Modern Warfare 2 costs GBP 55

By Robert Purchese Published 17 July, 2009

Correction: NFS Shift priced normally.

(Correction: This story originally stated that Need for Speed: Shift would retail for a higher-than-usual price in the UK, but this is not the case. "There has been no change in our trade pricing policy and no change in RRP," the publisher told us on Friday. Shift is available for GBP 44.99 from GAME or can be purchased as a Collector's Edition with added extras. We sincerely regret the error.)

Activision has confirmed that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will arrive this autumn with a suggested retail price of GBP 54.99, as a weak pound and record development costs take their toll. Their toll of GBP 54.99, to be specific.

Other publishers are expected to follow suit, claims MCV.

"You can't continue to trade as normal when the biggest territory in Europe has seen cost of goods increase by 30 per cent due to the strengthening of the Euro. Publishers somehow need to offset this drastic increase in costs," commented THQ's publishing boss Ian Curran.

Nintendo addressed the issue in March by pushing the price of the Wii to 199.99 - a price hike of around 20 quid.

The problem comes, however, if and when the pound returns to strength. Do those already established trade prices then drop?

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.

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

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Comments (232) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • mkreku #1 3 years ago

    55 quid? Modern warfare against us consumers, perhaps.

  • George-Roper #2 3 years ago

    LOL!

    They don't really expect people to accept that weak excuse to cash in on the popularity of COD4, do they? What a bunch of jokers!

  • KayJay #3 3 years ago

    disgusting!

  • stampax #4 3 years ago

    Fair enough - game prices havn't increased in price in ages, in fact they have gone down generally thanks to buying online. I seem to remember spending this much on n64 games years ago.

  • oxymoron #5 3 years ago

    I pre-ordered this from amazon.co.k and i think they have a price promise gaurantee, that they don't change the price if it goes up, they do change it if it comes down though.

    i think, anyone know for sure?

  • Bursiene #6 3 years ago

    Absolute shit greedy C**ts

  • breedob #7 3 years ago

    Heard this yesterday, guess i'll just pre-order on play for £44.99

  • chanderzz #8 3 years ago

    The recession hasn't affected any other games prices and im sure recently i read the pound was up against the dollar again, surely there should be a price hike there to?

    I call money grabbing bastards!

  • BBIAJ #9 3 years ago

    Ouch! I guess the Prestige Edition is going to cost a ludicrous amount then!?

    And what of Play.com's Assassin's Creed II: Black Edition I wonder? That's currently at £69.99...

  • skillian #10 3 years ago

    The problem comes, however, if and when the pound returns to strength. Do those already established trade prices then drop?

    Well of course they will. When the pound was massively strong and worth more than $2 I remember all our game prices dropping drastically as a result, right?

  • AphoticCosmos #11 3 years ago

    Weak pound?

    What? Against the dollar, the currency of the nation with a deficit of several trillion?

    It's been rising almost non-stop against the dollar for half a year. I don't see any other publishers or developers deciding to increase the price by a whopping £15 because of currency fluctuations. I'm definitely calling bullshit on this one. I've cancelled my pre-order anyway. I'm not going to give any money to the bastards at Actiblizz, and I'm not paying their absurd prices.
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 09:10

  • Steroyd #12 3 years ago

    The weak pound eh? It has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with a COD title capable of selling 10 million worldwide then.

  • Mooglepies #13 3 years ago

    DO WHAT YOU WANT COS A PIRATE IS FREE, etc.

    In seriousness, PC version hasn't changed price so far so will pick it up on that.

  • UncleLou #14 3 years ago

    Entirely their business to set the price to what they want, but seeing how the RRP in the €-zone is higher than for other games as well, the weak pound is an, er, weak excuse.

    Not the first time Activision do this, btw. The PC version of Quantum of Solace, and another Activision game 8forgot which one now) were 59,- € as well in some shops (while PC games usually are between 40 and 50 € max).
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 09:13

  • jaluuk #15 3 years ago

    The annoying thing is that they know people will buy MW2 anyway. Now Need for Speed Shift I can happily ignore...

  • Grump #16 3 years ago

    I remember the good old days when full price was £9.99 (on cassette). You could even get some decent quality titles for £1.99!

    Yes I am old.

  • Perfecto #17 3 years ago

    It's expensive and they know it won't be in the bargain bins for a good 2 years. They have priced it high because they know theres a massive demand for it. Activision strikes again. This high price point does mean however that I won't be buying it until it at least resembles a standard game price.

  • dynarama #18 3 years ago

    They can charge what they want, but i will never pay more than 30 quid for a game ever again.

    Patience I got, money I haven't!

  • Kratos1986 #19 3 years ago

    Then they complain about piracy.

    To be fair though Activision are losing hundreds of millions every quarter and haven't made a profit in a long time.

    Most of the development studios are losing a lot of money and half way to being shut down.

    I believe only Valve and Blizzard posted profits the last 2 quarters with every other developer losing money(apart from Nintendo of course).

  • nottingham01 #20 3 years ago

    greedy load of shit heads

  • cyacomini #21 3 years ago

    Dear Activision,

    Kindly suck my balls.

    Many thanks

    ---------------------------

    Absolute nonsense and a very (VERY!) lame excuse in attempt to cover it up. They know this will sell bucket loads and this behaviour can only be called profiteering.

    Tis a sad day for gamers.

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #22 3 years ago

    All this has done is hampered getting it from shops on release day - Between Amazon, Play, Shopto and those achivement warriors that WILL trade it in within the week give it a month or two it'll drop and places like HMV/Game(station) will have in on 'star buy' offer or something..

    At least it's somthing to add to my Lovefilm list

  • Bursiene #23 3 years ago

    Tempted to preorder this at argos for £35.99 however it wont be delivered on the day of release. What to do?!
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 09:15

  • Steroyd #24 3 years ago

    I don't see any other publishers or developers deciding to increase the price by a whopping £15 because of currency fluctuations. I'm definitely calling bullshit on this one.

    It's increased by £5, the RRP for all games is £50 but in-stores usually sell it for £45 or £40 even less with online retail.

  • liverpoolfc #25 3 years ago

    one word BOYCOTT
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 09:20

  • shamblemonkee #26 3 years ago

    55 quid. lol. no buy.

  • cencloud #27 3 years ago

    increased costs? arnt they using the COD MW Engine? so they just made new content around it and charge a extra 15 pound? bollocks! currency fluctuations don't account for a 15 pound difference.

  • Widge #28 3 years ago

    "Activision are going to have to cut their prices or else I will have to stop supporting them"

    According the Activision logic.

  • Steroyd #29 3 years ago

    one word boycott

    two words Online shopping

  • 4thVariety #30 3 years ago

    They simply want to stop the current trend of many people on the continent importing from the UK. Ordering on Amazon.uk will usually be at least 20% cheaper than buying at any store. Since it is the EU, no restrictions apply and why would anybody have himself overcharged?

  • Zomoniac #31 3 years ago

    Absolutely nothing Activision do can surprise me any more. I urge everyone to wait a few weeks and buy it second hand to ensure that Activision don't get a penny. I would sooner download a copy and send a cheque for £40 to Infinity Ward and tell them to distribute it amongst the development staff than contribute to the wallets of the fucking scum that run Activision.

  • cyacomini #32 3 years ago

    "i dont give a fuck what they charge - i'll be downloading it and playing it for nothing, most likely a few days before retail anyway"

    Which probably also contributes to the rest of us having to pay arse over elbow - thanks for that.

    Idiot.

  • glottis0 #33 3 years ago

    I take it the steam version will still be normal price then, given that the production costs have not changed?

  • youhavenomail #34 3 years ago

    Are these the jokers who petulantly demanded a PS3 price-cut?

  • Machetazo #35 3 years ago

    Hahahahaha!
    Now they can fully get stuffed. They dumb down from the last game, and now want to charge me more to experience that carp?
    Seriously?!

    OpFlash2 all the way, now. Flaming Activision - right back in my bad books.
    Anyone else thinking of doing this: Second-hand looking increasingly attractive, once the goalposts are changed in this way.

