Publishers schtum on UK price increase

By Robert Purchese Published 21 July, 2009

Only EA openly responds to Activision's play.

Publishers are treading carefully following the UK price increase of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, opting for cautious, non-committal reaction.

When asked by Eurogamer whether they would follow Activision's lead, major publishers including Ubisoft and THQ declined to comment.

EA responded by telling Eurogamer, "There has been no change in our trade pricing policy and no change in RRP."

Activision has raised the suggested retail price of COD:MW2 to £54.99, and while retailers can price games as they please, any impact on them could be passed onto the consumer.

Activision blamed weak pound-to-Euro exchange rates and the rise in development costs for the need to raise its price.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (92) Latest comment 3 years ago

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

  • glo #1 3 years ago

    how greedy. looks like I won't be picking up this game at launch then.

  • jaguarwong #2 3 years ago

    When MW2 hits the stands at 55 notes and subsequently hits the number one slot everyone will soon follow suit.

    I'm sure all these multi million pound corporations have the consumers best interests at heart and will rush to reduce the prices when the economy recovers though...

  • cyacomini #3 3 years ago

    I havent paid more than £50 for a game since Sonic 3 on the Megadrive - that was a mistake I wont be repeating.

    I've said it before and i'll say it again, Activision can drink my baw sweat.

  • Garwoofoo #4 3 years ago

    Everything is half price within three weeks these days anyway, I'm sure I can wait.

  • Zomoniac #5 3 years ago

    Everything is half price within three weeks these days anyway

    Everything except games with "Call Of Duty" written on the front.

  • clearblue #6 3 years ago

    its 44.99 on amazon and play.com right now. i dont think many other games will get away with a 55 quid rrp (although MW2 probably will) at a time when most games get slashed down to ~25 quid a month after release.

  • carlitoswagon #7 3 years ago

    @cyacomini

    +1 'baw sweat'

  • Cappy #8 3 years ago

    Are they still citing increased development costs as a justification?

    We are well past that for this hardware generation, costs should already be coming down since the initial investment in new technologies is already done.

    Makes no difference to me. If I don't like the price, I don't buy. Simple as that.

  • Bitkari #9 3 years ago

    Other publishers = We're waiting to see how much this furore affects the sales of MW2 before we decide to copy them, or just leave our prices as is.

    EA = We have cojones.

  • LazyDan #10 3 years ago

    The prices won't go back down once the economy recovers, because it bloody didn't last time.

    Cartridges and the last recession were to 'blame' for games skyrocketing from £2-£10 at your local newsagent in the cassette days, but then the economy recovered and we moved on to CDs and DVDs - both infinetly cheaper to produce than cartridges - yet the prices didn't budge. For them to leave prices as they are is a massive insult, but this recent price hike is beyond words.

    I really hope the game fails to reach the top 10 and we tell them it's because of the price, but we all know that's not gonna happen.

  • BabyJesus #11 3 years ago

    We are already fleeced for retail products compared (currency wise) to most other western countries.

    Anyway they are using the economy as a an excuse to set a new benchmark for pricing of so called 'AAA' titles. If it works, other publishers will follow suit with their big hitters being priced similarly.

  • andijames #12 3 years ago

    Anyone remember paying £70 for turok on the N64 when it was released? I thought those days were behind us. I hope this doesn't set a presedence as they are running the risk of pricing consumers out of the market. The hardware costs us enough in the first place.

  • cheekyjay #13 3 years ago

    The unfortunate truth is that Activision can, and most likely will get away with this price hike, though it doesn't compare favourably to the US pricing (even with additional taxes, localisation and distribution costs factored in). Sure there'll be an internet backlash, but the game will still sell regardless.

    I wish the pricing could remain static, but the truth is that PS1 pricing back in 1994 was pretty much identical to new-game pricing now, that's 15 years of inflation that have had no direct hit on the the consumer. 15 years ago petrol was 49p, a pack of 20 Marlboro Lights was just over £3, and there was no London Congestion Charge - happier times! Yet games, with budgets often one tenth of what they are now, development cycles taking months not years, and average game crews numbering the 10s not the 100s, still cost roughly the same. Admittedly the market was considerably smaller, so overall profit for major games would have been less, but it seems almost surprising that it's taken so long for game pricing to see any major increase.

    Having said all that in Acti's defense, it's still hard not to see this large price hike as fairly cynical, seeing as they are blaming conversion rates, and only trialling this price change on a guarenteed seller, much as they did last Christmas with Guitar Hero's bundles. This is not the first time such drastic RRP changes have occured either. The first batch of N64 games retailed at around £50-£60, and eventually had to be adjusted back down to the usual £30-40 price when sales didn't take off as Nintendo had hoped.

