just a few days ago, you’d have managed to grab it at a reasonable R699. Today? The very same game has shot up to R999 on EA’s own origin store. This brings its digital pricing in line with the sort of prices you’d find for most current games at retail.

The Premium Pass we told you about not long ago? It was R499 on Origin then. The same pass will now cost you R799. The ultimate edition, which packs in everything and the kitchen sink? An eye-watering R1899.

What the hell happened? And why are these games suddenly so expensive? Don’t be too surprised. We told you this sort of thing would be happening months ago, when a brouhaha erupted over the disparity between Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’s pricing and Battlefield 1’s.

As we explained back then, our pricing – based on European pricing – was largely set to the wrong conversions. Some publishers, like Activision, corrected their conversions earlier. We expected others to start following suit. EA now has.

“So ignore all the points about shipping, distribution and retail costs locally, and realise that we are still, somehow, getting games cheaper than the regions we are being supplied from. The disparity then between our current Battlefield 1 price (which hovers just below R800) and what it should realistically be is simple. Some publishers simply haven’t updated their conversions yet, and aren’t as frequent with checking them – unlike Activision, for example. It’s creating a disparity in pricing that’s creating a very unstable local market – and it’s something that needs remedy.

It explains then why Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is, relatively, so expensive. Not because Activision is charging more to bring games into the country, but rather that they are one of the few reflecting the true price of games today. It doesn’t mean that it’ll drop, but rather that you can expect other titles to start seeing major increases in cost very soon. As soon as those databases and conversions update, most games will start lying beyond the R1000 mark – and if the same care is attended to them as it is now, they’ll stay that way for some time. Right now, it’s a win for consumers as they’re able to get some games for cheaper than they’re supposed to be – just don’t expect it to last for too much longer.”

It didn’t last. Of course, with our currency doing a little better, we can expect those prices to start dropping again – but not in the short term. It takes a long time for those gains to catch up, thanks to all sorts of issues that arise with currency conversions and importing. It may also not happen. Because our currency is very unstable at the moment. If it stays where it is now, or improves over the next while, expect a decrease in what you pay for games.

In the short term? I’m afraid we’re all going to have to cough up. It’s a bitter pill to swallow for sure, especially as Battlefield 1 was advertised at the lower price.

Last Updated: September 7, 2016

94 Comments

  1. Marek Nourse

    September 7, 2016 at 10:39

    That is totally madness. Do i have to pimp myself out for this kind of pricing.. FML

    Reply

    • miaau

      September 7, 2016 at 10:55

      Crisis. I hear you. Pricey stuff.

      Do you think a 2nd job, part-time, is the way we will have to go now?

      Reply

      • Marek Nourse

        September 8, 2016 at 15:43

        Yeah i think so..

        Reply

  2. ElFakio

    September 7, 2016 at 10:40

    So they increased the pc price to match the console price . So either our consoles games are underpriced or EA and activision are just greedy . Probably greed

    Reply

    • Geoffrey Tim

      September 7, 2016 at 10:40

      Internationally, PC and console games cost the same. There’s been a disparity here for a long time.

      Reply

      • ElFakio

        September 7, 2016 at 10:41

        I know . We are just so used to that disparity it’s become our standard .

        Reply

      • miaau

        September 7, 2016 at 10:53

        Um. What? Whaaaaat? Seriously? So, in England, I pay the same for Xbox One Shoot me Bitch up as I would for PC Shoot me Bitch up?

        Um. Then why the big price jump here?

        And patent pending on my new game.

        Reply

      • Dungeon of JJ

        September 7, 2016 at 10:54

        Why though? PC doesn’t have the high royalty rates payable to Sony and MS, and most devs these days have their own clients.

        Reply

  3. Original Heretic

    September 7, 2016 at 10:43

    Is this the same EA that said they wouldn’t remaster the Mass Effect trilogy because they’re not after a quick buck?

    Reply

  4. Ottokie

    September 7, 2016 at 10:45

    ¯_(?)_/¯

    People keep paying to get screwed over. All fine, keep hitting your head over and over. That way EA will just keep at it with their “love” for gamers.

    Reply

    • Dutch Matrix

      September 7, 2016 at 10:55

      I think you misread the article. This is not EA, but rather the Economy forcing the price increase: The way I see it: Tomorrow the price of petrol goes up. Do you yell and scream at the petrol station employees for this when YOU go to the pumps after the increase? Or do you realize you were late to the party and deal with it?

