Annoyances I - Steam
I mean the hot games one, not the hot air one.
In theory, digital distribution is awesome. Quick and easy access to whatever you want, whenever you want, tiny distribution costs resulting in lower prices for the consumer and more flexibility for the developer. And it's one of those things that is obviously 'the future', and you feel a bit trendy for using.
It’s a shame it doesn’t work like that, isn’t it.
The ability to downloaded content is considered a convenience and therefore priced as such.
The bane of the publisher is pre-owned games. They get nothing from their sale, the entire profit margin (which is HUGE) goes to the retailer.
To be honest, it’s not as bad as they make it out to be. The retailers use the revenue to discount new games, and the customer often exchanges the game instead of getting cash, resulting in another sale. The resale potential makes a £35 game appear better value, and is a way to introduce new customers to a series. Despite all this, they ignore it and just think of the margin.
Let’s take Steam as an example, easily the most popular game distribution service there is, with somewhere around 75% of the market.
I’m strictly limited as to how I can use the games i’ve paid for in comparison to boxed games - I can’t lend the game to a mate for a week and I can’t sell it once i’ve finished. However, these are roughly comparable to the convenience provided.
But biggest problem, by far, is that in the vast majority of cases, it costs more to buy a game on Steam than to get a physical copy.
In the end, all things come down to money. While Steam competes favourably with the RRP, few games are ever actually sold at anywhere near that price. Physical copies are subject to strong retailer discounting and competition. Steam isn't.
For example, Football Manager 2010. I paid £17.95 for a boxed retail copy. A boxed copy that has a code in the manual, allowing you to link it to your Steam account, making it the same as the Steam version, and leaving you with a spare unneeded copy. Steam sell the game at £29.99 (with the RRP apparently being £39.99).
Admittedly, there are often limited time offers on Steam (like the one on now), bringing the price down to favourably compete with retail for a limited period... however there goes the benefit of availability if you can only buy games cheaply in a limited window of opportunity.
Publishers need to be wary, in that digital distribution reduces the difference between buying games and piracy. They need to make it cheap and convenient enough, or people will jump for the free option.
The current pricing model for computer games is obviously broken. 80% of games released don’t make a profit, being subsidised by the ones that do. And people wonder why there are so many sequels.
So, maybe it's time to think about volume rather than profit margin?
In theory, digital distribution is awesome. Quick and easy access to whatever you want, whenever you want, tiny distribution costs resulting in lower prices for the consumer and more flexibility for the developer. And it's one of those things that is obviously 'the future', and you feel a bit trendy for using.
It’s a shame it doesn’t work like that, isn’t it.
The ability to downloaded content is considered a convenience and therefore priced as such.
The bane of the publisher is pre-owned games. They get nothing from their sale, the entire profit margin (which is HUGE) goes to the retailer.
To be honest, it’s not as bad as they make it out to be. The retailers use the revenue to discount new games, and the customer often exchanges the game instead of getting cash, resulting in another sale. The resale potential makes a £35 game appear better value, and is a way to introduce new customers to a series. Despite all this, they ignore it and just think of the margin.
Let’s take Steam as an example, easily the most popular game distribution service there is, with somewhere around 75% of the market.
I’m strictly limited as to how I can use the games i’ve paid for in comparison to boxed games - I can’t lend the game to a mate for a week and I can’t sell it once i’ve finished. However, these are roughly comparable to the convenience provided.
But biggest problem, by far, is that in the vast majority of cases, it costs more to buy a game on Steam than to get a physical copy.
In the end, all things come down to money. While Steam competes favourably with the RRP, few games are ever actually sold at anywhere near that price. Physical copies are subject to strong retailer discounting and competition. Steam isn't.
For example, Football Manager 2010. I paid £17.95 for a boxed retail copy. A boxed copy that has a code in the manual, allowing you to link it to your Steam account, making it the same as the Steam version, and leaving you with a spare unneeded copy. Steam sell the game at £29.99 (with the RRP apparently being £39.99).
Admittedly, there are often limited time offers on Steam (like the one on now), bringing the price down to favourably compete with retail for a limited period... however there goes the benefit of availability if you can only buy games cheaply in a limited window of opportunity.
Publishers need to be wary, in that digital distribution reduces the difference between buying games and piracy. They need to make it cheap and convenient enough, or people will jump for the free option.
The current pricing model for computer games is obviously broken. 80% of games released don’t make a profit, being subsidised by the ones that do. And people wonder why there are so many sequels.
So, maybe it's time to think about volume rather than profit margin?
Labels: annoyances, games, steam
posted by Stefarno @ 10:08
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