Home Gaming Ubisoft explains the continuously high price of digital games on console

Ubisoft explains the continuously high price of digital games on console

2 min read
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No ubi on steam

It’s months after game launch and you decide to go pick up that game you missed out on. After checking prices online and at your favorite retail outlet there is a marked difference in price. Why are digital versions of games so much more expensive even months after launch? Well, Ubisoft has a reason, but it’s not a good one.

During their financial call, Yves Guillemot explained:

Digital is more reactive than what we put in stores, but at the same time, it doesn’t react as fast on consoles than it does on PC. What we can say is that when games are older than one year, digital is a lot more dynamic on console because there are less units in stores. It’s a new business, a new trend, and we think all this will get more in line with time, but for sure, at the moment you see all sorts of prices depending on who is doing a promotion for that specific week.

If you look at the PC [post-release discount] trend, I think you will see that on consoles, but you will have to wait a little bit of time for that to happen with the same speed.

[…] Also, one thing to consider is related to stocks; if we have stock in stores, we tend to make sure we decrease the quantity of units in stores before going digital with lower prices.

It doesn’t make sense to me why PC versions of games can get marked down so quickly and easily while the console versions of the same game take forever to go on sale. Nintendo does the same and it drives me crazy – if I don’t pick up a game at launch, I expect the price to be lower when I eventually grab it. Instead, I have to wait for the stock to go stale on retail shelves so that they mark it down.

I wonder if pressure from gamers will force publishers to reduce digital prices faster, or if this is all done on purpose. If they alienate retail by dropping digital prices faster than brick and mortar stores can move their physical stock, there is going to be a whole lot of drama. I suppose publishers would rather keep the retail giants happy and gamers confused than deal with the fallout of undercutting the retail market.

Last Updated: July 10, 2015

32 Comments

  1. Corrie

    July 10, 2015 at 14:07

    Still one of the biggest downfalls of digital is Licensing

    Game music or cars or anything license based expires poof goes game and very seldom do dev’s renew these licenses

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      July 10, 2015 at 14:08

      I wondered the other day how much that Deadpool game is going for now. Turns out you can’t buy it because the license expired.

      Reply

      • Corrie

        July 10, 2015 at 14:11

        Same goes for Mafia, blur ,dirt, prey and so forth

        Sad really since digital can be viable but also a curse

        Reply

  2. Alien Emperor Trevor

    July 10, 2015 at 14:07

    I don’t think we’ll ever get a straight answer why digital goods cost more than physical, or lag behind them when it comes to discounting.

    Reply

    • Corrie

      July 10, 2015 at 14:10

      True but I just think it falls directly onto Greed, people will the pay same or more just not to walk into a brick and mortor store which to some is a lot of work plus with murica and that having great internet means they don’t need to and unfortunately SA falls victim too

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        July 10, 2015 at 14:19

        Once a customer is trained to accept a certain price range, it doesn’t get questioned because it’s the norm. So why change?

        The one that irritates me the most is e-books.

        Reply

        • Corrie

          July 10, 2015 at 14:41

          I tend not to look at ebooks due to time constraints and also would never really pay attention to them thats why I stuck to physical…still have that Witcher book I haven’t even begun reading…R190 -_-

          Reply

    • RinceThis

      July 10, 2015 at 14:47

      Agreed. I’ve heard various answers. From the fact that digital copies need to carry international licences which cost more due to admin to the gnomes who carry all the little bits of information from one server to the other striking and demanding more wages. Fact they are paid for in the first place is alarming.

      Reply

  3. oVg"Guard boat with boat"Troll

    July 10, 2015 at 14:26

    Its fcking stupid.

    The Witcher 3 at BT Games. A1 Poster, music CD, game, manual, compendium, stickers, map
    = R699

    The Witcher 3 PS Store. Game
    = R799

    WT actual F?