  • Dizzy #36 3 years ago

    Grab the money!!!!

  • WiseGuy #37 3 years ago

    Kinda expected this, as others have said tho should be able to pick it up online for £45 somewhere which is more reaonable. Id say this and any subsequent GTA games are the only 2 (i can think of for sure of the top of my head) that could probably pull off of a £55 price.

    To put into context for myself tho, i remember handing over £70 of my xmas money for Street Fighter turbo on the 3D0 in Jan 94/95!
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 09:23

  • peteb #38 3 years ago

    Every time a publisher does this, I will choose to buy the game second hand. TAKE THAT!

  • UncleLou #39 3 years ago

    i dont give a fuck what they charge - i'll be downloading it and playing it for nothing, most likely a few days before retail anyway.

    Only cowards freeload. Proper men shoplift and support the industry that way.

  • LowEnergyCycle #40 3 years ago

    I guess I'm waiting until this is cheeper in the second-hand shelves then.

    Of course, that way the greedy bastards get NONE of my money. An added bonus.

  • Steroyd #41 3 years ago

    Are these the jokers who petulantly demanded a PS3 price-cut?

    Even better is that they actually said they'd consider not supporting the PS3.

  • homerramone #42 3 years ago

    Buggered if im going to pay an extra £5 to get this in the first month.
    £5 extra for the privelidge of the online lagging, and bieng swamped with campers desperate to be the first to get a gold cross. no thanks.

  • skillian #43 3 years ago

    I would sooner download a copy and send a cheque for £40 to Infinity Ward and tell them to distribute it amongst the development staff

    I have considered doing this before. What do you think would happen, anyone ever tried this?

  • bad09 #44 3 years ago

    55? Y

  • grantw01 #45 3 years ago

    lol this is gonna go one of two ways, 1. people will fork out the extra cash 2. the game wont sell and activision will go "noooooooo"

  • Fab4 #46 3 years ago

    Bend over and scream "Let's Do This!" ;)

  • skillian #47 3 years ago

    I predict outcome 1.

  • collateral89 #48 3 years ago

    it wont b 55pound at all this is just bullshit. it might b 4 the steel box edition.

  • EvilBob_leeds #49 3 years ago

    Weak pound .... naked profiteering ... whatever. Since Activision is an American company, did they dish out the savings to the European market when the dollar was as weak as nuns piss? Nope. Greedy yank wankers.

  • Xerx3s #50 3 years ago

    53 euro on thehut.com.

  • Wyrm #51 3 years ago

    Key phrase - RRP. It isn't going to sell for that. Play.com are selling it now at £45, which is the maximum of what you'd expect for a game of this stature.

  • peteb #52 3 years ago

    @EvilBob_leeds

    "Greedy Yank + Wankers" = Greedy Yankers! Also, they are "yanking our chain".

    /is bored
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 09:35

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #53 3 years ago

    Thinking in reverse.

    Knowning 'them' as Modern warfare requires actal prgrammers and a dev team, between the name squabbles and this you would think 'they' are trying to screw over IW to force them to make 'cheaper' games in saying that MW2 'didn't sell well'

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #54 3 years ago

    Remembers the £60 NES days

  • AphoticCosmos #55 3 years ago

    "yes you'll all whinge and moan - but at the end of the day you'll all buy it. who the fuck is going to boycott a game like this?"

    A game like this?

    What, you mean a game with a generic "OMG RUSSIANZ N ARABZ N NUKEZ" plot, relying entirely on waves of spawned enemies and scripted events, and with a MP mode that is boring and repetitive? I'll happily boycott that. Plenty of other things to spend my money on for online shooters, especially since DICE announced Battlefield 3 the other day.

  • McBradders #56 3 years ago

    Wow. Just wow.

  • drewman5150 #57 3 years ago

    Absolutely nothing Activision do can surprise me any more. I urge everyone to wait a few weeks and buy it second hand to ensure that Activision don't get a penny.

    There's just one small flaw in that plan...

  • Eighthours #58 3 years ago

    Right, I can shut down this argument once and for all:

    Interbank exchange rate for pound/dollar on COD5's US release date (11/11/08): 1.57630 dollars to the pound.

    Today's Interbank exchange rate: 1.64150 dollars to the pound.

    The pound has gone UP since COD5 was released. Eurogamer, please call these guys out.

    (Amusingly, I'm actually being kind to Activision. In the 3 days between the US and UK releases for COD5, the pound collapsed by 9 full cents)
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 09:55

  • TheTingler #59 3 years ago

    The RRP is usually heavily inflated against the actual shop price, but this is still ridiculous. They're only doing it because they can. I think the Wii's price increase for the UK is more ridiculous though.

    Luckily I'm not going to buy either now, so it's win-win for the Tingster! :)

    Every time a Call of Duty game comes out I come very close to saying "no thanks, had enough". Eventually the reviews or Christmas sway me, but this year will be different!

  • LHH #60 3 years ago

    At first I'd be "right, fuck you activision! I'm waitin guntil it's used then buying so you don't recieve fuck all" Then realise it'll take months for s used copy that, and like cod4, will still retail for £30-35.

  • Clive_Dunn #61 3 years ago

    £:$ relationship is irrelevant, product is bought in euros.

    Apart from that good argument.

  • mashk #62 3 years ago

    The supermarkets will sell it cheaper. There's a 24hr Asda a couple of miles from me. No doubt they'll be selling it at midnight. Thing is, it's a bit sad attending midnight launches, isn't it?

  • Zomoniac #63 3 years ago

    There's just one small flaw in that plan...

    You know what I mean, a penny of MY money. I can't stop other people funding the devil, but "I legally own your game but you didn't get any money at all from me for it" is sadly about as big a statement to them as I can legally make.
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 09:47

  • stepneg #64 3 years ago

    No Sale!

    I can wait and will pick it up cheap pre-owned a few weeks after release, I can't remember the last time I paid £40 for a game let alone £55.

  • altitude2k #65 3 years ago

    Right... So if the weak pound is to blame then why can I still pre-order Bioshock 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 at £38, ODST at £30 and Forza 3 at £40? All games that I would rather play, in all honesty.

    I've said this already, but the ONLY reason it's more expensive is because they know it will sell and that they think they can get away with adding an extra £5. I wasn't sure if I would get this at release or not, but this confirms it - I'll wait until I can borrow it off a mate, most likely.

    Disgusting.

  • Jez360 #66 3 years ago

    I preordered from Argos for £35.99 using the "GAME20" promotional code, anyone know if they deliver on the day of release or at least close to the date of release?

  • ps3owner #67 3 years ago

    why is the PC version £20 cheaper (RRP) than the console versions ?

    I'll probably continue playing COD4 for another 2 years then ;)

  • symmetry #68 3 years ago

    Argos has the pre-order for £45 still and with this code - GAME20 - http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/441175/ full-list-of-20-off-games-preorders/ - you can get it for £36.

  • The_Inquisitor #69 3 years ago

    I, like many others, will boycott this, even if it means I miss out on the great game for several months. I won't be ripped off by the greedy bastards.

    We probably can all afford it with out breaking the bank anyway, ( I mean I pay close to £4 a pint these days), but it's the principle.

  • Freki #70 3 years ago

    Really simple. I won't buy it at that price. The problem is consumers at large probably will (see PS3) so companies will still try it on. Sad when consumers really don't exercise the power they have.

  • kangarootoo #71 3 years ago

    We'll see about that. No one is going to sell it for £55, 'cos very few people would buy it for that.

  • jonbwfc #72 3 years ago

    "Publishers somehow need to offset this drastic increase in costs"

    What they don 't seem to have noticed is that the recession/credit cruch etc has also affected consumers. I also have to 'offset the drastic increase in costs' that apply to me personally. I will choose to do this by not buying MW2 and saving myself 55 quid. Great logic there Activision.

    Jon
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 09:54

  • Malek86 #73 3 years ago

    So now the whole "let's keep the pound" thing is coming back to bite the UK?

