We're sure Activision's crunched the numbers, but doesn't PC gaming have enough working against it without pricing hikes? Oh well, we're sure it's just a one-time occurrence. ... Right? ... Guys?
We're sure Activision's crunched the numbers, but doesn't PC gaming have enough working against it without pricing hikes? Oh well, we're sure it's just a one-time occurrence. ... Right? ... Guys?
Reader Comments (130)
Posted: Aug 19th 2009 6:45PM (Unverified) said
Looks like this year's bad guy is Activision, we all know what happened to EA when they were evil in the past. History might repeat itself.
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Posted: Aug 19th 2009 7:33PM (Unverified) said
Um, EA is one of the biggest companies in the industry and Activision gets about $165 million in disposable income A MONTH with little to no cost, so yeah, their dicks, but I think they're both doing ok... As for the price hike: Surprised it took this long.
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Posted: Aug 19th 2009 7:37PM (Unverified) said
How bout we just don't buy it.
vote with your wallet, tell Activision they can stuff it right up their ass.
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vote with your wallet, tell Activision they can stuff it right up their ass.
Posted: Aug 19th 2009 7:39PM (Unverified) said
You can be sure of that Rocky. Remember, this is the company whose CEO said that if he could, he would raise the prices on games. This is him having his cake and eating it to.
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Posted: Aug 19th 2009 9:00PM (Unverified) said
eldie- because more than half of the MW2 sales will probably come from people not using their own wallet to purchase the game. they will buy the game anyway. that would never work.
thierry- u make no sense.
EA began making some new original games and they did not sell well, examples are dead space and mirrors edge. EA has recently tried to make a wider variety of games, however gamers are not buying them an EA sees that their flagship franchises that everyone wants to complain about, are their best selling games over time.
i can tell everyone 1 thing if MW2 sells more than 8 million copies at the new prices around the world, don't expect Activision to read one of the comments and complaints.
it does no good, they are not listening and are probably waiting to see what happens. this was going to be a day 1 purchase for me, however i am leaning on waiting just to be 1 less sale. hopefully millions others follow.
there will come a time when the price of games does have to increase though.
just because activision made hundreds of millions of profit from COD:MW doesnt mean that they did not lose hundreds of millions on various other game projects throughout the year.
the cost of developing games has increased significantly over recent time, however the price of games has not increased.
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thierry- u make no sense.
EA began making some new original games and they did not sell well, examples are dead space and mirrors edge. EA has recently tried to make a wider variety of games, however gamers are not buying them an EA sees that their flagship franchises that everyone wants to complain about, are their best selling games over time.
i can tell everyone 1 thing if MW2 sells more than 8 million copies at the new prices around the world, don't expect Activision to read one of the comments and complaints.
it does no good, they are not listening and are probably waiting to see what happens. this was going to be a day 1 purchase for me, however i am leaning on waiting just to be 1 less sale. hopefully millions others follow.
there will come a time when the price of games does have to increase though.
just because activision made hundreds of millions of profit from COD:MW doesnt mean that they did not lose hundreds of millions on various other game projects throughout the year.
the cost of developing games has increased significantly over recent time, however the price of games has not increased.
Posted: Aug 19th 2009 9:47PM Foetoid said
Spot on Sk8, so many whingy cry-babies on this site who fail to realise that games were still this price back in SNES and N64 days, but the cost of developing games since then has skyrocketed. If the cost of the games went up with the price of developing, we'd be paying double, if not more. We should be grateful.
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 10:06AM blash said
Guys,
1) Inflation by itself contributes slightly to additional cost
2) Cost of developing went up
3) Video games are still, cost/hour entertained, the cheapest form of digital entertainment on the market by far.
As for the guys claiming that they'll wait for a price drop - Modern Warfare was still fetching its original $50 price a year after release on Steam. Doubt that will change this time around.
As for the guys who claim that they'll wait for the sake of waiting to prevent better day 1 sales - you're missing out on seeing the majority of your friends list all playing the game at once and you miss out on the hype, and that feeling is half the reason why you pay full-price day 1.
So guys, seriously: grow up and get a job.
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1) Inflation by itself contributes slightly to additional cost
2) Cost of developing went up
3) Video games are still, cost/hour entertained, the cheapest form of digital entertainment on the market by far.
As for the guys claiming that they'll wait for a price drop - Modern Warfare was still fetching its original $50 price a year after release on Steam. Doubt that will change this time around.
As for the guys who claim that they'll wait for the sake of waiting to prevent better day 1 sales - you're missing out on seeing the majority of your friends list all playing the game at once and you miss out on the hype, and that feeling is half the reason why you pay full-price day 1.
So guys, seriously: grow up and get a job.
Posted: Aug 19th 2009 6:48PM (Unverified) said
Pretty sure both Activision and EA are ruthless companys, just sayin
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Posted: Aug 19th 2009 6:47PM (Unverified) said
Went from being a day one purchase to a maybe purchase after the price drops. Considering COD4 MW is still $40 most places, I don't think the price will go down soon.