    Reply

    • Ottokie

      July 10, 2015 at 14:29

      Capitalist Pigs greed

      Reply

      • oVg"Guard boat with boat"Troll

        July 10, 2015 at 14:32

        I could understand if it was 2 years old and all physical copies have been gobbled up.
        But its only a month old.

        We vote with our wallets and they know they can get away with it. People are lazy. I love it when the V1.07 patch was released early and the PS4 users updated the broken patch. I read that most of them had to re-download the 44gigs but the save file would not work. BWAHAHAHAHAHA

        Physical for life

        Reply

        • Ottokie

          July 10, 2015 at 14:33

          I have yet to buy Witcher 3, been a long time since I bought a AAA game on release or a month after release.

          Reply

          • oVg"Guard boat with boat"Troll

            July 10, 2015 at 14:35

            Yet its more expensive after release 😉

          • Ottokie

            July 10, 2015 at 14:37

            Gets me every time xD. I am definitely not in a hurry to play a game while my backlog is as huge as Greece’s debt.

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      July 10, 2015 at 14:33

      Ubilololo guard games with games prices.

      Reply

      • oVg"Guard boat with boat"Troll

        July 10, 2015 at 14:34

        Its cheaper chopping a tree down, make the posters and print, burn a piece of plastic with code. Transport it to the ship, transport it from the ship and drive it to retail. Than downloading code.

        MY MIND BOGGLES

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          July 10, 2015 at 14:38

          Oh but remember, if it’s cheaper the game is “devalued”.

          Reply

          • oVg"Guard boat with boat"Troll

            July 10, 2015 at 14:39

            clever, it works. Humans are so stupid, I know, I work in advertising. My job is to manipulate stupid people. Like the church. Got to keep reminding them that OMO is brighter than White. The indoctrination works after 8 ad breaks during an hour of TV.

            RUNS

    • aj_nator

      July 10, 2015 at 14:48

      trolololol sell less things for more price trololol!

      Reply

      • oVg"Guard boat with boat"Troll

        July 10, 2015 at 14:55

        • aj_nator

          July 10, 2015 at 15:14

          :'( I feel bad about choosing to kill him…dammit! Knew i should’ve reloaded

          Reply

      • oVg"Guard boat with boat"Troll

        July 10, 2015 at 15:01

        trolololol lol If you let the troll paint he makes a better painting than Gerald 😛

        Reply

    • JeanaLMaupin

      July 12, 2015 at 11:12

  4. RinceThis

    July 10, 2015 at 14:46

    Makes sense to me. Console = MONEY

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      July 10, 2015 at 14:54

  5. Blogvader

    July 10, 2015 at 15:00

    There are many outlets online to get games at a discount though. There’s even a service that tracks game deals. (IsThereAnyDeal *dot* com)

    G2A, cdkeys (dot) com, GreenManGaming, etc. etc. etc.

    Just don’t buy direct from the manufacturer and you can probably find a discount somewhere.

    Reply

  6. Gr8_Balls_o_KFM_Fire

    July 10, 2015 at 15:42

    Digital is cheaper to make, and being basically a “lease” purchase, it should damn well be cheaper! !!

    Reply

  7. Sageville

    July 10, 2015 at 21:53

    I don’t buy a word of it.

    How can a printed disk, with a box, which requires shipping, storage and a retailer cut, possibly be cheaper than making a distributive copy available in an already functional online shop?

    From a retailer perspective, such as ZAPS, the online shop price is cheaper as there are no shop rental costs and less staff salaries to pay etc. This I can understand, but UBI-Bollocks not.

    Reply

  8. konfab

    July 11, 2015 at 17:10

    Mass Effect Trilogy at Takalot: R540 for ps3
    On PSN :R1020

    Reply

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  10. TeresaBCruz

    July 12, 2015 at 09:28

    Last 40 year Best Home Income with lazygamer.- < ……. Find Here

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  11. Hammersteyn

    July 13, 2015 at 07:59

    I think PC games gets marked down quicker because piracy. Same will happen once they crack the PS4 and Xbox I think

    Reply

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