    It's easy to feel hard done by with this, impossible not to see the move as cynical, yet similarly it's totally understandable that after 15 years, with far larger costs and time involved in development these days, that some increase would have to come eventually.

  • Monkey_Puncher #14 3 years ago

    £42.99 on Gameplay.com, seems about right to me.

  • mega7ech #15 3 years ago

    What a clever way to increase piracy. Yes Im sure there are valid arguements for both sides of the weak pound/euro debate but alot of folk dont really care about that, they just want to play the games and if they cant afford to buy them they will use pirated copies. It happened before when there was an increase in the number of people becoming interested in games with the launch of playstation. Now there is an increase again thanks to things like the Wii. More people playing games on whatever consoles will always mean more of the market piracy can affect but when prices are pushed to the point where the people buying those games legally feel they may be being ripped off, the more attractive a "pirated copy from the man in the pub" becomes. Before long every other person who plays games either has bought some pirated software or at least knows someone who has and it all starts to feel less wrong and more just how you normally aquire some of your games. And history will have repeated itself.....Hooray for the big greedy companies!!
    Edited by mega7ech at 21/07/09 @ 11:21

  • Mr_Brown #16 3 years ago

    Yep I sure do, but didn't Turok come with that chip or a rumble pack? I remember those days though when games cost around £49.99, at least some of them were worth it back then though.

    Have to agree, looks like publishers are taking the wait and see approach. If MW2 fails because of this, they will opt out, but knowing how stupid some of the games buying public are it will reach number one position. Most AAA games from then on will cost £55. I wondered when they would try and bump the price up again, didn't think they could get away with it mid generation. Guess I need a new hobby :-)

  • Xerx3s #17 3 years ago

    Fuck em, I will be buying games for a reasonable price or i won't be buying them at all. A simple matter of principle.

  • cyacomini #18 3 years ago

    "Anyone remember paying £70 for turok on the N64 when it was released?"

    Yup, I was working in a game store at the time of release - and if I remember correctly, it was also the first N64 title that didn't have on-cart memory so you had to lay out another £24.99 for a memory card if you wanted to save your game.

    I think we sold 2 copies - compared to about 100 for Mario64/Pilotwings.

    Price DOES matter.

  • OldK1ngCole #19 3 years ago

    Question is will this effect any of Activision's other titles like Bizzare Creations Blur?

  • phycus #20 3 years ago

    Considering the game engine appears to be pretty much the same as COD4 the "increased development costs" comment would appear to be a load of shite.

    Personally I think that Activision know this is the potential game of the year, has a huge following on 360 and PS3 so can quite happily charge what they like - people will pay.

    bottom line - Activision are out to make as much money as possible!
    Edited by phycus at 21/07/09 @ 11:28

  • Quak #21 3 years ago

    Ok let's cut through some bullshit here.

    Needing to increase the price because of the weak exchange rate is bollocks - why didn't they drop the prices when the pound was strong?

    Since they do now want to use exchange rates, how about they tell me how hardware seems to cost £200/$200? Is the exchange rate suddenly 1:1 when it's convenient?

  • JohnnyWashnGo #22 3 years ago

    In an ideal world, consumers would vote with their wallets and not buy stupidly expensive video games software.

    In the real world however, there is one born every minute and if you can sell plastic guitars and turntables for £100 or more, then selling software for over £50 is a giveaway.

    Hell, this is an industry where a major vender can sell crappy quality hardware that breaks down constantly and still get away with it. I doubt any other manufacturer could sell you duff hardware and simple offer you somebody elses refurbished sloppy seconds without being sued. Gamers are stupid and publishers know it.

    Me, I will be abstaining from this game and any other whose publishers think I will pony more than a couple hours wage for a game.

  • ChuckNorris #23 3 years ago

    @LazyDan

    Games on casette had a dev team of two people on average. Nowdays the same type of devs release their games on Steam/PSN/XBLA and the prices are as they were back in the day. Your comparison of the block-buster game prices released today with the ones during the commodore days is ridiculous. You can't expect AAA-titles to cost as little as Castle Crashers or Flower.

    Edit:
    But certain games are truly overcharged: Guitar Hero expansions full price for instance!? Give me a break. Serial produced updates/games is a far greater evil comming from Acti than the raising of the price of CoD.
    Edited by ChuckNorris at 21/07/09 @ 11:39

  • kar #24 3 years ago

    I would have picked this up at launch, but I can wait a few weeks for the price to drop quite way.

    It's not a big price rise, but few people pay full wack for games now anyway, let alone over 50 quid.

    So no, they can stuff that, I'll wait until it's cheaper or buy it second hand.

  • speedjack #25 3 years ago

    No flippin' way.