      Reply

      • Dungeon of JJ

        September 7, 2016 at 10:57

        Well, if only one of the petrol stations have such increases while the others didn’t, yes.

        Reply

        • Ottokie

          September 7, 2016 at 10:57

          Indeed, it all ones again comes down to greed.

          Reply

      • Ottokie

        September 7, 2016 at 10:59

        What do the employees have to do with petrol pricing?

        If EA had any integrity as a company they would stick to the price that was originally displayed when pre order opened.

        Reply

        • Dungeon of JJ

          September 7, 2016 at 11:00

          Sqeenix did that with Deus Ex MD.

          Reply

        • Dutch Matrix

          September 7, 2016 at 11:24

          Exactly! Just like the employees got bugger all to do with the price of petrol, so EA and Activision and any company you care to mention have buggerall control over what the economy does.
          Sadly, integrity does not pay the bills, or the employees, or the costs to host, distribute and the like.
          Is it bad timing from EA’s side to increase margins? Possibly. Is it unfair of them?
          Free market economy and the like tells me it is to be expected…

          Besides, I want EA to stay in business, making games I love to play!

          Reply

          • Ottokie

            September 7, 2016 at 11:32

            The “digital” (note : DIGITAL) deluxe edition is heading into the price range that ANY other companies charge for “Collector Edition” copies.

            This game is not fairly priced due to the economy. This game is already overprices to begin with for a AAA game and now just topped of with a smidgen of corporate greed.

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        September 7, 2016 at 11:09

        The only thing I scream about when the petrol price goes up is our local retailers jacking up their prices citing the increased petrol price, but then having a million excuses why the reverse doesn’t happen when the prices come down again.

        Reply

        • Ottokie

          September 7, 2016 at 11:10

          I might have to start copy pasting this 😛

          “Ones again comes down to greed”

          Reply

        • Dungeon of JJ

          September 7, 2016 at 11:12

          I can answer that!
          There is no reason for not decreasing the prices. Since the all the companies jack up their prices because of increased cost, the new price simply becomes the floor pricing looking forward. That’s how companies maintain profitability in such a volatile economy as ours.

          Reply

          • HvR

            September 7, 2016 at 11:13

            Straight from the abused cog in the evil machine

          • Dungeon of JJ

            September 7, 2016 at 11:14

            😀 Exactly.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            September 7, 2016 at 11:15

            😀 Yeah, if someone’s used to paying R10 for their Bar One, there’s no point in dropping the price when your cost for it comes down.

            I just get really mad when on Monday you have the company moaning about how they’re under pressure and have to increase prices soon, and on Tuesday the same company brags about record profits.

          • Dungeon of JJ

            September 7, 2016 at 11:17

            ^ Yes.
            And it’s not being paranoid to think that it works like that, because it really does. Oh the stories I could tell.

          • JSE

            September 7, 2016 at 13:17

            Actually price doesn’t come down “immediately” because there is something called forward cover which importers of all goods in economies that have volatile and fluctuating exchange rates have to secure to try ensure stable prices. So depending on when and for how long an importer secures forward cover dictates price timing fluctuations. So if you think of our crazy exchange – this pretty much makes sense. If we were an economy that a stable currency then sure you would see price come down or go up immediately in unison with the exchange.

  5. Pariah ???

    September 7, 2016 at 10:46

    Um. No.

    Reply

  6. Greylingad[He Charges!]

    September 7, 2016 at 10:49

    Oh dear…. I shouldn’t have pointed my smelloscope in that direction…

    https://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/smell-o-scope.png?w=500&h=381

    Reply

  7. miaau

    September 7, 2016 at 10:52

    Just like new car prices. Will stay high when compared to Europe or North America, even when the rand is stronger again. money talks.

    Reply

  8. Dungeon of JJ

    September 7, 2016 at 10:53

    EA used to be good with pricing, but they’ve lost the plot a bit now.

    Reply

  9. Matthew Holliday

    September 7, 2016 at 10:57

    Luckilly I preordered mine a while back.
    But that premium price, lol, even more nope, thanks.