  • Vin #74 3 years ago

    Nice one, Acti.

    Lead by example by shafting everyone up the jackboot.

  • Darren #75 3 years ago

    So are we to believe that all console games are now going to be £54.99 RRP in the UK? I mean if what Activision claim is true then other publishers will be in the same situation, right?

    Thankfully, I'll be buying this game on the PC where it'll hopefully cost no more than £25 with my GAME Reward points. £45 for a console game purchased online is disgusting IMO.

    That said, I paid £70 for Turok: Dinosaur Hunter on my N64 back in 1996 then I had to pay another £25 for a memory card to save the game on and most N64 games cost £60 RRP before they slipped down to £40 over the life of the machine. Looking back it's quite amazing that the games ever sold at that price really.
    Edited by 2 at 17/07/09 @ 10:00

  • AphoticCosmos #76 3 years ago

    "So now the whole "let's keep the pound" thing is coming back to bite the UK?"

    No, because it's actually recovered against both the dollar and euro recently. This has just been blatant profiteering on the part of Actiblizz.

  • udat #77 3 years ago

    Price goes up, sales go down.

    I like how it's the strength of the euro that's responsible for an increase in the cost in pounds.

  • Eighthours #78 3 years ago

    Further to my last about how the pound has gone UP against the dollar since COD5's release, it's also worth pointing out that VAT has fallen by 2.5% in the UK since then.

    Eurogamer, please get back to Activision with this stuff. They need to be called out on it.

  • photoboy #79 3 years ago

    Euro fluctuations? The game is being made in America, what does the Euro have to do with anything??? The pound is still stronger than the dollar (though not as much as it used to be) and has recovered somewhat and it is still slightly stronger than the Euro as well. There is only one reason for the price to go up: greed.

    Let's see, Amazon.com lists the US 360 version for $59.99 which is £36.83.
    We're expected to pay £55 which is $89.59.

    So we need to pay more than double? Fuck you Activision.

  • booner #80 3 years ago

    How about they don't spend a STUPID amount of money on their marketing and maintain the retail price for the consumer.

    The UK is just an EXCUSE for ripping off the customer and making MORE money. Don't be the fool and buy straight away, wait for a price drop.

  • Malek86 #81 3 years ago

    Well, the market will speak. If millions actually buy the game despite the price increase (and they probably will), I guess other companies will follow. That's too bad.

  • iter #82 3 years ago

    @Symmetry: thanks for that! :)

  • drewman5150 #83 3 years ago

    Coming Soon from Activision: COD6: Shoot the Golden Goose

    Seriously though, after cussing Sony for not reducing the price of the PS3, and then cite a p*ss poor reason for inflating the price of a (was?) guaranteed 10m selling title is asking for a proverbial punch in the chops.

  • Clive_Dunn #84 3 years ago

    I love the internet - so much is written, so little of it actually read.

  • boyakoosha #85 3 years ago

    looks like they won't be selling as many as they hope then!

  • paulf #86 3 years ago

    bang goes their chances of it being the best selling game of all time

  • HolyJebus #87 3 years ago

    I'm kinda torn to be honest. On the one hand if there's one game that I played more then any its COD4. So maybe its worth paying extra for a game you will get so much enjoyment out of.

    On the other hand, Activision are such thieving bastards and I despise them.

    Hmmmm.

  • smoothpete #88 3 years ago

    haha bunch of frigging cheapskates

  • Redeye #89 3 years ago

    Kotick = money-grubbing weasel who deserves to be thoroughly beaten with one of his own crappy plastic guitars. Preferably one filled with concrete.

    £55 = not on your bloody life, sunshine.

    Edited for grrrr.
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 10:33

  • DDevil #90 3 years ago

    No sale.

  • skillian #91 3 years ago

    Eurogamer, it's in situations like this that your readers really want you to do some investigation and ask some tough questions of companies that don't give up when they ignore your phone calls.

    I hear lots of references to games journalists here and elsewhere - please prove you are worthy of that moniker, and follow up on these stories rather than just passing on the news.

  • login_name #92 3 years ago

    Wasn't it Activision that just recently demanded Sony lower the cost of their console? Hypocrites

    I won't buy any game for that price, £45 is bad enough. Unfortunately, the masses will.

  • JusticeMoses #93 3 years ago

    Surely if its this price in shops it means the stage is perfectly set for one big retailer to lower their price by a tenner and advertise the hell out of it so everyone floods to them to buy it?

  • Clive_Dunn #94 3 years ago

    @ Clive Dunn:
    Oh we read your post mate:
    "£:$ relationship is irrelevant, product is bought in euros. Apart from that good argument."

    ...but we ignored it as it doesn't apply in this situation

    So genius, explain how it doesn't apply in this situation ?

  • wonton #95 3 years ago

    " haha bunch of frigging cheapskates"

    I guessing you don't work for your money do you?

  • dunts #96 3 years ago

    That's a very good way to lose some customers, epsecially in this economic meltdown.

    Massive productions cost and "weak pound" yeah but alot of people are going to look at that price and think what the fuck?

    I'm sure you will still be able to pick it up online for around 45 though.

  • Bremenacht #97 3 years ago

    The problem comes, however, if and when the pound returns to strength. Do those already established trade prices then drop?

    No.
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 10:46

  • CHACK #98 3 years ago

    So 16 Million unit sales at £40 a pop didn't create enough revenue and Map Pack 1 which created an additional $10Million in revenue for Activision wasn't enough to re-invest and cover the hike in development costs for Warfare 2?

    I think Activision needs to sack its accountant or get a new production and studio manager. Warfare 2 won't be a vastly different engine and the original didn't cost north of $50 Million to develop, if it release Map packs then it'll potentially make another $20 Million from that....if its value for money ( and no, 3 maps isn't)

    And why is retail complaining Game still sell used copies of COD MW at £29.99 so who's conning who here?

  • dynarama #99 3 years ago

    Thinking about it again, I guess they can put whatever price they want on it. It's entirely up to the individual if they really think it's worth paying for - it's not really the sort of game that'll get bought as a present by a mum / dad / auntie etc. so if you want to buy one game for the price of 2 that's up to you.

    There's no guarantee it'll have the impact of CoD4 anyway - leaving it a couple of months after release allows all the hype to die down and the backlash to begin.

    Hopefully people will vote with their wallets - either way the market will decide what price a game really should be - after all how much is spent on WoW in total?

    Personally, 55 quid - no way.

  • AphoticCosmos #100 3 years ago

    "So genius, explain how it doesn't apply in this situation ?"

    Because, as a product that is going to be made on contract in Asia Pacific press factories by virtue of dealings with an American publisher and game developer, and then exported to individual countries, the relationship with the Euro has nothing to do with it's price here in Britain. At any rate, the Pound has been, as a trend, up on the Euro for a few weeks now.

  • dsmx #101 3 years ago

    Weak pound? The exchange rate between pounds and dollars in 2004 was about £1-$1.5. Today it's about 1-1.6 I'm sorry but that weak pound bullshit isn't going to fly with me.

  • Artemus #102 3 years ago

    Bend over gentlemen. The Activision rape train is coming.

  • Gaol #103 3 years ago

    If the £ keeps recovering I'll just go back to using VG+ and NCSX for North American copies of PS3 games.

  • smoothpete #104 3 years ago

    This is just the first game to do it, they'll al be at it soon enough. I don't get what the big deal is, I really don't. The RRP for games in general is £50 at the moment, go look in the shops where idiots guy games, Currys Digital, WH Smiths, they're all £50 and have been forever. An extra fiver on the RRP means that you'll probably pay £45 from an online retailer, as opposed to the current £40. Hardly the end of the world is it? Certainly not worth saying "no sale" for, grow up. You work don't you? I mean, shit, what would that extra fiver buy you? A pint and a half of Stella? It's fuck all. The fiver is the new pound coin these days

  • kangarootoo #105 3 years ago

    "What they don 't seem to have noticed is that the recession/credit cruch etc has also affected consumers. I also have to 'offset the drastic increase in costs' that apply to me personally. I will choose to do this by not buying MW2 and saving myself 55 quid. Great logic there Activision."