    Most I've ever paid for a game was £44.99 for GTAIV on launch day - and I felt content wise I got my money's worth.

    Now most games are half price ofr thereabouts within 8 weeks of launch, so this won't fly with the consumer or anyone else.

  • Nephirion #26 3 years ago

    EA in money grabbing shocker!!!

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #27 3 years ago

    Its fair to say the price of games hasnt really risen with inflation over the past 15 years, but the fact is thats because the games buying market has grown significantly since the start of PS1. This is why games have stayed at a similar pricing level not because the publishers were doing you a kindness.

    This price hike by activision is because they know it will sell like crazy anyway to the early adopters reguardless of the price and they will reduce the price when sales start to drop. The same that sony is doing with the new PSP GO.

    I Personally dont blame them they are in the business to make money, i will just wait a few months till the prices come down. Just because its out on a certain date doesnt mean your being forced at gun point to buy it on that date, just have some will power.

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #28 3 years ago

    Well me and the lads were a bit concerned over what we were going to be playing around the point of this release. Either Left 4 Dead 2 or MW 2....

    ...Looks like our mind's been made up for us. :)

  • What_Would_Leon_Do #29 3 years ago

    Im on a seriously tight budget as it is, i'm really worried about this. I want the game but i just can't afford it. Its not cool.

  • curtlikesmeat #30 3 years ago

    Do not want.

    It´s been a long time since I paid over 30 quid for a game and it won´t start now. I´ve been waiting for Street Fighter IV to drop into the low 20s and the time is almost nigh for a purchase! Like that old advert with Anthony Stewart Head and Ketchup - good things come to those who wait!

  • db3 #31 3 years ago

    Unbelievable!
    The games industry continually moans about piracy and trade-ins and yet are blind to the fact that this is driven by ridiculous prices. £55 F'ing quid for a game, you've got to be joking. These days I'll wait for something to come under £30 online or trade-in....and I'm not short of a few bob.

    Get game prices down to Bu-ray levels and maybe people will consider collecting them again.
    Activision go spin.

  • Teamallstar #32 3 years ago

    I know that I may be the only one to say this, but I have no problem with paying £55 for a triple AAA game which has had many millions spent on it and has thousands of hours of re-playability with an amazing online multiplayer!

    What annoys me is the way that movie tie in games which have been thrown together in two months by three blokes with little or no talent are charged and will be charged at the same amount!

    The truth is that cod modern warfare 2 is probably worth the extra £5, but the uninformed British public will get screwed on the 95% of other games that aren't!

  • b00n #33 3 years ago

    Not that the reactions here aren't totally justified, but to give you an example to put it into perspective: a lot of the retailers in Belgium currently price 'normal' console games very often around 55 GBP and quite frequently even up to 59 GBP, for example for Killzone 2, but also for totally useless movie-to-game crap (using the current exchange rate euro-gbp).

    So yea, i just do what everybody should: wait until price drops, or shop online with the UK people on play.com, amazon or similar.

  • alimokrane #34 3 years ago

    THANK GOODNESS for online retailers. As for Modern Warfare 2, they can forget my wallet, It wont fold. I will buy that certain game instead from a publicher that isnt trying to screw me over!
    Edited by alimokrane at 21/07/09 @ 11:59

  • schachmatt #35 3 years ago

    Did Rob sneeze while writing the title? Gesundheit!
    Mute is stumm, by the way.

  • jonsaan #36 3 years ago

    This will be nothing to the reaction they get when they hit us with subscription based gaming for updates and new maps.

  • holloguts #37 3 years ago

    I think the price for cod 6 is just greed. I wil wait a few months and pick up a used copy. I would have bought new at the normal price, but sheer greed because of the success of COD 4 is what this is all about, not the economy. How about hiring decent coders who can code without half of it being full of bugs?

    When the economy was strong I didn't notice the price drop to £29.99, or the price rise in other countries when the £ was strongert than the $. This is greed because they know they can get away with it in the UK because there is no-one going to contest it. They will just ignore the complaints.

    I'll wait for a used copy, it will still be expensive, but Infinity Ward won't benefit from my purchase.

  • ChuckNorris #38 3 years ago

    @Teamallstar

    "but I have no problem with paying £55 for a triple AAA game"

    Triple AAA = AAAAAAAAA!

    I wouldn't mind paying an extra fiver for a triple AAA game either! ;)

  • RexRunti #39 3 years ago

    People are getting a little confused by what RRP actually means. It's the recommended retail price, not the actual retail price. The RRP for new games these days is £50, however due to retailer discounting we normally pay between £40 and £45 for a new game (from a real shop internet ones discount more). However this means we are likely to have to pay between £45 and £50 for MW2 (and I suspect it'll be the latter).

