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More incentive for people to go to PC and chances for Linux gaming to grow. We'll get a Linux GOG client someday and drag EGS kicking and screaming to Linux too. Steam lets devs generate keys for free for deva to sell on other stores with no Valve cut. Bundle sites like Fanatical, Humble Bundle, Digiphile
Closed hardware platforms with closed software distribution loops are destined for enshittification
I've always said digital games should be discounted. I saved you the manufacturing, shipping, middle man, and warehousing costs. But I got zero discount, and the digital game can just be taken from you
So what you're saying is never use the Playstation store for any reason whatsoever.
I went there yesterday. The enshittificatiin is out of control. Instead of being able to sift through games, it's all a bunch of predatory loot box-ish bullshit. Looks like it's PC master race from here on out.
Dynamic pricing for video games isn't new. Games will charge more or less based on your location.
It's funny how companies brazenly do this, yet there are still swaths of moron saying it's necessary to keep the lights on.
No, dipshits. It's necessary to maximize profit off of your stupid-asses.
It's not "surge", it's not "dynamic", it's not "personalized" pricing... It's price gouging. Look forward to paying more for games during peak times and months. It's never enough for these greedy giant corporations.
I might be part of the problem. I bought a PS5 years ago, thinking GTA6 was close to being released.
Turns out no.
But what I've discovered is that with how the gaming industry has gone, I don't see any need to buy games anymore.
I'm sick of games being an online focused experience, which requires subscription costs.
I'm sick of every game needing a multiple deluxe collectors editions that are the only way to play the full game, but cost $200 each and come with cheap plastic junk "collectables" to justify the cost.
"But you won't get the super rare coin and lapel pin if you don't get the collectors edition!"
"Thats fine. Just sell me the full game at $60."
"The full game requires the collectors edition. But it comes with this lapen pin and rare coin!"
"How many copies of the collectors edition are there?"
"About 2 million."
"So, not exactly rare, is it?"
The term of art is "price discovery"
Then I will continue my 20 year Sony boycott.
What was it that initially sent you down that path?
Steam and PC gaming if anything. That and changing life priorities in my 30s and 40s. GoG and epic too. Between them I have almost 1000 games I didn't pay for. Combined with hundreds on steam from humble etc. I probably spend more time trying to decide what to play than playing it.
Not the person you asked, but for me:
Take your pick!
Omg their stupid ass 4x normal price proprietary memory sticks lmao
I'm still pissed about the rootkit scandal. That was 21 years ago now, and I haven't spent a penny on Sony products since.
Don't buy anything from Sony, got it
I wonder why steam is so successful
Integrity.
Valve does the least amount of scammy/scumbag bullshit, and they're rewarded accordingly.
Companies like EA only want customers that have no self-respect, so that's what they get.
It's almost as though Valve provides a valuable service and respects their customers. Rare traits in the corporate world. Answering to a board of directors is a hell of a lot easier than answering to shareholders.
Enshitification hasn't struck there....yet.
Yeah I’m testing out dynamic buying. If it’s too expensive I don’t buy it.
I just don't buy things I can be getting for free anymore. All of the people selling it want to treat me like a piggybank instead of a person, so I don't treat them as humans either.
This also goes for indie devs. They still do scumbag shit like ending prices in .99 while expecting the community to show goodwill.
Fuck that.
That's nice...
Meanwhile, I am testing piracy: one game - same price on my private torrent tracker.
the PS4 can be jailbroken with a €4 disc from aliexpress nowadays, and it has a great catalog of games. slap a 1tb external hdd on it, download games from archive.org, presto
Intriguing....
this will do the trick, scroll down to the product recommendations and you might find an even cheaper listing
Fuck dynamic pricing, anyone even considering it should be jailed.
So tired, so tired of these ultra rich finding new and creative ways of squeezing the plebs and we just, again, let them
THEY'RE A BUSINESS AND THEY NEED TO MAKE MONEY!!!
Stop being fucking poor and serve the people richer than you.
The dynamic pricing will not affect my static boycott.
Dynamic pricing = unbridled greed
I'm sure not being able to trust the price does wonders to sales.
Next up: highly personalised dynamic pricing by analyzing your bank account, payment behaviour, your age, gender, location, your app and website interaction patterns, the color of your shit, the time spend on digital media and breathing, your credit score, your biometric data, whether you are white or a terrorist, your political voting behaviour, the number of hairs you have, your likely age of death, your medical and mental health history, your probability of being captivated by addictive patterns anf gambling mechanics, and maybe even your game collection, to maximize squeezing each and every last penny of your barely or even non-existent disposable income.
Well, the only game I was looking forward to from them was Ghost of Yotei, budt since they killed the PC port for whatever reason, i don't even want to buy anything
They're still going to port it to PC.
If you played first Horizon but thought the second was a boring version of the first, that's how Ghost of Yotei was for me. Assassins Creed Valhalla too. It's like everything is the same game.
The next game from the Returnal devs will be released soon. Now that is something that sounds exciting! Returnal was amazing! I hope they port to PC.
This should have been an obvious outcome when digital games weren’t priced any less than their physical release.
It’s not about saving the environment with less plastic. It’s not about saving money for the customer. It’s not about making it more convenient for the customer or the developer.
It was always about more greed. More money in their pockets and more ways to fuck you over as a customer.
I'm not sure I follow the dynamic pricing explanation. This article shows evidence of A/B price testing with different sized discounts, but not specifically dynamic pricing. It seems to be regional at most. If I'm missing anything let me know.
Exactly what i was thinking. A/B testin is the best way to get data.
What worries me more is what they are going to do with that data and if it will lead to predatory business model or not.
It absolutely will be used in the most shitty predatory way. They're not going to simply delete the data and most digital marketplaces are excited at the prospect of dynamic pricing.
Yes, predatory use is what i fear.
What i can gather from the article at the moment they are testing what is the percentage they can discount the game and make most profit still from it. I dont inherently see any proof they are aiming for full dynamic pricing.
If they give for group A, 50% discount and make 1000 sales from 70€ game they make 35 000€.
But if they give group B, 25% discount from 70€ game they make the same 35 000€ with only 667 sales.
Then they have group C as a control. If the control group will make as much money as the other groups they know for sure discounts are not good busines.
Simple so far.
After the initial numbers they most likely will follow the retention. If i were there i would follow each group weekly and take a note how much money each group generates. At this time it would be best that each group gets the same discounts and adds etc. My hypotesis would be that people who buy only games from big discounts are more unlikely to buy games at full price. Meaning that even if there were more sales there would be less income and the customers have lower CLV. It does not mean they are bad customers per se, but it would mean they are not the core customer group they should focus their effort on.
If they are doing what they are doing to figure out their audience really is, this is not predatory. A/B testing is unfortunaly the best way test it, and to company as big as Sony, the data they collect is unmeasurable in value. Everyone of us had been part if some companys A/B test at some point. Adds, news site headers, youtube videos, hell even telemarketing calls do this all the time.
Im not saying they are not looking into to dynamic pricing, but with what information the article gave me i cant say that they are.
Sorry for the long text. I wanted just to justify why i dont see this for a reason to immediadly jump in to conclusion that Sony is trying to screw everybody up.
It seems as though many people aren't reading the article, Sony was testing lower prices for the test groups, not higher. That sounds like the opposite of price gouging to me.
It's just a test. Doesn't mean they won't use it the other way.
Probably just seeing how much people notice and why.