    Well, despite this seeming over priced to me, Activision have to meet their bottom line requirements. If the crap value of the pound has pushed up their costs, they have to react to that.

    I said earlier I didn't think retailers would sell this for £55, but it will be the retailers thamselves that create the discount.


    And I noticed a comment earlier about ""keep the pound" coming back to bite us" getting negative karma. A forum of financial experts are we?

  • LazyDan #106 3 years ago

    I have one word to say to this...

    YARR!!

  • Lebowski #107 3 years ago

    Relax. ASDA, Tesco and Sainsbury's will be discounting the hell out of this in its launch week.

  • kangarootoo #108 3 years ago

    "Seriously as everyone who has a job just gone and fucking changed the rules of a recession, prices go down when everyones unemployed you stupid twats"

    Sweet zombie Jesus.

    Lets try again.

    Seriously, has everyone who has a job just gone and fucking changed the rules of a recession? Prices go down when everyone's unemployed, you stupid twats.



    @AphoticCosmos

    I suspect it is a bit more complex than that. The game item itself may not be made in Europe, but there are all sorts of costs that will increase for Activision as a result of a weak pound -> euro.

    They still have to ship the things, market them, pay their after sales support teams. They may even find retailers increase their own charges as a result of the weak pound, meaning those charges get passed down the line to us. There are plenty of opportunities for Activision to have to turn pounds into euros, and therefore suffer the poor conversion rate.
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 11:13

  • RexRunti #109 3 years ago

    You know I was actually thinking about picking up Prototype on some positive word of mouth reviews but this is the final straw. First they dumped all Vivendi's games because the couldn't turn them into a franchise. Including Ghostbusters which let's face it was a garanteed success. Then they try and sue because EA quite liked another game they dropped (Brutal Legend) and might turn it into a franchise. Now they start price hiking and lie about the reasons. All this built on a bedrock of review fixing and only producing one game a year that doesn't have at least a "4" stuck on the end of it.

    From now on it's second hand or nothing.

  • riz23 #110 3 years ago

    I'm extending my mortgage so I can get this and DJ Hero. Cheers Activision!

  • Arnold__ #111 3 years ago

    So here is where I am struggling, how did the cost of MW2 increase by 30% because of the weakening of the £ against the EUR? That will hold true if the game was programmed by employees in Europe, and physically manufactured in Europe.

    As it is I believe the game is programmed in America, with costs in $ and physically manufactured as cheaply as possible in Chinese sweatshops. The cost is fixed and does not change, except for variable shipping/storage and insurance costs.

    I fail to see what £/EUR has to do with this. This is all about increasing margins in the UK.

  • Malek86 #112 3 years ago

    I don't know, I don't Activision is that stupid. If they chose to increase the price, they must have studied the situation well, and decided that it was the right thing to do in order to make more money. Probably, the sales lost from the most hardcore of gamers (those who know of this stuff) will be offset by the higher retail price imposed to all other buyers.

    Overall, I doubt they'd make any less revenue. It's troubling for us, but probably not for them.

  • Xeopuppy #113 3 years ago

    Once again Activision trying to rip everyone off.

    Business as usual then...

  • kangarootoo #114 3 years ago

    @Arnold__

    See what i wrote above about indirect costs.

  • kangarootoo #115 3 years ago

    A minor point of order. They are only "trying to rip us off" if they hide something from us. There is no deception of trickery here, they have stated a new RRP quite clearly. This is simply another case of "this is the price, take it or leave it".

    Anyone who buys this and THEN declares it a rip off is clearly an idiot. Activision aren't TRYING to do anything of the sort. If anyone gets "ripped off" here, its their own damn fault for not shopping around.

  • skillian #116 3 years ago

    Overall, I doubt they'd make any less revenue. It's troubling for us, but probably not for them.

    Well of course. Activision didn't make this decision to make less profit, who's saying they did?

  • smoothpete #117 3 years ago

    Any word on what other publishers are doing this? As I'm pretty sure it's not going to just be Activision, they just happened to be the first. All the people saying "no sale", look forward to many years of not buying any games as this is going to be the norm

  • dopeonthetable #118 3 years ago

    First of all, publishers cannot set prices, they can only recommend them, hence "Recommended Retail Price". Retailers however can sell anything they want for any price they want.

    Second of all, recognise that this is an increase of £5 on the current RRP for CoD4L:MW i.e. £49.99. So the RRP has only been increased £5 and we don't know yet what retailers will charge once the game is released. I seem to remember buying Fable 2 last Christmas for £20. Today, Fable 2 is being offered at £17.99 on Amazon, yet the RRP remains to this day £44.99. Eurogamer's headline "to cost 55 quid" is sensationalist and misleading.

    Thirdly and lastly, a note on 'greed'. If you think this price increase is greedy (despite fluctuations in the currency market, despite the fact that standard RRPs have not increased with inflation since the release of the current generation consoles) then I believe your problem is not with Activision but with capitalism i.e. the principle that personal greed creates public benefits in the form of job and commodity generation. I very much doubt that the money any Eurogamer buys his or her games with comes from any more reputable a source than Activision. Even the public sector works via more or less the same mechanism. So unless you generate an income from some magical offshoot of the economy that doesn't operate like all other businesses do, I don't think you're in any valid position to criticise Activision for what, in the context of the current economy, is a pretty reasonable RRP increase.

  • Malek86 #119 3 years ago

    @skillian: yep, I know. It's just that some people here are all like "now it will flop", when it's clear that Activision knows what they are doing, otherwise they wouldn't be doing it.

    @smoothpete: Nintendo did increase the price of the Wii just recently. But I guess Activision is the first one doing it in the software market.

  • metallicorphan #120 3 years ago

    i would pay £55(prolly shop around though)for the steelcase hardened edition with the XBLA COD1 code in it...but fuck donkeys if i am paying £55 for the barebones shite version

  • cyacomini #121 3 years ago

    Picked this up over on N4G

    "GamesIndustry.biz can reveal that HMV has negotiated the exclusive UK rights to sell the premium edition of the hugely-anticipated shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - the bundle which will famously include functional night vision goggles.

    The game, which will be released on November 10, will see the Prestige Edition sell for GBP 119.99 on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 formats, with HMV's online pre-order option available now.

  • RexRunti #122 3 years ago

    @Kanga

    The problem is the pound isn't actually weak against the dollar. Yes it's weak against the asian currencies but the dollars even weaker. Besides the phyiscal costs of producing a game (printing the DVD, shipping etc) makes up a very low percentage of the final cost certainly not enough to justify a 10% increase in RRP (assuming RRP is usually £50). Besides there is not a chance of Activision loosing money on this game, if it was a new IP or an unknown quantity the risks would be higher.

    Someone else implied that Activision are only alienating the hard core not the casuals. The problem is the hard core are the people who buy games come hell or high water and it's their buying trends which eventually influence the casuals spending habits.

  • matrim83 #123 3 years ago

    I really wish people wouldnt buy it. Dont get me wrong I love MW and IW but you have to put a stop to shit like this. If they get away with this you can bet a lot of others will follow.

  • hobbesthetiger #124 3 years ago

    It will be interesting to see what price most places actually sell it for.

    Certainly if I had to pay £55 (though unlikely), I definitely won't be purchasing it.

  • ps3owner #125 3 years ago

    again, why is the PC RRP £20 less then the Console RRP?

  • kangarootoo #126 3 years ago

    @RexRunti

    Activision will have reserves of money is lots of currencies. Just because they are a US company doesn't mean all their money is stored in US dollars. They will have reserves of £ and euros, and also have investments in european markets as well as US ones.


    "Besides there is not a chance of Activision loosing money on this game, if it was a new IP or an unknown quantity the risks would be higher."

    There is ALWAYS a chance of losing money on a game. That is just the way games are.