    Of course increased development costs is bollocks, it's a sequel. Euro to Pound values is irrelevant as the game was developed and produced in the US not mainland Europe. But manufactuing and shipping I here Activision claim, I doubt the manufacturing of a DVD and shipping to the UK costs even 50p a game let alone enough to justify a whopping 10% increase in the total price.

  • Fightclubber #40 3 years ago

    There is no way im paying that much for the same arseing game for the 5th time. Cod hasn't changed since pissing cod 2, just the same old shitting re hash again and again. The promise of infinity ward actually writing a.i code for the game does hold promise.
    At the moment it looks like cod 4 1.5 and cod 4 was a frustrating over hyped pile of.

  • bad09 #41 3 years ago

    Seeing as I no longer buy at launch and now not even retail (using swapgame to rent and buy the odd game I want to keep), I couldn't care less what Acti does, who's watching or how much they want RRP to be. The only new money they get off me is for downloads and only then full games now.

    £55 RRP lol.

  • actionfitz #42 3 years ago

    Think I've already said in another thread that I'll be buying a preowned copy of this game - Even if I can only find one thats the same price as a new copy.
    - As such. not a penny of the money I pay will go to Activision (and regretably Infinity ward to, which is regretable but meh).
    Better that than piracy imo.

    ---

    I'd like to close with quote from Mr Bobby Kotick:
    ""I'm getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don't make it easy for me to support the platform," he said. "It's expensive to develop for the console"

    dick much Bobby?
    Edited by actionfitz at 21/07/09 @ 12:28

  • Caisenhob #43 3 years ago

    In this case, the used games market I normally avoid looks annoyingly enticing

  • Moz #44 3 years ago

    I love how they try to blame euro-pound rates and ignore the dollar. At current rates it's the equivilant of $90!! (Game stop are selling it $59.99) So definately importing is the way to on this one if you have the option.

  • Brodie #45 3 years ago

    I picked up CoD 4 on region free 360 import a few weeks after UK release, for around £25 I seem to recall. Was a decent price for a game I was unlikely to get the benefit of the online play from (I'm not a big online gamer)

    What's the betting this one WON'T be region free? Would love to play it, as I KNOW I'll enjoy it, but I just can't lay out that much for a game anymore. Responsibility sucks :D

  • MrChuckles #46 3 years ago

    The prices are so high as the publishers/developers need to get a bigger slice of the pie when the first version of each game sells. Shops don't mind as they can sell the same copy of the game 3-4 times and make a good £100 profit out of it. As it only gets sold new once, they now have to make as much money as possible from it then.

  • MrChuckles #47 3 years ago

    Of course the best way to make money off it is to release it for £15 and you get the first half of teh game. You then pay £15 worth of xbox live points to unlock the other half. Consumers are happy as they pay £30 for a full game and the publisher is happy as they make at least £15 from a trade in.

    Retail are fucked off as their profit margin on pre-owned drops from £20 a pop to around £5.

  • Buztafen #48 3 years ago

    The problem is, with the RRP being £54.99 the knock on effect will be that the general public will start to think games priced at 44.99 are a good deal because of the £10 'discount'. Other publishers will see this and follow suit.

  • bad09 #49 3 years ago

    "The prices are so high as the publishers/developers need to get a bigger slice of the pie when the first version of each game sells. Shops don't mind as they can sell the same copy of the game 3-4 times and make a good £100 profit out of it. As it only gets sold new once, they now have to make as much money as possible from it then. "

    Ah the 2nd hand market of evil. Do you not think those sales of 2nd hand would not be so numerous if new games were cheaper? Isn't strange how people will pay £20-£25 but struggle at £35-40.

    Trying to justify high prices by moaning about people who can't afford to buy their games at silly pricing in the first place is a bit pointless.

  • insincere_dave #50 3 years ago

    I'll borrow this from someone stupid enough to pay full whack!

  • MrChuckles #51 3 years ago

    'Ah the 2nd hand market of evil. Do you not think those sales of 2nd hand would not be so numerous if new games were cheaper? Isn't strange how people will pay £20-£25 but struggle at £35-40. '

    Nope, if a game was in the shop for £20-£25 but a 2nd hand copy was pushed at me for £10-£15, i'd still buy the 2nd hand one.

    if you lower the basic price, you lower the 2nd hand price and GAME or whoever still get a bigger cut. It just means that the new copies generate even less money than they do at £30-£35.

    Ok, so some hardcore gamers might think 'right, i'll pay for a new copy now it is under £30' but mr chav on the street (who we all know is now the largest market, not us hardcore dudes) will just buy the cheapest copy available, especially in the current economic climate.

    I'm sure this'll also draw negative feedback, but it is the truth unfortunately.