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Posted: Aug 19th 2009 9:03PM (Unverified) said
no its gone too far when 10 million people buy the game for $ 60 on PC, $ 60 ps3/360 in the U.S. and $ 90 in the E.U.
that is when its gone too far IMO because then they WON.
we still have the chance to stop ''its gone too far''.
it will be too far, when every new game is $ 60 pc and $ 90 in the E.U.
this is only a test by activision, and the results of the test will determine if activision and other game companies will take this TOO FAR.......
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that is when its gone too far IMO because then they WON.
we still have the chance to stop ''its gone too far''.
it will be too far, when every new game is $ 60 pc and $ 90 in the E.U.
this is only a test by activision, and the results of the test will determine if activision and other game companies will take this TOO FAR.......
Posted: Aug 19th 2009 6:47PM BananaBoat said
It was inevitable. We'll probably never know how many people the additional 10 dollars will drive to piracy, but I'm sure Activision took that into account and figured they'd come out ahead.
I'm just glad they haven't raised the console price from 60 to 70....yet
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I'm just glad they haven't raised the console price from 60 to 70....yet
Posted: Aug 19th 2009 6:58PM BananaBoat said
That was in the UK. They've yet to raise the price in the US, but I have a feeling that they are just waiting for the right opportunity (probably Modern Warfare 3)
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Posted: Aug 19th 2009 9:34PM (Unverified) said
yeah the UK price went up to about $ 90 american dollars i think... ?
i feel they are running a test on the market.
according to vgchartz estimates ( who else publishes worthy figures ?)
12.12 million copies of MW1 were sold on the ps3 and 360 consoles worldwide.
7.63 million of those were sold in the "Americas"
63% of MW1 360/ps3 total sales were in the 'Americas' and 37% of MW1 360/ps3 total sales were in the rest of the world.
by only testing a smaller market, the UK, you are not risking too much backlash from the higher percentage of total gamers buying the game. but are still testing a large enough market to see if the same number of people buy the game in that region.
these companies are sticklers for numbers and bottom lines.
there were no figures for the PC version of the game, however i feel that about 1 million copies of the game were sold on the PC, maybe more or less.
that would make the PC the smallest market for the game and thus it makes an allright time to test a higher PC price to see if sales are similar.
they are hands down testing the market and if they like what they see, i expect this to become a new standard for prices. it sucks, but maybe true.
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i feel they are running a test on the market.
according to vgchartz estimates ( who else publishes worthy figures ?)
12.12 million copies of MW1 were sold on the ps3 and 360 consoles worldwide.
7.63 million of those were sold in the "Americas"
63% of MW1 360/ps3 total sales were in the 'Americas' and 37% of MW1 360/ps3 total sales were in the rest of the world.
by only testing a smaller market, the UK, you are not risking too much backlash from the higher percentage of total gamers buying the game. but are still testing a large enough market to see if the same number of people buy the game in that region.
these companies are sticklers for numbers and bottom lines.
there were no figures for the PC version of the game, however i feel that about 1 million copies of the game were sold on the PC, maybe more or less.
that would make the PC the smallest market for the game and thus it makes an allright time to test a higher PC price to see if sales are similar.
they are hands down testing the market and if they like what they see, i expect this to become a new standard for prices. it sucks, but maybe true.
Posted: Aug 20th 2009 1:20AM BananaBoat said
I don't want Sony to catch wind of the "if you make it, they'll pay any price" retail scheme. If they were to make The Last Guardian 300 dollars, I don't know if I could resist.
Oh, and don't tell them that I said that. Please.
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Oh, and don't tell them that I said that. Please.
Posted: Aug 19th 2009 6:48PM (Unverified) said
This is how Activision wants to combat PC piracy? Great plan.
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Posted: Aug 19th 2009 6:54PM (Unverified) said
I know right I mean how dumb are these people. The reason PC people steal games is because either there is no demo to try it out in your system or it's not even close to worth the $50 price tag. I'm not saying this game is not worth $60 becasue this game will last atleast 2 years, but this better not be a common thing or publishers are going to get burned.
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Posted: Aug 19th 2009 8:07PM Amun said
This is exactly the reason for my piracy -- either there's no demo and I just want to see what its like, or I only have enough money to buy absolute AAA+ titles. I would love a multiplayer demo for COD:MW2 just so I could see if I wanted to invest in it, plus it would bring in new blood for the vets to slaughter.
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 2:38PM (Unverified) said
You're forgetting people pirate games because they don't want to pay for them. Or don't see anything wrong with it/care.
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Posted: Aug 19th 2009 6:57PM Ballistic H said
I bet that bastard is laughing in his chair now that the PS3 is $100 cheaper.
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Posted: Aug 19th 2009 7:41PM DarkTetsuya said
So much for 'haha j/k', huh? Too bad I have no interest in even torrenting it.