    And I don't want this to divert into a "definition of casual" discussion, but by my own rough definitions casual gamers aren't really the market for this game at all (except maybe at Xmas, which may indeed be when this releases).


    My main sort of gripe here is that there is this (predictable) underlying assumption among many that Activision are just making this shit up. And that they are in fact just trying to increase the price for no reason other than they suddely woke up one morning and though "I want even more money"...

    I mean, really?

  • skillian #127 3 years ago

    again, why is the PC RRP £20 less then the Console RRP?

    It's £15 less, not £20, but this is hardly the first game to do that. Licensing costs on consoles, lower sales figures on PC, pick your reason - but all PC games have always been cheaper than their console equivalents.

    edit: @kangarootoo - CEOs wake up every morning and say "I want more money". What other reason is there for any changing prices? Whether they make them cheaper or more expensive the motivation is always the same. I'm not sure what you're trying to say.
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 12:02

  • guernican #128 3 years ago

    RPP is one thing. The fact that Amazon and Play will sell it for £45 at best does make everyone's posturing seem a little hollow.

    "So 16 Million unit sales at £40 a pop didn't create enough revenue and Map Pack 1 which created an additional $10Million in revenue for Activision wasn't enough to re-invest and cover the hike in development costs for Warfare 2? "

    If only companies worked like that. Or if only charities made games.

    Wait... did I just have a brilliant idea? Anyone want to start Save The Game, a new NGO producing high-concept ultra-high production value games which retail at under a tenner?
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 12:03

  • ps3owner #129 3 years ago

    Play.com has the PC RRP at £34.99 and the consoles at £54.99

    that's £20 difference.

  • skillian #130 3 years ago

    That's what Play thought the RRP would be. The PC version has been bumped up by a fiver the same as the console version, I guess Play just didn't update their site.

    http://ww w.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/07/...

    edit: @ps3owner
    Edited by 2 at 17/07/09 @ 12:07

  • kangarootoo #131 3 years ago

    @ps3owner

    The costs of publishing on a console are higher. You don't have to pay anyone to "let" you publish on a PC, you just do it. And dev kits are expensive to rent or buy, whereas PCs are comparatively cheap (though those costs are small overall as they are "one off" - platform licensing on the other hand get charged per copy).

  • ps3owner #132 3 years ago

    ah ok. fair enough, I suppose there is also the cost of an actual PC to count in, since mine is a bit out dated I wouldn't be able to play it on it anyway... AMD 2200 + FTW...

    anyway. I'll keep playing COD4 till this baby comes around cheaply, I read on hotdeals.co.uk comments about the Argos deal that it would be delivered around the 18th... that's 8 days after release?!

    maybe ASDA and co have a good deal going. I'll wait and see

  • RedSparrows #133 3 years ago

    And I bet a load of you idiots will buy this for £55 because it's MW2 :( ;P

  • JustBlaz #134 3 years ago

    What do you expect when the uk goverment swamps the economy with billions of pounds. The pound devalues, everything cost more to buy.
    Activision won't be the last
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 12:44

  • Rubarack #135 3 years ago

    It's quite simple, if you don't cut prices when the pound is strong, you don't get to hike them when it's weak.
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 12:39

  • carlitoswagon #136 3 years ago

    Just pre-order it from Argos and stop whining like a bunch of wee pansies! It's only £35.99 cause they're retailing at £44.99 and offering a special 20% games discount. FREE DELIVERY TOO.

    And no, I don't work for Argos ;)

  • skillian #137 3 years ago

    @carlitoswagon

    It's the principle of the matter. Just because I as an individual might have found a way to negate Activision's price increase doesn't mean I can't be pissed off about the whole thing.

  • gabsta69 #138 3 years ago

    i dont understand. Supply and Demand is a very simple concept. If supply is high (i.e loads of copies of the game) then demand will be high if the price is correct. If the price is not, then demand goes down leaving a whole load of supply. Yes the pound is decreasing but ulimately loads of people are being made redundant, therefore, disposal income will go down. Activision - talk to your accountants, it does not make sense to raise the price of the game.

  • skillian #139 3 years ago

    @gabsta69

    Activision's accountants probably know at least as much about supply and demand as you do. I'm sure they think that this move will bring them more money than setting the usual RRP, and I wouldn't be surprised if they are absolutely right about that.
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 13:03

  • Collymilad #140 3 years ago

    pass

    Sadly, the "thats life" people will just roll over like they always do, forgetting the fact that it's only "life" because they keep licking corps balls.

    Continue.
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 13:06

  • RexRunti #141 3 years ago

    kangarootoo: My main sort of gripe here is that there is this (predictable) underlying assumption among many that Activision are just making this shit up. And that they are in fact just trying to increase the price for no reason other than they suddely woke up one morning and though "I want even more money"

    The problem is Activision clearly have form in this area. Look at the Vivendi take over and the subsequent drop of pretty much every game in development that didn't have the expectation of a sequel in their comments afterwards they essentially said "we're not interested unless we can squeeze every red cent out of a game". If this was Ubisoft, Eidos, Capcom or dare I say it even EA I think people would have been a little more open minded.

    Besides, if the weak pound is really an issue, why isn't the weak dollar?

  • makeamazing #142 3 years ago

    They can charge whatever they like for a product, though their reasons for doing so seem pretty waffer thin. If everyone waited just a week the price would definately drop :D but then millions wont i guess. Everyone has to have things "now"... me I am waiting till the last few days before Xmas Eve...and I am pretty sure I wont be paying this much for it. The thing is I wont have time to play it before then anyway, so why pay more for it on the release day.

  • RobotRocker #143 3 years ago

    Fairplay campaign round 2 comming soon in my dreams.

    Goddamn that was a fun week in 2003 when "Dont buy a game week" actually worked and publishers panic dropped their prices.

  • rascoj64 #144 3 years ago

    I can hear the marketing babble already "55 pounds represents tremendous value" what a complete crock of s#it!

  • m0thr4 #145 3 years ago

    Isn't this exactly what PS3 games cost when the console was first released?

  • space_ace #146 3 years ago

    weak!

  • Petulant_Radish #147 3 years ago

    Hello,

    My name it Tim and I work for Activision, we’re sorry this is the way you feel about the price increase but it is unfortunately the only way to cover increasingly expensive overheads in these fragile times.

    Also, I think you’re all cunts.

    Love you x

  • BritishBlue1 #148 3 years ago

    The reason they've bumped up the price is because they know people will pay it. That's the only economics in this equation; nothing to do with a weak pound and all that other bollocks.

  • holloguts #149 3 years ago

    They know how to destroy a franchise thats for sure. I was wondering if to bother with MW2 because there are so many glitches in cod 4. Now i know I won't be bothering. £35 is my limit on any new game. Just started picking up some of the older games (used), still played online and cheap. I can do without over bloated prices from over paid develepers.

    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 15:09

  • #150 3 years ago

    NO SALE!!!

  • Tyronne #151 3 years ago

    Not touching this with a barge pole, it maybe a good game but there is no way I am going to pay this kinda price for it.

    I have started not to buy games on the day of release now and will wait a few weeks and I have saved a small fortune by getting what I want in specials or off the net (red faction 3 for the ps3 for 17.99 off of play last week for starters)

    Considering you wait months/years for a game, is waiting a few more weeks that bad when you can save yourself cash and get more for it?

    Be patient and be prudent and you can still get what you want without being taken the piss out of.

  • carlitoswagon #152 3 years ago


    I must be fucking stupid. I actually don't understand the issue here. MW2 has ben advertised @ £55. Any fucking twat can pick it up ANYWHERE for max £44.99 (or cheaper at Argos £35).

    On release it will be the most played game on any console (99% factual) and if you're a multiplayer 'whore' like me, this fun will last for months/12 months.

    New maps, new guns, new characters, new perks, new fucking loads of stuff! This is the motherfucking ASDA of value.