  • FortysixterUK #52 3 years ago

    Well I can see this game being pirated to buggery on xbox and PC simply due to the ridiculous price hike.
    If this is the way the games industry is going with game prices, sales will drop, second hand markets will increase...oh and I think I said it, so will piracy.
    IMO games were already too expensive ( at £39.99 retail ) and frankly, all new games should be priced at £19.99 per format, as I am sure the reduced price would more than make up for it in increased sales.
    Modern Warfare will not be on my to buy list ( unlike every other COD game to date ) , but usual bopught when on offer anyway.
    I've also noticed that the "deal of the week" titles are not as good as they used to be, with many titles being £24.99 instead of the buyer friendly £19.99. Frankly, I think it's time for a clean out of the games industy , let it all collapse ( like the retail shop music industy is going too ) and start again.

  • Chigorin #53 3 years ago

    So Activision expect Sony to cut the price of the PS3 in a time of economic crisis and yet they think it's OK to raise the prices of their top titles?

  • j1m.ch053n #54 3 years ago

    this is an easy decision, having been one of the thousands affected by the credit crunch, i wouldnt be buying this if it was £14.99 let alone £54.99 my only worry is that the games i actually want later in the year will get this same treatment

  • RustyBullet #55 3 years ago

    There are only three words that can show how I feel about the obsurd price of MW2. FUCK RIGHT OFF

  • ukdm #56 3 years ago

    There's one thing that annoys me just as much as the price increase... It doesn't matter how much they price the game at the developer will never get more than a couple of quid per sale. These price hikes benefit the publisher and the retailer no one else. At least 40% of the price goes to the retailer so I suspect places like GAME may go up to £50 just to make an extra few quid themselves.

    I know this won't happen, but I'd love to see everyone wait a week before they buy it. Publishers and retailers would be sweating buckets trying to understand what happened :-)

  • Zomoniac #57 3 years ago

    Well I can see this game being pirated to buggery on xbox and PC simply due to the ridiculous price hike.

    Much as I'd like it to, it won't be. The reason the 360 version is guaranteed 5 million day one sales is because of the multiplayer, which is why this is the one game that has the ability to pull this off.

  • sneetch #58 3 years ago

    "Activision blamed weak pound-to-Euro exchange rates and the rise in development costs for the need to raise its price."

    What the hell does the pound to Euro exchange rate have to do with anything... I guess they don't want us Euro-zoners buying our games from the UK for half-nothing anymore. :(

    Edit: oh and it sucks for you guys in the UK too, ofc.
    Edited by sneetch at 21/07/09 @ 13:18

  • bad09 #59 3 years ago

    @MrChuckles

    I see what your saying but really, how many games do we all just say "meh I'll wait until it's cheap or 2nd hand". Maybe....just maybe if games were cheaper piracy and 2nd hand wouldn't be the "problem" some like to pretend it is now. Plus add to that £20-£25 is in the impulse buy price range.

    Either way £55 RRP is a sure fire way to increase both piracy and 2nd hand (although probably more piracy in Cod6's case as COD4 was practically impossible to find 2nd hand!).
    Edited by bad09 at 21/07/09 @ 13:24

  • hiddenranbir #60 3 years ago

    Very weak reasoning with the exchange rate. It isn't exactly phenomenal and basically within acceptable fluctuations.

    Sadly, however, I don't think our small numbers of refusing to buy will matter. MW2 will sell lots, set a precedent that we gamers are complete tools and will buy whatever price they set.

    I'll be waiting a while, now, to play this. :(
    Edited by hiddenranbir at 21/07/09 @ 13:30

  • Sunyavadin #61 3 years ago

    Online retailers will take the high street stores to the fucking cleaners if they don't suck up the costs themselves. And of course, the publisher will then be faced with less chance of the stores stocking their products in future. I expect if they continue with pushing these "suggested" retail prices, they'll lose half their business within about 18 months and EA will buy them off Vivendi for a fraction of what the original deal cost.
    Edited by Sunyavadin at 21/07/09 @ 13:40

  • gynsu2000 #62 3 years ago

    Brits should consider themselves lucky with the price of games. On the other side of the Channel, price tag is 65-70 EUR.
    In instance Overlord 2 on 360 is sold 65 EUR (56£) on Amazon.fr and 70 EUR (60£) on Micromania.fr (largest french game retailer).

  • hiddenranbir #63 3 years ago

    I just noticed this means the PC price will be £40 with Amazon UK offering it for £30.

    So...actually, I'm not too much angry any more since the PC price isn't as high as I thought...

    However in solidarity I will withhold a sale!

  • Sunyavadin #64 3 years ago

    Brits should consider themselves lucky with the price of games. On the other side of the Channel, price tag is 65-70 EUR.