    Reply

  10. Alien Emperor Trevor

    September 7, 2016 at 10:59

    Forgive me (and this is one of the few times I mean that) for being technical and/or pedantic but this really does bug me:

    You know the price has increased. You don’t know why, you’re assuming why – similar to the linked article you’re quoting. You could be right, you could also not be, we don’t know. Unless there’s an actual source for this you’re not mentioning in either article, in which case I’d be happy.

    Reply

    • Dungeon of JJ

      September 7, 2016 at 11:05

      Also, if you take a look at something like SteamDB. Prices are discounted and set not just according to a market like Europe (which makes no sense to compare ours with), but they’re determined by many many more factors than just “this is what the rest of the world does”.

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        September 7, 2016 at 11:12

        Exactly.

        Reply

    • Alessandro Barbosa

      September 7, 2016 at 11:26

      The linked article is not speculation. It was a researched piece with sources from inside the industry. It’s the most likely reason for EA’s price increase too.

      Aside from the tinfoil hats simply thinking that EA just wants to make more money now 😛

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        September 7, 2016 at 11:32

        Then I’m happy. 🙂

        Reply

    • Admiral Chief

      September 7, 2016 at 11:59

      Schrodinger’s article

      Reply

  11. HvR

    September 7, 2016 at 11:03

    Arrrrr we arrrr them software pirates of the great Cape horn.

    Plunder them gaming treasure galleys we will we then come through our sea

    Reply

    • Matthew Holliday

      September 7, 2016 at 11:09

      Yeah, increase the prices by 30% and still think they can combat piracy and maintain launch weekend sales, lol.

      Reply

    • BakedBagel

      September 7, 2016 at 13:18

      ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR M8Y

      SET SAIL

      Reply

  12. Mark Treloar

    September 7, 2016 at 11:03

    So using European prices is absolute nonsense when its a digital download.

    Reply

    • Pariah ???

      September 7, 2016 at 11:15

      I agree

      Reply

    • Dungeon of JJ

      September 7, 2016 at 11:28

      Agreed. You can’t use EU pricing for anything in the SA market. If you’ve ever worked a day in retail you’ll know.

      Reply

      • Alessandro Barbosa

        September 7, 2016 at 11:30

        Well for digital there’s an argument there sure. But our physical games are imported from Europe (most of the time the UK), so yeah their pricing is intrinsically tied to ours

        And since publishers still have to keep retailers happy, they won’t allow digital pricing to be so much lower than at retail. It’s the reality for now

        Reply

        • Dungeon of JJ

          September 7, 2016 at 11:33

          I understand that, and it makes sense to a certain extent. But SA average margins, compared to European average margins are vastly different. It is a problem though that we’re importing it from there, but it doesn’t need to be “on par” pricing to such an exact point.

          Reply

          • Alessandro Barbosa

            September 7, 2016 at 11:34

            No it doesn’t need to be, but when you take in the exchange rate, import taxes, local taxes and local distributors and retailers still needing to actually make money, it adds up

          • Dungeon of JJ

            September 7, 2016 at 11:38

            I know. My bread and butter is licensing and imports. So I work with pricing every day from Europe, US, UK, China and South America. So I understand that it can be an expensive thing and it all does add up.
            If they can justify this price, which I’d have to see the figures of to be convinced, then all it means to me is that we’re paying way too much at cost.

          • Alessandro Barbosa

            September 7, 2016 at 11:42

            Yeah that I don’t know, because we are never given that information 🙁

          • Dungeon of JJ

            September 7, 2016 at 11:46

            Just to clarify, I’m not saying a price increase is not acceptable, because we’ve been super lucky with game prices recently, especially on pc. But from what I’ve personally seen, that hike shouldn’t be more than 34%, maybe hit a high of 40%.
            That’s it. My many five cents 🙂

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            September 7, 2016 at 11:47

            When I was young it used to be 2c.

          • Dungeon of JJ

            September 7, 2016 at 11:48

            Maybe your opinion was less valued? Just a guess. 😛

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            September 7, 2016 at 11:49

            I go for quantity over quality when it comes to my opinions. Less cost involved. 😀

          • Dungeon of JJ

            September 7, 2016 at 11:49

            Economies of scale, I see. XD

          • miaau

            September 7, 2016 at 12:26

            ah yes, the third Russian 5 year plan. Quality over quantity, good plan.

