Sony explains PlayStation Vita game price strategy

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 13 February, 2012

Admits "sweetening the deal" on 3G hardware for US and Europe.

Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida has explained the company's PlayStation Vita game price strategy - and insisted you'll get your money's worth from £40 titles.

Vita games vary in price. Namco Bandai's Ridge Racer, for example, can be bought for as little as £20. Uncharted on Vita, however, costs £40.

In the current economic climate, and with the emergence of ultra-cheap app gaming, some are worried that Vita will struggle because the games are too expensive.

Sony, though, believes in its pricing policy, and has a theory...

"We have a theory that if we create really compelling, engaging experiences that you can spend hours with, you'll see the value of spending 40 dollars against one dollar," Yoshida told VentureBeat.

"The good thing about $1 games is that people are not spending too much money on them. If you buy 40 of those, you might be spending $40, but still... Or many games are free?

"Gamers love all kinds of games. I totally understand people who like games like Angry Birds, but if you're a gamer, you're also interested in trying different kinds of experiences, bigger games."

Yoshida challenged publishers to think carefully about how much they charge for their Vita games before they put them on shop shelves.

"You saw Nintendo's 3DS, it had many software hits last December, like Mario Kart," Yoshida said. "That's the theory. That's what I'd like to see proven, after the launch of PS Vita.

"I can see, looking at the games in game stores, when you see games that you feel you can find on the iPod or iPad for five dollars, why should you spend 40 dollars? So software publishers will really have to think hard when they approach pricing their software. Is this the experience that will compel people to spend that much? Or is this something they should provide for more accessible prices, so that people will try it?"

Yoshida said Sony is trying as many different price points as possible for its Vita games - both online and offline - and insisted it will spread its attention across all types of games, from small to large.

"For the past consoles, we had a pretty rigid price range we kept to. This is a full-price game, $60, this is a Greatest Hits, $30. Like that.

"But for PS Vita, you'll see games that sell for $50, $40, $30. And on the digital, $45, $35, $23, $15, $10 and $5. A very wide variety of pricing. We're looking at each title and the value and scope of the content, and trying to match people's value perception with the pricing.

"We are not just focused on big-budget, triple-A, $40 titles. We're big fans of the smaller experience as well."

When Sony announced its Vita pricing it said the Wi-Fi only model would cost £230 and the Wi-Fi plus 3G model would cost £280.

But it recently announced a new UK deal with Vodafone that offers a 3G Vodafone Vita and a free 4GB memory card for £279.

And if you top-up the 3G SIM with £5, Vodafone will throw-in a copy of WipEout 2048 for free. On its own, Sony's 4GB memory card costs £17.99. WipEout 2048 is currently going for just under 30 quid.

This, Yoshida said, was Sony "sweetening the deal" on the 3G offering. Why? Because in Japan Sony found a much higher ratio of sales for the 3G version against the Wi-Fi version "because the core gamers tend to opt for the highest model".

"But we are coming to see more of a one-to-one kind of sell-through in Japan," Yoshida revealed.

"That's how, in the US and Europe, we've tweaked it a little bit to sweeten the deal for the 3G SKU. Instead of keeping on saying that 3G is good for you, we added some content that people can immediately see the value of, like adding the memory card, adding free game content to download.

"The hardware is a bit lower now, so they're willing to try it."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (29) Latest comment 3 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • ZizouFC #1 3 months ago

    WiFi only me, but I did change my mind everyday before eventually pre-ordering.

  • NotSoSlim #2 3 months ago

    Hopefully pricing strategy carries over into home console market next gen.

    Always nice to have options

  • captain_Carl #3 3 months ago

    I love Shu. He speaks sense. More sense than Mattrick and Kaz anyway.

    Good to see them trying to cover lots of pricepoints. Rather than adamantly sticking with a very high one.

    Also good to see them taking pointers from 3DS launch and iPad/Pod "games".

  • TipTop #4 3 months ago

    Wipeout sweetened the deal for me. Upgraded from Wifi to 3G.

  • Grump #5 3 months ago

    Pricing structure sounds sensible. Looks like they've really considered the impact of smartphone gaming to the overall handheld business.

    Choosing to partner with Vodafone wasn't sensible though. Their 3G reception really is awful. Has it been confirmed if we're able to use PAYG sims from any other operators?

  • captain_Carl #6 3 months ago

    3G is totally unlocked. Can use any provider. 3G units comr with Voda SIM card though and free wipeout for signing up with Voda

  • Eraysor #7 3 months ago

    I ordered a Wifi only version but considering the PSP had multiple iterations I wouldn't be suprised if I upgraded to 3G when the "Slim & Lite" equivalents roll out.

    And I'm all for multiple pricing tiers. Lower prices are always likely to increase the audience for your game.

    I'm also more keen on paying a premium for Vita games than I am for 3DS games, mainly because the Vita is a lot more suited to playing proper games than iPhones are, whereas the 3DS isn't that far ahead of the iOS platforms.

  • bratsampson #8 3 months ago

    The issue with 3G in general in the UK is that we're just *so* far behind the international equivalents at the moment that it's really not as big of an advantage as it is abroad.