    Yeah, but Europe has more reliable fast internet connections over a wider area. So they have an easier time of switching over fully from retail to piracy, as it is clearly Activision's intent to facilitate. :p
    Edited by Sunyavadin at 21/07/09 @ 13:38

  • etherfiend #65 3 years ago

    I don't play multiplayer online pvp games so this will go right by me. To me, the replayability of the game determines the value of the price I'd be willing to pay. Considering I tend to play an awful lot of horde on GoW2 I have certainly got my monies worth out of that purchase. I'd happily pay more for such a title, and likewise if the gazillions of CoD obsessed FPS'ers will play this for literally weeks or months of playtime then the price may well be justified. People like me who spend 4 hours on the single player just wont buy it at that price, it isnt value for money.

    However after being burnt by a couple of games that lacked longevity I've 100% moved to renting all games I fancy first and then buying if they are really worth it...thus far none have managed that as I've either been bored or completed them by the end of the rental period (terminator salvation being the most laughable 1000g's ever and a waste of 6 hours of my life). That said the games that I would have bought after rental if I'd done this from day one would be: blue dragon, lost odyssey, mass effect, gears 2 and burnout revenge.

    I still struggle to understand why (although they often arrive later) the PC games are so much cheaper when the games are, as a rule, better on the PC (higher resolutions, smoother framrates, etc) than the console brethren.

  • bad09 #66 3 years ago

    "Yeah, but Europe has more reliable fast internet connections over a wider area. So they have an easier time of switching over fully from retail to piracy, as it is clearly Activision's intent to facilitate. :p"

    LOL! :)

  • brazzauk #67 3 years ago

    Activision are a joke company when it comes to milking the consumer. Look at all the Guitar Hero disks they keep pumping up. They are nothing more than glorified DLC. I bought Fallout 3 for PS3 for a tenner now thats value!

  • gynsu2000 #68 3 years ago

    Yeah, but Europe has more reliable fast internet connections over a wider area. So they have an easier time of switching over fully from retail to piracy, as it is clearly Activision's intent to facilitate. :p

    *nods* :)

  • BabyJesus #69 3 years ago

    Regardless of if its sold at RRP or not, the point is in principle for me, they are trying to set a new benchmark here for 'AAA' titles as I said before. They are the first ones to try because COD4 was and is a blockbuster with a very dedicated install base. Plus after they became ActiBlizz they are a moneymaking monster, a quick look at their wikipedia entry reveals 2.9 Billion profit last year and can afford to take a dip in the water to see how much they can drain out of the consumer.

    It will succeed and other publishers will take the jump after Acti has tested the water.

    Remember the article a while back, with Activision looking at using a MMO type sub service for COD? This is the first step to that for them especially since they now have Blizzard.

  • Sunyavadin #70 3 years ago

    I still struggle to understand why (although they often arrive later) the PC games are so much cheaper when the games are, as a rule, better on the PC (higher resolutions, smoother framrates, etc) than the console brethren.

    It's very simple really.

    As the ability to replicate something increases, there is a corresponding decrease in value. Look at the prices some VHS tapes commanded back in the 80s, when owning two players in order to copy stuff was rather expensive. And look how the prices of those dropped the more the film in question appeared on TV, because more people taped it off there. Same with DVDs. A just released film which would have cost £20 when DVD first launched, you can now often pick up for a fiver. What it delivers is not rare, anyone can grab it off the net, often in higher quality as any adverts will be removed, so the value is lower. Same with crop prices in developing nations as they improve their agricultural infrastructure, same with Oil prices after the US "secured" Iraq's oilfields, same with everything.

    PC games are easier to copy than console games. So they're worth less.
    Edited by Sunyavadin at 21/07/09 @ 14:01

  • AphoticCosmos #71 3 years ago

    Further proof that EA is getting everything so so right, whilst Actiblizz is the new unloved [and deservedly so] bastard of the gaming industry.

  • slave23d #72 3 years ago

    i smell...............................BUULLSHEEEEEEIT

  • penhalion #73 3 years ago

    While I'm not naeve enough to think that a lot of you will happily rush out and buy MW 2. Probably pushing it to no.1 and dooming the rest of us to higher prices. I'm sticking to my principals on this one. Activision will not get a penny out of me for MW2 until it retails for the 39.99 that I'm expecting.

    I have no interest in footing their higher dev costs as I have no say in what they spend their money on and therefore have no interest in being billed for whatever nonsense their accounts show at the end of the year. Game sales are already falling and such a short sighted move can only succeed in causing them to fall further. I'm old enough to remember back to the first console crash back in the nintendo days, when seemingly well run companies like Atari priced themselves right out of business. They too believed that they could effectively charge customers anything they liked for their wares. Pity those same customers simply went off and spent their money on other stuff instead.