          • Dungeon of JJ

            September 7, 2016 at 12:45

            It worked in Strategy games where the Russians could train twice as many infantry for the same price 😛

        • Mark Treloar

          September 7, 2016 at 11:57

          Right but do we get a physical copy of the code in the box? EA already stated that the US would just get a download code so if it still ends up being a download there should be no difference?

          Reply

          • Viper_ZA

            September 7, 2016 at 11:59

            I will be seriously pissed off if I get an empty case with a mere code in it. Vaseline is in short supply, best the SA gamer top up accordingly.

      • BakedBagel

        September 7, 2016 at 15:04

        Need For Speed a $60 game is still R600 on origin.

        hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

        Reply

  13. HvR

    September 7, 2016 at 11:04

    Same reasoning, digital purchase should be 40% (okay okay 25% at least) than physical copy here. But no that makes too much sense.

    Reply

  14. Ghost In The Rift

    September 7, 2016 at 11:14

    Just remember what we in Nam have to pay and feel sorry for me dammit!!

    Reply

    • HvR

      September 7, 2016 at 11:15

      We have Zuma, the only people we feel sorry for are Zimbaweans

      Reply

    • Dungeon of JJ

      September 7, 2016 at 11:15

      Yea man.
      Australia’s game pricing is also crazy.

      Reply

      • HvR

        September 7, 2016 at 11:16

        But they are Australian they deserve that, it is called “you voted for SJW liberal party suck it up” tax

        Reply

        • Dungeon of JJ

          September 7, 2016 at 11:19

          They do have a surprisingly high approval rating (one of the highest if I’m not mistaken), so they chose it. It still sucks though, because piracy in Australia is crazy because of pricing and availability, so it’s not doing the country any favours.

          Reply

  15. UltimateNinjaPandaDudeGuy

    September 7, 2016 at 11:22

    This game wasn’t even worth it for me at like R700… xD

    Reply

    • Viper_ZA

      September 7, 2016 at 11:43

      Got it for R600 and I felt robbed. Just as well, a 50%+ increase is madness.

      Reply

  16. Espee Funsail

    September 7, 2016 at 11:25

    Hey guys, Battlefield 1 is on sale at cd keys com right now. This isn’t spam or whatever. I just bought from there. Use “perkspot5” at checkout. Link: cdkeys dot com/pc/games/battlefield-1-pc-origin

    Reply

    • Mossel

      September 7, 2016 at 13:03

      Aweness!

      Reply

  17. Viper_ZA

    September 7, 2016 at 11:32

    Glad I pre-ordered when I did. No way I am paying R800 for a PREMIUM pass. Go suck it EA!

    Reply

  18. Bryan Musso

    September 7, 2016 at 11:35

    So no game for me then… I shall now wait until it goes on special…

    Reply

    • Bryan Musso

      September 7, 2016 at 11:44

      The problem with logic like, let’s make the pricing the same as Europe is the fact that our buying power is not the same. That’s why one should look at local pricing.

      There was a recent article about pirating and one of the big reasons why were pricing, especially in countries where the buying power is not that great. There are eastern block European countries that sit in the same boat because they are grouped with richer countries like Germany etc.

      So, I have no sympathy for companies that complain about piracy but do not try and understand the markets they play in.

      Reply

      • Marek Nourse

        September 7, 2016 at 12:01

        I fully agree with you

        Reply

      • Dane

        September 7, 2016 at 14:26

        Well said kind sir.

        Reply

  19. The Order of the Banana

    September 7, 2016 at 11:47

    Good! Keep those South Africans off the servers; all they do is lag!!!

    Reply

    • Dungeon of JJ

      September 7, 2016 at 11:48

      We’re not all lucky enough to be a computer and live inside the net like you! 😛

      Reply

    • Admiral Chief

      September 7, 2016 at 12:04

      Lag lag grappy hehehe

      Reply

    • Viper_ZA

      September 7, 2016 at 12:56

      I prefer to call it bullet time xD

      Reply

    • Mossel

      September 7, 2016 at 13:05

      Lag in hulle gesig wanneer ek hulle moor ja! xD

      Reply

  20. Avithar

    September 7, 2016 at 12:15

    who do i have to kidnap to get my hands on this game

    Reply

  21. Peet Luckhoff

    September 7, 2016 at 12:59

    They can keep their game

    Reply

  22. Mossel

    September 7, 2016 at 13:00

    What in the actual fuck. I was really keen on buying this..guess I’ll wait 2 years then. BF4 it is.