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Posted: Aug 19th 2009 6:53PM Shagittarius said
I'll pay the extra 10$ if it comes with a MW2 branded nut-cozy for tea-bagging.
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 3:39AM jedimacfan said
Hahahahaha! That's the only reason I'd buy this game now.
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Posted: Aug 19th 2009 6:53PM Giantenemycrab said
Let's see here... What's the biggest problem with the PC gaming market? Pirating. People downloading games for free. So Bobby Kotick's solution is ... HIGHER PRICES? What could go wrong?
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Posted: Aug 19th 2009 6:54PM (Unverified) said
Hey, here's an idea, let's just not buy the damn game! It's hard for raised prices to have much impact if no one takes the bait.
And really, woo, Modern Warfare 2. Looks the same as the other one to me.
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And really, woo, Modern Warfare 2. Looks the same as the other one to me.
Posted: Aug 19th 2009 10:27PM arkweld said
Yep. It's one thing to complain about it but another to then go and buy it.
Plenty of other games you can play until the price drops. Unless of course you're one of those people who have to play it on release just because everyone else is doing it.
Those people don't read Joystiq thought do they? Do they?
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Plenty of other games you can play until the price drops. Unless of course you're one of those people who have to play it on release just because everyone else is doing it.
Those people don't read Joystiq thought do they? Do they?
Posted: Aug 19th 2009 6:55PM (Unverified) said
lol 60 dollars.
you know in order to convince people to buy MW at an elevated price it would actually have to be better than other pc fps games. unfortunately for activision and infinity ward we arent stuck with halo 3 and killzone as our "good shooters" so this game will tank on pc.
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you know in order to convince people to buy MW at an elevated price it would actually have to be better than other pc fps games. unfortunately for activision and infinity ward we arent stuck with halo 3 and killzone as our "good shooters" so this game will tank on pc.
Posted: Aug 20th 2009 8:33AM Premature ejaculation man said
I always see these kinds of remarks. What are these FPS's? Lets negate Valve from this mix because we all know about them.
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Posted: Aug 19th 2009 6:55PM Ryuk said
I think activision is doing all these terrible things as a business strategy! You see, become the most hated video game company, then, stop doing what everyone hates and all of the sudden people love you, like EA!!!!!!!!! It's genius!
nah I'm just kidding. fuck activision. someone should cleanse the entire company and replace them with smart people who understand gaming....
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nah I'm just kidding. fuck activision. someone should cleanse the entire company and replace them with smart people who understand gaming....
Posted: Aug 19th 2009 6:56PM (Unverified) said
I think somebody at Activision is SUPPORTING the people boycotting their company
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Posted: Aug 19th 2009 7:00PM TomCo said
Yeah, no. Won't be buying this until the price drops to a sane level.
I'll probably end up pirating it for the single player and the buying it for multiplayer when the price inevitably drops.
€30ish is about the max I'm willing to pay for a game these days.
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I'll probably end up pirating it for the single player and the buying it for multiplayer when the price inevitably drops.
€30ish is about the max I'm willing to pay for a game these days.
Posted: Aug 19th 2009 7:01PM jackal said
It's not a one time occurrence or a fluke; every Activision published title for the last 6 months has held a $60 price tag on our platform and we anticipated Modern Warfare 2 was going to be no exception. The just released Wolfenstein's retailing for $59.99. Considering how much cheaper it is to develop games on the PC (no licensing fees, no $2,000-$10,000 dev kits to be bought ON TOP OF high end desktop hardware), Activision's price hike is simply an act of greed. While I'm sure someone's going to scream, "But the rising development costs are killing them!" I should point out that EA, Ubisoft, THQ, Valve, Zen Max, Microsoft, Capcom, Lucas Arts, Epic Games, and even Sony haven't deviated from the industry accepted $49.99 even for some of their (from a development point of view) most expensive titles. If the other key players in the industry aren't hiking their prices, even for very expensive titles like Crysis ($20,000,000 was spent on development as well as advertising), I fail to see how Activision can justify trying to milk us for 17% extra.
Will Modern Warfare 2 be good? Probably, but I wouldn't be able to tell you; it went from a "must have" to "I won't even be buying it used as a form of protest" kind of title. I doubt any Activision employees visit this site but, just in the off chance that they do, I have some kind words. Fuck your company, fuck your price hike, and I hope the sales of your games plummet straight into most ash laden, sulfurous pit of hell for your senseless acts of greed.
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Will Modern Warfare 2 be good? Probably, but I wouldn't be able to tell you; it went from a "must have" to "I won't even be buying it used as a form of protest" kind of title. I doubt any Activision employees visit this site but, just in the off chance that they do, I have some kind words. Fuck your company, fuck your price hike, and I hope the sales of your games plummet straight into most ash laden, sulfurous pit of hell for your senseless acts of greed.
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