Battlefield 2042 is $60 right now. One of my friends on Steam plays Battlefield 2042 and I thought hey, that would be pretty cool to play with him. I’m sure it wouldn’t be that much because that game came out a long time ago and was extremely poorly received and like, I’m sure it would be really easy to buy that game or get it now since it’s been so long and again, very low reviews. The game is $60!! But when it goes on sale, it’s like 8$, so 80% off. Truly unbelievable. Why do they do this? Like, they’re basically trying to kill the game or something because no one in their right mind would pay $60 for this game, so 90% of the time when it’s not on sale, no one buys it or wants to try it out… Also, lots of old games that are “on sale” constantly for like $5 and the base price is 40-60$, so it makes it seem like SUCH a good deal, when in reality, the value has just depreciated…

They never seem to lower the base cost of anything, making it deceptive. Is it really 80% off of a $60 game if no one in their right f*cking mind would pay that much for it ever?

  • Rentlar@lemmy.ca
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    2 hours ago

    Look, you will have a sizable contingent of people shelling out an additional $20 to $80 just to play a game a few days early, with little to no other benefits. Their impatience is capitalized on.

  • helenslunch@feddit.nl
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    3 hours ago

    This has nothing to do with the gaming industry, specifically. This is a basic (very effective) marketing strategy. But typically federal regulations prohibit them from advertising something as “on sale” perpetually so it has to be advertised at retail price for x% of the time.

  • deegeese@sopuli.xyz
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    4 hours ago

    It’s an attempt at market segmentation. Those who really want to play will pay full price. Less ardent fans wait for a sale.

    Did your friend make you want it enough to pay full price?

  • BougieBirdie@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    4 hours ago

    Discounts on games creates a sense of urgency in the buyer, as most discounts are temporary. Since discounts are often shown on the front page of a storefront, it gets a lot of eyeballs on it. If someone’s wishlisted the game then they’ll even usually get a direct notification.

    Another way to look at it is that the game is always available at the full price. But if you’re a patient gamer then you can expect to get a lower price eventually.

    Depending on how much discretionary income you have, you might be forced to wait for a sale. Or the difference in price might be no object to you. Or you may have to hoist the black flag.

    Something else to consider is that the perceived value of the game differs from buyer to buyer. If I’m a big fan of a niche genre, I might be willing to spend more on a weird game than the average user. A $30 game might be worth it for me, but you might only think it’s worth $20

    And more to that point, it’s extremely difficult to nail down the exact value of a game. What honestly separates a $12 game from a $15 game when they both offer a unique experience?

    Anyway, all this to say, I don’t think having sales on games is strictly a predatory thing. Sometimes a discount is the only way you’ll get eyeballs on your game, or a way to reach more of the market that wouldn’t have otherwise bought your game.

    I do agree that modern AAA prices are out there. I don’t pay very much for games now, and usually AAA prices me right out of the market

    • Buttflapper@lemmy.worldOP
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      3 hours ago

      I get the concept behind it. But it just seems so predatory that older games never depreciate in value. Back in the olden days of GameStop, they would adjust prices. An old game was reduced in price after a certain time since it’s no longer new.

      Now, that’s no longer the case. Valve seems to be the only one that does this, as an exception. Left 4 Dead 2 is now $10 standard and that’s not some crazy percentage off discount. That’s just the base price now. Other games though are silly as hell with the pricing. Battlefield games are the most obvious. Priced at a full $60, but the value plummets to $8 when on sale. Why don’t they reprice it to $30 and then on sale for $8? Seems less psychologically manipulative

      • BougieBirdie@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        3 hours ago

        I agree that it’d be nice if they depreciated in value like in the days of physical media.

        In those days though, the store only has a certain amount of shelf space. So in that sense it makes sense that they depreciated because a new game is always going to have a higher perceived value.

        Digital storefronts don’t have that problem. The game can be shared infinitely without accruing a ton of publishing costs. There’s always more shelf space.

        In this sense, there’s no financial motivation to depreciate. And we all know the social responsibility of big companies will be to only do what they’re forced to do.

        We often feel games ought to depreciate because that’s how it’s always been. But just because that’s how it’s always been doesn’t mean that’s how it always will be.

        Battlefield is an interesting case though where each game in the franchise is highly derivative of the previous game. So if each new game is essentially an upgrade of the previous one, then I’d agree that there should be an expectation that the older version is less expensive.

        The same could be said about many of the giant titles. Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, and most major sports games come to mind.

        One final thing to think of is that many games have continuing development. It’s basically the early access model (a whole other can of worms), and you could argue that many of these games appreciate in value. Some notables have - Factorio comes to mind.

        I don’t think Battlefield 2042 falls into that category though

  • j4k3@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    You were tracked, they observed your search history and listened to your phone or smart TV. That data filtered down to set your price to what they think you will pay. There is nothing deterministic about it. That isn’t everyone’s price, that is just your price.

    It is a scam that is as old as recording words on scrolls in ancient times. People used to use weighted scales to do the exact same thing. We live in a criminal world with extreme corruption just under the surface. There is a reason it is so profitable to data mine. Probably sounds crazy to most people, but all you have to do is a little bit of digging and reading. Phones just work. Yet they are actually whole operating system connected to the internet. This is possible because app developers have a tremendous amount of freedom to configure everything for you. You’re not admin. You are actually their equal. You both have the same access. They are actually whole users on your device, with you all the time. This is the reason everyone wants you to run their apps. Your TV and remote have a microphone, and the remote batteries die super quickly right. Actually read the legalise agreement. It is recording everything to data mine you. Your car is doing the same.

    It is only $8 for people that haven’t talked about or mentioned it to anyone and when the data points at $8 causing them to pull the trigger when they wouldn’t spend more.

    • Buttflapper@lemmy.worldOP
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      3 hours ago

      Uhhh what? Are we talking about the same things? Steam doesn’t do sales to individuals. If they put a game on sale for $8 it’s that price for everyone, unless I’m missing something?