  • sebsal #74 3 years ago

    I doubt other publishers will follow suit as their games just won't sell at that price. COD is extrememly popular so they can get away with it but I think consumers will think twice about purchases if it becomes the norm

  • spidermanalf #75 3 years ago

    Activision tend to be region free on 360. So probably playasia for me!

    Or the argos 20% off on preorders (already preordered SCell Conviction for 30quid)!

    Oh and gynsu2000, buy your games from play.com, they do free worldwide delivery!

  • miiiguel #76 3 years ago

    Don't take me wrong, but Ican't understand most of the reasons of you guys. Well, I do, it's the number, the figure alone that outrageous thee, where the point should be: this is a product that is going to be retailed (which is another "not so true" issue, as my copy is pre-ordered for 45 pounds) for a price and I need to know if I can afford it, and if it deserves its price. Maybe you think you can pay 20 pounds for shitty game number 28 but find this too expensive, even if you play it after two years and think its a top quality product.
    That said, the idea that games should be priced like packs of cigarretes are wrong, they are not all the same. Then there's another issue, some ppl think that video-games are a necessity goods and therefor, we, who live in the Social Europe are entitled to have it, either we have the money or not. Well, this is wrong.

  • skillian #77 3 years ago

    A search for Modern Warfare 2 on Argos only finds the DS game, no console or PC versions. Maybe they've changed their minds too after hearing about the price hike?

  • djed #78 3 years ago

    Pay per Hype. This way the mainstream schmucks can pay through their nose for their latest ADHD trip while I, part of the avantgarde elite, can enjoy reasonably priced works of art.

    @miguel
    Becoming addicted to culture is not a choice here in SOCIALIST EUROPE (lol). If you've never been addicted to culture you're either in jail, an insane asylum or living on the streets.
    Edited by djed at 21/07/09 @ 17:03

  • sneetch #79 3 years ago

    @gynsu2000
    Brits should consider themselves lucky with the price of games. On the other side of the Channel, price tag is 65-70 EUR.
    In instance Overlord 2 on 360 is sold 65 EUR (56£) on Amazon.fr and 70 EUR (60£) on Micromania.fr (largest french game retailer).

    Well, the pound being in the toilet at the moment has no bearing on the matter of how much disposable income the average Brit has. Raising the price seems a bit odd to me, they're killing their own market. Maybe they think that MW2 is a must buy. Maybe they're right (for many people) I remember them trying to sell the first one on Steam to Europeans for $70. I doubt many bought it.

    As for the expense of ordering through French sites I'd recommend you order off play.com or one of the other UK/Channel island companies. Overlord 2 is only 52€ from there.

  • Latster #80 3 years ago

    To all those saying they will wait until the price drops before picking it up...good luck! You can still find CoD4 in shops at £40, which is the price it's been since it came out! It didn't even drop for the Christmas sales! I think the console version went down to £30 for a while from play/amazon etc, but that didn't last long.

    £55 is far too much to charge, we all know a lot of people will still buy it, but hopefully a lot of people will be put off as they have too many christmas presents to buy to justify it, unless of course its going to be used as a present. It's a shame HMV grabbed the exclusive rights to the prestige version, I have the nagging suspicion that play would have done it £20 cheaper.

  • SeesThroughAll #81 3 years ago

    I'm glad that there is a nice cheap online game in BF1943, as I certainly refuse to pay the proposed absurd amount of money for one copy of MW2.
    They press a hardware manufacturer to drop the console price, and then pull this stunt, screwing consumers? Hypocrites! They did the impossible: EA look like saints in comparison now!

    PS: Fuck you, Activivion, you filthy, greedy, two-faced bastards! I will cease to buy any game from Activision, until they are the cheapest you can find.

  • Invisible_Cow #82 3 years ago

    It's just market economics; the optimum price point for a highly-anticipated title is obviously greater than an average one. TBH, I'm surprised they haven't priced it at £60.. I'm sure most fans would pay that. The only people who won't are the people who genuinely can't (very few) and the people who weren't especially interested in the first place (who probably wouldn't have bought it straight away anyway). I'm personally in the latter camp.

    The price increase doesn't really bother me (yes, it's greedy, but who isn't?), I just wish they'd just admit why, rather than talking patent bullshit about exchange rates.

  • ChadSexington #83 3 years ago

    "Activision blamed rampant greed and a fan base willing to pay anything for a brilliant game for the increase in price."

  • niteninja #84 3 years ago

    Activision can fuck off.