  • CHACK #153 3 years ago

    Any money this becomes an agenda topic in Activisions Weekly marketing meeting next week. First they forget the "Call of Duty" then reinstate it, then they want a PS3 price drop then they want to put up the prices of games in a recession and claim a weak currency.

    16 Million copies sold of MW, $10 million from the Map pack. people this is sheer greed at work.

  • carlitoswagon #154 3 years ago

    £35 at ARGOS until I go blue in the fucking face!!!

    Get it now, get a free deilvery and you can sleep well knowing those bastards didn't get your £55.

  • Ryboy #155 3 years ago

    Hmmm, I'm thinking it's not going to cost me a single penny. Cheers.
    Edited by 1 at 17/07/09 @ 15:23

  • skillian #156 3 years ago

    Get it now, get a free deilvery and you can sleep well knowing those bastards didn't get your £55.

    Activision still sell the game at the same price to Argos. They'll get the same amount of money whatever price you end up paying, it's the retailer that takes the hit.

  • Petulant_Radish #157 3 years ago

    Argos do take the money out of your account immediately for pre-orders though, so if you do make that choice, make sure you have the money in your account. They'll also probably up the price now the RRP has been confirmed, so act quick as other wise more of your lovely hard earned cash will be lining my gold silken slacks. God they feel soft against my testes.

    Hug and kisses.

    Tim.

  • Weezer #158 3 years ago

    Fortunately, I'm shit at FPSes and still haven't finished MW1 - so I've saved £55!

    Actually, I wish they'd put the price up further, then I could save even more.

  • Jonny5Alive7 #159 3 years ago

    Prices of games have been dropping very quickly recently after their release, I reckon by the January sales you will be able to pick it up for around £30.

  • Rodchenko #160 3 years ago

    Prices of games have been dropping very quickly recently after their release, I reckon by the January sales you will be able to pick it up for around £30.

    Not so MW1. Until recently (1, 2 months ago) they still sold it at close to the entry price here in Germany, which was about 10 Euro more than your average console game to begin with. Since I am not much of a multiplayer and since I found the SP to be rather dull, this is just another argument for me to have them shove it where the light don't shine.

  • Wyrm #161 3 years ago

    NONE OF US WILL HAVE TO PAY £55 FOR THIS GAME.

  • metallicorphan #162 3 years ago

    some people say order it from Argos or Play.com...i am poor i can't afford it,i was planning on trading games in!!

    apologies in advance for being poor :(

  • metalangel #163 3 years ago

    Maybe they could negotiate a price with us for Transformers 3? For £5 a ticket, you get another shit movie. For £10, we fire Bay. For £15, Megan Fox gets naked. For £20, she gets it in the can from Shakira Rosbif for the full 90 minutes.

  • NinjaWilliams #164 3 years ago

    ha, get it for £37 incl del at yesaia, region free ps3! ;)

  • smelly #165 3 years ago

    >this behaviour can only be called profiteering.


    How can it be profiteering, if the exchange rate means that the price is STILL lower than it previously was?

  • smelly #166 3 years ago

    Why do gamers struggle to understand international exchange rates, pricing and global ecconomics?

    It's hardly activisions fault that Britains ecconomy has gone to tits is it?

  • MrChallacombe #167 3 years ago

    Oh i get it. When the pounds strong versus the dollar, we pay double. And when its weak, we pay more as well.
    What a masterful grasp of economics these guys have

  • TuftyMcTavish #168 3 years ago

    Sadly I'm going to have to join in the "**** right off," style comments here as the Xbox/PC game price difference has always irritated me, and whacking things up by that much 'just says no' to me.

  • mkreku #169 3 years ago

    I love all these guys defending this new price.. Seriously, when is enough enough for you guys? £100 for a game? £150? Is there any price where you'll stop bending over?

  • smelly #170 3 years ago

    oh i get it.. if i post "boo hoo - they're mean, they should give me the game for free", i get positive points.

    If i post pointing out that global ecconomics is more complex than 99% of forumites seem to understand (such as things costing loads more in britain, global exchange rates, the fecked american economy, etc etc) - then i get negative scores for trying to talk sense.

    Okay.. just so i know.. Carry on with your whining about things you dont understand..

    Booo hoo.. arent they evil for trying to actually make money in the screwed english economy... boo hoooo

  • local_celebrity #171 3 years ago

    Activision are gaping assholes. We know this. It's an immutable law of nature. They have a winning product and they know it. Ergo, they will price that product at the highest point the market will bear. That, folks, is the long and short of it.
    Edited by 1 at 18/07/09 @ 03:22

  • smelly #172 3 years ago

    "Ergo, they will price that product at the highest point the market will bear. That, folks, is the long and short of it. "


    If people arent prepared to pay the price, then they wont buy it, and the price will come down. If they ARE prepared to pay the price, then they have no right complaining - as obviously they DO feel it's worth spending a bit of extra cash on.

    My suspicision is that i'll see it at the top of the charts when it comes out.

  • local_celebrity #173 3 years ago

    People will always pay a premium for the 'best in class' product. Modern Warfare is the iPhone of FPS's.

  • earobus #174 3 years ago

    consider the water too cold activision, rethink i think!

  • wellzy4eva #175 3 years ago

    Most people on here will buy the game online anyway, and the RRP rarely applies in that case, so it doesn't really matter.

  • Jonny5Alive7 #176 3 years ago

    Prices of games have been dropping very quickly recently after their release, I reckon by the January sales you will be able to pick it up for around £30.

    Not so MW1. Until recently (1, 2 months ago) they still sold it at close to the entry price here in Germany, which was about 10 Euro more than your average console game to begin with. Since I am not much of a multiplayer and since I found the SP to be rather dull, this is just another argument for me to have them shove it where the light don't shine.

    I remember getting it for £25 from the Gamestation website only a few days after the Christmas it was out for :-)
    Edited by 1 at 18/07/09 @ 11:59

  • monkeywithnoeyes #177 3 years ago

    awesome advertisment for piracy and buying second hand - well done.

  • BabyJesus #178 3 years ago

    -1 Sale to MW2 then, us Brits are already fleeced with retail prices higher (by currency equivalent) than most western countries.

    -1 sale also to any idiot publisher who follows suit.

  • smelly #179 3 years ago

    >-1 sale also to any idiot publisher who follows suit.

    yes, i'm sure every publisher who does follow suit are idiots. So therefor none will follow suit, and will just make a loss when selling to the uk market... Because that's totally non idiotic.

  • local_celebrity #180 3 years ago

    Just placed my order with Argos. Be warned. They take the money up front, the weasels. Let's just hope they don't go the way of Woolies before November.

  • felastica #181 3 years ago

    Lol - £55 for an Xbox game? I might pay that much for the next gen, when its a brand new technology, but for a sequel game, that uses the same tech as the last one? What are they smoking in that studio?

  • metallicorphan #182 3 years ago

    the whole reason for games not being on cartridges anymore was to keep the cost down...N64 suffered greatly for it,even if it did have great games ...putting the games on disc was meant to cut costs,but here we go heading straight for that £60-£70 mark again

    and if it really is down to production costs as well (as the Pounds strength) then why didn't Shenmue II sell for 200 quid a go?,LOL...isnt that still the most expensive video game ever?

  • Gutsy #183 3 years ago

    Looks like those Actiblizz freaks love to grab money by any means possible.
    Nothing like a bit of inside trading to make personal millions....

    See:

    <a href="http://uk.fi nance.yahoo.com/q/uit?s=ATVI
    ">http://uk.fi nance.yahoo.com/q/uit?s=ATVI
    </a>

    Do they really need to screw us out of an extra tenner? .... greedy bastards!
    Edited by 1 at 19/07/09 @ 01:46

  • frankfurter209 #184 3 years ago

    If you have a half-way decent computer, pirate the game. I don't give a fuck about supporting Activision. You can burn in hell for pirating Braid or Psychonauts, but by all means, steal this shit.

  • YourMessageHere #185 3 years ago

    I think it's perfectly fine for them to do this - on the condition that everyone invoved in making and distributing the game never ever complain or say anything whatsoever about piracy ever again. In fact, if I could have a sworn legal document to that effect for my money, I'd probably buy it twice.