  • Colin8703 #9 3 months ago

    There is a lot of sense in what he says but thinking real world, there will be times when an amazing game could be £10 and a crap one will be £40. The multiple price options are great for gamers who do their research but it could come back to bite them from consumers less in the know who may feel the lower price points do not offer quality and yet could be better than a higher priced title.

    Or if they already have a smart phone, may feel that they are not getting 40 times the quality of the game they just paid a pound for.

    I have a 3DS by the way and will also be getting Vita.

  • icematt12 #10 3 months ago

    @Eraysor

    Exactly why I am waiting for a modified version of the hardware and price cuts before making purchase decisions.

  • X201 #11 3 months ago

    @Grump
    Yep, any supplier

  • trufflesonline #12 3 months ago

    I'll probably only use the vita on planes and at home so the 3G isnt worth it for me. Besides vodaphones 3G coverage on my iPhone is patchy at best to be honest

  • Lamb #13 3 months ago

    I'm tempted to get the WI-FI one though I can't really justify it with the price of games and I don't see myself playing Uncharted or any other current game religiously. Maybe they can release a 7" tablet version with the same physical controls? Or maybe I should just stick to the games from steam sales or anything else I have not got around to. :D

  • phycus #14 3 months ago

    6 months (if that) before you get the wifi version for £180 or less.

  • Pythonidae #15 3 months ago

    I'd be happy to pay 40 Dollars for a game, since that would translate to only 30 Euro for me.

    But they are putting it at 50 Euro here and that translates to 66 Dollars.

    Way too much.

  • Chufty #16 3 months ago

    The UK telcos have really ballsed up the whole LTE/4G infrastructure. It's going to be at least two years before we get it, and in the meantime the 3G spectrum has become saturated and is struggling to cope with the smartphone boom.

    This is going impact on the perceived value of stuff like the Vita here, which is a shame.

  • JumpinJackFlash #17 3 months ago

    I'll get the PSV when it's free, inside packets of Corn Flakes...

  • makeamazing #18 3 months ago

    Have gone for Wifi but i think its very sensible offering different price models for games. I don't mind 5 minutes of mindless fun on an iPhone/ipad game, but its not the greatest device for full in-depth games... So I personally don't mind paying £35 for games that are quality and have lots of playing time, while on the other hand, its also good there will be games for a £5 range. That way at least you can try out different games that you might not normally with little risk.

  • penhalion #19 3 months ago

    Hang on doesn't the US get the 8gb card? Or am I mistaken?

  • CernaML #20 3 months ago

    WiFi for me. I can just tether my 3G/4G connection from my phone.

  • Dougs #21 3 months ago

    <quote>Chufty wrote:
    The UK telcos have really ballsed up the whole LTE/4G infrastructure. It's going to be at least two years before we get it, and in the meantime the 3G spectrum has become saturated and is struggling to cope with the smartphone boom.

    This is going impact on the perceived value of stuff like the Vita here, which is a shame.</quote>

    The auction for the spectrum for LTE hasn't happened yet, for many reasons (including infighting between the MNOs). And it's not the 3G spectrum that's struggling, more the business case to upgrade/provide the masts and backhaul is weak.

  • RGDfleet #22 3 months ago

    I was a little sceptical about this until I read how cheap the PSN games are gonna be... under £5 for Motorstorm RC and Super Stardust for £6.49...damn! Tbh...it makes the £40 Uncharted seem even more over priced. I'm still buying it though...so I guess Sony weren't stupid there. xD

  • Darksjeik #23 3 months ago

    Seriously why on earth would anyone get the 3g, just use your phone as a wifi point

  • Ryze #24 3 months ago

    I'll salute Steve Jobs for fixing handheld game prices.

    Cheers, fella. Rest easy.

  • Ryze #25 3 months ago

    @Darksjeik

    GPS, if they think of getting Garmin to make some decent software.

  • rivuzu #26 3 months ago

    Sorry, I can't seem to find any information on this anywhere, so hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.

    The 3G, I get it's a PAYG 3G with Voda - but how does that break down in terms of usage? Is it a data allowance? A certain amount of time allowed to go online? Scarce information detailing how it's used and what it gets you anywhere.

    Edit: Just looking around Vodas site, £5 mobile internet top up seems to give you 500mb. That's pretty generous actually.
    Edited by rivuzu at 14/02/12 @ 10:21

  • Lunatic4ever #27 3 months ago

    Wanna know something about my value perception?
    I buy handheld because I see it as the smaller brother of consoles.
    In fact, my valuer perception is that the device itself has to cost less
    and so do the games. Now, when I play Drake's Deception on a PS3 I know it's a triple A game and I enjoy it like that.

    However, I don't think a £40 price tag is okay. Seriously, it's handheld, and my value perception is (of course influenced by all the apps) that a blockbuster vita title should never cost more than £25 pounds.

    For me it's simply crazy to pay close to £300 for a vita+memory card+plus a game.
    For that same price I could get a ps3 with uncharted and an additional controller. Of course that doesn't offer mobility but who am I kidding, I am not buying the Vita solely because I can take it with me everywhere, I will play most of the games at home anyways.

  • PixelPirate #28 3 months ago

    99p games ARE BACK BABY!

  • rivuzu #29 3 months ago

    @Lunatic4ever

    Finally, someone else talking sense.

    I thought the site had been over-run by people with more money than sense.