    All that needs to be said really.
    Edited by niteninja at 21/07/09 @ 19:46

  • monkeywithnoeyes #85 3 years ago

    its a shame that people will buy MW2 (which lets be honest looks adverage at best in whats been shown so far) regardless of how high its priced. All this does is open the flood gates for others to set their games priced higher.. which frankly will simply result in more trade in's, more rentals, more piracy.

    I wish gamers would be able to restrain themselves from buying MW2 as a day one purchase... simply waiting a week will speak volumes

  • Lamb #86 3 years ago

    The prestige edition of Modern Warfare 2 is £120 thats with the game and a pair of night vision goggles.

    I would be averse to buying that or even spending more than £35 and thats only on a game where I really really got to have it now. Most games I don't even purchase unless they are less than £25.

    And lately I've gotten spoiled by the recent HMV sale picking up Kane & Lynch for £6, Heavenly Sword for £7, Virtua Tennis 3 for £8. Granted two of those games are over two years old but the market has to not only compete against itself but also against its back catalog for residual sales.

    So while I have nothing against Activision who have made so many awesome games in the past including my favorite the original Mechwarrior they cannot dictate the market when there is an abundance of competition.

  • Sar #87 3 years ago

    £55?

    Ain't paid that for a game since Virtua Racing on the fucking Megadrive!

    No Sale Acti!

  • nexus90 #88 3 years ago

    Do none of you guys have any commercial acumen at all???? Amazing.....

    OK so first of all, obsessing over an SRP is a total RED HERRING. SRP's can be manipulated by companies based on how they calculate their margin (discount) to retal. If you care to check on-line you will see that GAME, amazon, PLAy etc are ALL offering MW2 for £45, so ENOUGH with the £55 obsession, It is MISLEADING.

    Secondly do you all think that the Activision fat cats are sitting on their arses counting their money as all they publish is COD? Utter bollox - open you eyes. They have a TOTAL BUSINESS to manage and probably have some ground to make up from recent dismall launches of Ice Age 3 and Monsters vs Aliens earlier in the year. This is called "staying in business". I know - it is a tough concept to grasp when you don't have an education.

    Third of all, IW don't come cheap. They've worked on MW2 for almost 2 years now (since MW1 shipped) and IW developers won't come cheap. Most of us on here will have spent 30 / 40 / 50+ hours playing COD SP or MP so why the hell don;t you just shut the hell up, stump up the extra £5 and say thank you very much for making such quality games Mr Activision. Alternatively, why don''t you piss right off, miss one of the best gaming experiences going and listen to the news that Activision are making redundancies and will be halving the development budget for COD 2010.

  • monkeywithnoeyes #89 3 years ago

    @nexus90, 2 years games developement.. you say that like its a long time, 2 yrs is nothing for games developement...and lets not forget that Activision flog the Call of duty franchise annually - making millions from each.. this supports their developement studios.

    Also like you said this IS a business move.. it has nothing to do with "the weak pound"..Ice age 3, Monster v's Aliens, did not have an rrp of £55 stamped on them. MW2 does simply because they know they can get away with it.. Activision pretending different is whats insulting.

    Only an extra fiver..true. But ofcourse when it sells in the millions regardless of that extra fiver it then sets a president for all over big releases (especially round holiday seasons) to raise their prices. £55rrp is a "red herring" but it takes nothing from the fact that you will still be paying MORE than you would of been regardless of the outlet you get it from because the rrp is higher. People using throw away remarks like "its only a fiver" is why DLC is in such a piss take of a state.. its why silly people buy alternative costumes for ST4 as dlc when in every other edition of the franchise they would of been on the disc..and its why publishers can get away with shit like that which ultimately effects all who take an interest in the game.

    If Activision ever make redundancies it wont be through people missing out on the game it will be through the way those people get the game. Exploiting the fact that they know this games gonna sell will hopefully back fire through people buying it second hand, prefering to rent it, downloading it illegally - all things that are supposedly killing the games industry, and all things you wont fight by raising the price of your games.

  • UncleLou #90 3 years ago

    I still struggle to understand why (although they often arrive later) the PC games are so much cheaper when the games are, as a rule, better on the PC (higher resolutions, smoother framrates, etc) than the console brethren.

    "PC games are easier to copy than console games. So they're worth less." [/i]

    No, that's not the reason. With console games, the platform holder gets a large slice. With every 360 game you buy, 1/3rd or 1/4th goes directly to Microsoft as a license fee, not to the publisher or developer. As there's no "owner" of the PC platform, such a fee doesn't exist.

  • neems #91 3 years ago

    I reckon it'll sell bucket loads at the new price, but everybody else will just keep the same pricing. Just because Cod6 can sell at a premium doesn't mean everything can.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #92 3 years ago

    No problem with spending £50 on cutting edge games, done it since the Super Famicom and PS1 days, but I will be forced to buy less.
    Is this cutting edge though?