    I had fun with someone else's copy of COD4, but given that MP is not really my bag and the campaign was short, and that it was artificially inflated in price on Steam (prices adjusted to $70 for UK buyers - more after conversion than in some actual shops), I avoided buying it for myself; thanks to this silliness I'll be avoiding this one too. Game prices are only barely acceptable at the best of times - if they want this hobby to expand they have to cut their prices. The film industry seems to have got this, by and large, and their products are more expensive to make.

  • #186 3 years ago

    I'll say it again...
    NO SALE!

  • zubnut #187 3 years ago

    Have I missed something... Weak pound = add five quid to price?
    Fook off activision.
    That tenner on bf1943 must be the best bargain I've had all year then.
    I look forward to the imminent price drops when our economy takes a turn for the worse... Oh wait... Bugger

  • UncleLou #188 3 years ago

    I think it's perfectly fine for them to do this - on the condition that everyone invoved in making and distributing the game never ever complain or say anything whatsoever about piracy ever again. In fact, if I could have a sworn legal document to that effect for my money, I'd probably buy it twice.

    Strange reasoning. But it's already very obvious that the price is a welcome excuse for many people to pirate it.

    Besides, remember CoD4 - being a multiplatform game, Infinity Ward could directly compare the figures. The ratio of "games sold" to "people playing online" was drastically different between PCs and consoles. They should talk about piracy a lot more than they did.

  • #189 3 years ago

    Just don't buy it you morons.

  • Nephirion #190 3 years ago

    Is this a piss take lol!?!

  • Law07 #191 3 years ago

    lolwut

  • Mr_Brown #192 3 years ago

    I will not buy this game for higher than £29.99. In fact I will not buy any game for higher than this price. If high development costs prevent this, then lower them. I would much prefer poorer graphics for a more affordable price. To be honest, if you put limits on graphics etc it will force the developer to be more creative and create a better gaming experience.

    Ether way the excuses are ridiculous, high development cost has never effected game prices before (look at MGS 4 or Gears of War 2) are they telling us that the development of this game exceeded those two by the huge margin?? Just excuses to make maximum amount of profit from gamers again. I hope piracy cripples this gaming like it has the music industry if they continue this.

  • Wyrm #193 3 years ago

    I love how the advert on this article is an online store selling it for £42.

    Games very rarely sell for their RRP. This is a total and utter non-story.

  • Velios #194 3 years ago

    This really is disgusting. Slapping over £10 on the price of what is already an expensive game does not in any way account for the change in exchange rates.. as if that even matters anyway. To my knowledge, a pack of blank DVD's in PC world has not gone up by £10 so why should this?

    The are just profiteering, and it really stinks... knowing that people will pay for this game because they want it and it will probably be great.

    I hope it gets a 7/10

  • Velios #195 3 years ago

    Development costs...

    So does this mean that Final Fantasy XIII is going to cost £150 when it's released?

  • WinterSnowblind #196 3 years ago

    Boo Activision. There are a lot of other games coming out around the same time, I'm not going to spend extra just because they think we're pay whatever they ask. Also cancelled my order for Ultimate Alliance 2 because of this.. I know a boycott isn't going to get anywhere, but I'm not going to support any company that's going to treat their fans this way.

    I can pick it up a used copy from GAME early next year.

  • CLOSEALDO #197 3 years ago

    crazy price - what other games (U.S made) are coming out at that price?!

    Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising comes out on consoles and pc a month earlier.....xbox price on shoptonet is only 31 quid. looks like a better game and certainly a better price.

  • drumbaby #198 3 years ago

    First one is enough for me atm, and very good it was too. But what more can they do with the fps combat sim genre that requires me to rush out and pay top dollar? I may pick this up pre-owned/ bargain bin.

  • ForburyLion #199 3 years ago

    I now refuse to buy this game on principle.

    At a time when gamers are losing their jobs, facing increased bills and enforced pay cuts I think Activision have overestimated the worth of their product.

    I think it is possible to buy BFBC, BF1943 and COD4 for less than this suggested price... Suddenly the latest release seems alot less attractive.

  • bad09 #200 3 years ago

    So much fuss over a completely silly make believe price (set high for hype anyway) which means nothing at all to consumers with a brain, retail, rental, 2nd hand and PIRATES.......
    Edited by 2 at 19/07/09 @ 19:28

  • YourMessageHere #201 3 years ago

    Strange reasoning. But it's already very obvious that the price is a welcome excuse for many people to pirate it.

    Besides, remember CoD4 - being a multiplatform game, Infinity Ward could directly compare the figures. The ratio of "games sold" to "people playing online" was drastically different between PCs and consoles. They should talk about piracy a lot more than they did.

    If you say so, but I am thoroughly sick of companies making lacklustre games that are not worth the money they cost, then whining about piracy harming sales as if there was a link between piracy and poor sales, and then doing things like this, when the price is the main reason why people pirate games. Anything that would stop games companies blaming their own inadequacies and poor decisions on piracy is well worth an investment from me. I'm not saying IW or Activision is a particularly bad offender in that context, but they are pretty bad at charging over the odds for their games, and I feel a certain degree of piracy is deserved because of that.

    It all seems especially bad in this case, as I'm sure IW was almost ruined by the poor sales of the reasonably priced COD4 due to piracy. Or the complete opposite.

  • jonsaan #202 3 years ago

    Is this the same Activision that has been complaining about Sony's absurd high price point in recent weeks?

  • Velios #203 3 years ago

    if I buy this game in Spain, will it work on my UK XBOX?

  • Anthony_UK #204 3 years ago

    Totally overestimating the worth of there product

    1) Alot of the hardcore (myself included) will wait till this becomes cheaper or avoid entirely
    2) In this one move, they will also manage to piss off the casual masses that they managed to attract with the original Modern Warefare

    Develpment costs? Out of interest I wonder how the dev costs compare between Modern Warfare 2 and GTA4?

  • CARL05 #205 3 years ago

    People are saying they are going to boycott this, I bety they don't, COD is going to win game of the year yet again and be a best seller over christmas, activision know this, they might as well make the most out of the popularity.
    Remember though that it probably won't effect us bargain hunters as as others have pointed out; games don't retail at their RRPs and price drops are inevitable.

  • xXn00bXx #206 3 years ago

    The pound is just too weak. Get over it Britain.

  • lavalant #207 3 years ago

    "That's life" "dog eat dog world" I guess you're right so that means I can just go pirate the game off the internet then, The internet and filesharing, providing a power balance since 1999.

    BTW prices weren't increased in American 2 years ago when the dollar was worth 50p, and our prices never reduced either when the pound was at a record high.

  • El-Dev #208 3 years ago

    So the Americans don't suffer even though they had a massive part to play in causing the current recession? Interesting.

    Activision must like pissing a lot of people off.

  • kentmonkey #209 3 years ago

    You can't order it at Argos any more. No option to buy it, so I assume they've caught wind of it going up. Bollocks. I've missed out on this and Wii Sports Motion Plus by about an hour on each one! :o(

  • MightyMouse #210 3 years ago

    Yup, for me that's the final straw and I'm boycotting ActiBlizz products.

    P.S. For the oh-no-you-won't crowd, it doesn't take a lot of willpower to not buy a few games. It really doesn't.

  • alimokrane #211 3 years ago

    Well, in that case I will be doing my own Modern Strikefare and not buy the game completely. greedy bastards!!!

  • GreyBeard #212 3 years ago

    Vote with your wallets folks.
    Its the only thing Bobby Kotick & co understands.

  • twh104 #213 3 years ago

    Bring back 2005 when 29.99 was the absolute max you'd pay for a new game!

  • dsmx #214 3 years ago

    Looks like I'll be pirating modern warfare 2 then. no game is worth that much. It's got to the point now where I will not spend more than 20 quid on any game. I'm fed up with high prices for games.

  • mandeep100 #215 3 years ago

    absolute bullshit this is.