    Reply

  23. BakedBagel

    September 7, 2016 at 13:15

    HueHue

    They really banking on this being a success.

    What if its another Battlefront?

    I will hold my purchase till its a reasonable price.

    Reply

  24. Dane

    September 7, 2016 at 14:47

    I’m sorry but I don’t agree with that. Clearly the market is different in SA and I’m pretty sure that the amount of copies they are going to sell with this price tag won’t stack up the same amount of profit as the number of copies they’d sell at R600.

    I could be completely wrong, of course, but I only know two people who play BF. Two people who won’t be playing BF1 due to both finances and spite. I absolutely cannot come to terms with the money people walk away with after making excuses for prices like this, people who sell games and don’t even play them.

    In this country’s market we struggle to pay AAA prices and if EA was true to their new “for the people” crap they’d not have changed that price. Quite frankly fuck ’em. I’ll buy this shit off Kinguin in a year’s time.

    Reply

  25. Spy Master Tokashi

    September 7, 2016 at 15:16

    I am so glad that I have no interest in playing another EA game online… There is no reason to support that day light robbery prices if you are not planning to play an online game 😉

    Reply

  26. Ryansr

    September 7, 2016 at 15:19

    And here I was hoping the price for Fallout 4 would drop a bit more. Oh well…

    Reply

  27. MasterC

    September 7, 2016 at 15:51

    And here’s a pure reason piracy is so strong !

    Reply

  28. The Order of the Banana

    September 7, 2016 at 16:36

  29. Marek Nourse

    September 7, 2016 at 16:57

    And lets look at the USD exchange rate:

    25 August 2016 – 14.1544
    7 September 2016 – 14.0174

    at 1% descrease… GREEDY MONEY GRABBING MF’s @EA_Dice

    Reply

  30. Spidiir

    September 7, 2016 at 17:24

    One word….GREED

    Reply

  31. Wraith

    September 8, 2016 at 08:06

    Will this affect pre-orders as well? I read on another forum that when pre-ordering, your account is only debited later (closer to release date) and at the full release price.

    Reply

    • Marek Nourse

      September 8, 2016 at 15:40

      which forum is this?

      Reply

  32. Gr8_Balls_o_Fire

    September 8, 2016 at 12:02

    Or you could wait six months

    Reply

  33. T S

    September 8, 2016 at 14:21

    Current Exchange: 1 Euro = R 15.7370
    Best Price for a BF1 Standard CD Key EUR 40 =R 645.21

    EA Sa Price R 999.95

    I’m sorry that is a complete rip off.

    Reply

  34. SOTIREDMAN

    September 9, 2016 at 12:51

    To be honest these prices are just nonsensical. Take Activision for example. Steam accepts our currency and thus regional pricing is possible. The price for infinite warfare was $60 + vat +extra when they first listed the game. So maybe they did research that led them to think that our currency would continue to weaken and they didn’t want to take any risks.
    Then as a point of comparison lets look at other other countries: NZ about $81 (USD) and England about $53 (and note how England mysteriously pays less here although it doesn’t often happen to them).
    So clearly South Africa isn’t important enough sales wise, and since games are basically luxury goods, we get 0 discounts.
    Then go to large developing countries like say Russia or China and see that their games are almost always 50% off. Yes I know its easy to region lock those countries/area’s because they have non english languages and I also know that the average wages in china and russia are low, but they’re also countries that rank in the top 10 game playing countries.
    EA may as well not bother operating a store in our currency then. Oh wait no if they do that then we could actually get the game for cheaper when/if our currency improves. SIlly me we as a country are too unimportant for them to notice and actually give regional prices even though they accept our currency in store.
    I know this isn’t 100% applicable (Origin vs Steam)
    but its just harder to find a list of origin prices per country for games. However I DO know there are regional discounts being awarded, on a game by game basis.

    Reply

  35. Johan Pretorius

    October 29, 2016 at 08:00

    South Africa should follow Switzerland in making piracy legal for personal use. It is not reasonable to expect the average South African to fork out so much money for games, especially if it is a digital copy.

    Reply

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