    This is my translation of what activision just said:

    This is the new call of duty game that will sell shit loads anyway so we are just going to jack up the price to take advantage of you suckers!!!!!!!!

  • 8bitMofo #216 3 years ago

    The price is as scripted as the game.

  • loveless #217 3 years ago

    Game prices need to come back down to the £25 - £30 level of the master system days.

    I quite agree. Games are way too expensive. It costs £5 - £10 for a cinema ticket, £10 for an album, £10-£15 to buy a film on DVD or Blu-Ray.

    Gaming needs to get in line with those sorts of prices - and the price should be coming DOWN as the size of the market increases.

    I'm not going to buy excuses of it costing 5 trillion dollars (or whatever) to make a game. Lower the budgets! Make games without so many hours of pointless cinematics. It's meant to be about gameplay and fun - too many games are just glorified tech demos.

    As for £55 pricing, it's all very well putting your prices up - if the market is prepared to withstand it.

  • Chufty #218 3 years ago

    Disappointed that EG didn't highlight that RRP is usually £50 anyway, so this is a fairly small price hike.

  • JensonJet #219 3 years ago

    Stopbuggin. Are you being serious with this?

    "6. No revenue received on used game sales, game trading at high street shops is a recent trend (10 years?)"

    Why doesn't every industry on the planet put their prices up just in case that TV, DVD, car, home, whatever else you care to mention could be re-sold!? This price rise has absolutely nothing to do the economic climate, it's simply because they know they can get away with it. Is every game going to cost this much from now on, with the pathetic excuse of "it's the financial times we live in"? Absolutely not.

    I can't imagine a game that has a much smaller audience and fewer sales would dare be priced this high. It's a blatant attempt to make a quick buck off of a captive audience. Although I've never agreed with this before, for first time ever I openly support anyone who plans to pirate this game. Personally I love owning games and always buy them on their release date. If this price increase hits other games I'm interested in I will stop supporting new titles and look to the second-hand market in future. As it happens, there are three games I'm desperate for that come out before MW2 so I'd hardly suffer if I couldn't play this on the day of it's release... after all, it'll be another two years before MW3, so there's no rush!

    I think it's time Infinity Ward stood on their own feet and parted ways with Activision... that's assuming they even care what Activision are doing.

  • grantw01 #220 3 years ago

    boycott anyone?

  • rogueJT #221 3 years ago

    This is going to fly off the shelves in any case.

  • Tyranix #222 3 years ago

    I really doubt it.

    Unless they're virtual shelves, stocked with products at a sane price during a recession.

  • Power_n_Glory #223 3 years ago

    If they wanted an extra fiver they could have easily released a new map pack some months later after the launch. I won't buy this until the price goes down. Halo ODST, Forza 2, Fifa 10 and Splinter Cell should keep me busy until then anway. That's enough, there is no rush anyway. I advise all to wait this one out. COD isn't the only game coming out this year. If they manage to pull this off I'm sure a few other publishers will try and pull this stunt.

  • Moz #224 3 years ago

    Given as they're an American based company the Euro to Pound ratio is fairly irelevant as the dollar to pound ratio is on par with the last 10 years!!

    @Stopbuggin.?

    "6. No revenue received on used game sales, game trading at high street shops is a recent trend (10 years?)"

    Game tradings been around since the beggining (used to trade my NES games all the time) and it used to be even better value for the customer until GAME sunk their teeth into it and started charging near new prices for choice second hand games.
    Edited by 1 at 20/07/09 @ 09:58

  • actionfitz #225 3 years ago

    time to cancel my preorder and just get it from Lovefilm... and play it to death while they send bailiffs round to my house to pry it out of my cold dead hands... ^^

    wonder if I could convince my xbox friends to all upgrade their PCs so that I can play this and Left 4 Dead on my Desktop - that I put together to play AoC (/sigh)... which now is just used as a second work machine for the home office.
    with the PC version listing at £29.99 (wtf O.o) its tempting.
    Edited by 1 at 20/07/09 @ 11:57

  • SYS64738 #226 3 years ago

    How sensible comments that make perfect sense get rated down (e.g. kanga's comments re indirect cost & trading currencies) is beyond me. The business of business is business. Whether Activision is trying it on or not is irrelevant, they're believing it's the right way for them and time will tell if they get away with it - also remember it's the RRP, I for one have never bought a game at RRP - ever.

    £55 is a lot of money for a game, I totally agree. If you're prepared to pay that money, do, if not, don't. In the end, supply and demand with dictate the price.

  • The_Inquisitor #227 3 years ago

    Sorry to mark you down SYS64738, I thought it might help prove your point. ;-)

  • SYS64738 #228 3 years ago

    Cheers for boosting my post's credibility;)

  • actionfitz #229 3 years ago

    Substitute FCC for Activsion:
    [link url=fficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#" >http://video.google.co.uk/videosearch?q=eric%20idle%20fuck% 20you%20very%20much&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#< /a>
    ]    http://vi deo.google.co.uk/videosearch?q=...[/link]

    :p
    Edited by 1 at 20/07/09 @ 12:02

  • carlitoswagon #230 3 years ago

    Still buying it. Pre-ordered about a month ago on Game. Hopefully get some pre-release Beta action in.

    Those who wait until prices drop will just serve as fresh multiplayer meat when they do join the fun. Yum yummy ;)

    Cue minus points, I love them.




    Edited by 1 at 20/07/09 @ 12:27

  • darleysam #231 3 years ago

    This really bothers me on two levels. It's not a new IP or engine, say what they like but the majority of the expense is already out the way. Infinity Ward aren't learning a complete set of new tricks to make this, but expanding on what they already know. This is normally how you make a cheaper game, not a more expensive one. As for the economy, bollocks. The exhange rate's not as bad as they claim, we'd still be paying $90 for a $60 game in the States. I could maybe accept it from some other publishers, but not someone as brazenly exploitative as Activision.

    But then you get retailers like shopto advertising their price at £43 there next to the article. If Activision reckon they need to sell their game at £55, then they're selling it to retailers for considerably more than before. Seeing a place knock £12 off the title at launch makes me worry how much that's eating into any money they'd make (if any) just to try and sell anything. Everybody gets screwed over.

    Capital job, Activision. No you can't have my money.

  • beastmaster #232 3 years ago

    If the reviews are excellent, say 9/10 plus then it'll sell alright. From the hand on previews, it looks as though it's all set to meet these expectations. I've got it pre-ordered and am looking forward to playing it. I bet some people who plan to boycott may perhaps change their minds. I don't think it'll be an EPIC FAIL on the gameplay side.

    But I'm more exited about Flaspoint 2 and Bad Company 2.

  • cheekyjay #233 3 years ago

    I agree with stampax that actually premium game pricing hasn't really changed in over a decade. Certainly new PS1 games were priced at between £30 and £40 on release, and many early N64 titles were considerably more. You could argue though that the reason the prices haven't really changed is that a) they were too pricy back then and only now are starting to even out (despite larger development crews and time to develop), and b) that the market has dramatically increased in size, so the successful games can see HUGE turnovers, and thus can afford to decrease profit margins slightly. The first Modern Warfare was definitely a major seller, in fact it was a record breaker, so to single out MW2 as a trial for this hiked-up pricing just seems like incredibly cynical profiteering on the part of Acti-Blizz. No doubt they'll end up winning from this consumer-unfriendly activity though, much as they did with the overpriced Guitar Hero bundles last year.

  • hiddenranbir #234 3 years ago

    Sigh...looks like I'll be getting it from Amazon?

    Activision are taking the piss. They've even upped the price of MW1.

  • Saad92 #235 3 years ago

    Absolute bullshit!

    The pound has been gaining on both the Euro AND the Dollar for months! These greedy cunts are just looking for an excuse to score extra cash.

  • codnation #236 2 years ago

    its cheap on amazon everywhere else. I haven't seen it for £55 anywhere...

    Discuss MW2 over on the modern warfare 2 forums at http://www.codnation.net