By Alec Meer on November 26th, 2009 at 11:08 am.
Steam’s got some sort of mad Christmas Turkeytime sale on at the moment, tearing big chunks of money-flesh out of a different clutch of titles each day until Monday. Keep an eye on the deals here, as we’re not going to post about it every blimmin’ day. What did your last slave die of? This one’s worth its own mention though – 50% off the complete pack of every THQ game on Steam, whose total discount now rips £183.33 off the price of buying each game individually. That’s the complete Red Faction, Company of Heroes, Full Spectrum Warrior, Titan Quest and Dawn of War lineages to date, Saints Row II, Stalker, and er, Juiced 2 and Frontlines Fuel of War. £26.50 to Brits, $50 to Americans and €50 to the rest of Europe. WE WIN! FOR ONCE, WE WIN! Essentially, 18 games for the price of buying Red Faction Guerilla or Dawn of War II on its own. Good’un, this.
If only you could gift non-Valve games. Grr.
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I didn’t go through with it but I selected “purchase as a gift” and it got to the part where you say who the gift is for…
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I think he means the ability to gift extra games when you buy a pack with games you own already. It’s not possible, besides for a some games from Valve.
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Thats erm, quite impressive.
Means that buying STALKER for £3.50 was a bit of a waste though.
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Or Frontlines: Fuel of War for 3 bucks…. not feeling too bad about that though, the game is more fun than I had expected. It’s actually pretty awesome.
To bad the 50$ deal is temporary, as I’d like to buy Red Faction Guerilla, but not now.
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I already own Saints Row 2, Stalker, and the original Company of Heroes, and this still seems like a darn good deal to me.
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still €50 for us other Europeans :(
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It’s still a great deal.
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True. But that’s not really the point, is it? :-( We’re still being ripped off compared to the Brits and Americans on completely arbitrary grounds.As I posted below, I was intrigued by the deal when I first saw it – then I came her and saw the other currencies’ prices. Slight disgust took the place of my initial interest.
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Yeah, but we’re still getting screwed for a bit. Also… if we’d want to complain, there are a couple of games I wouldn’t pay any money for anymore, like Red Faction 1 and 2. Not horrible games, don’t get me wrong, but still. Not worth one buck.
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It doesn’t really interest me I already have Dawn of War 1 + Winter Assault, CoH 1, Dawn of War 2 and Titan Quest =p
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We pay more, because we’re more AWESOME.
Or so I think.
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We pay more because we are willing to pay more. If noone would buy it at €50 they would lower their prices.
Seeing how the Brits pay €28 and we have to pay €50 I feel disgusted too.
It’s still a good deal for €50 but I feel ripped off.
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I’m gonna buy it, even tough 50€=/=50$.
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I bought it a few hours ago. I still can’t believe I actually own all of those games. It’s absolutely insane. There is no way that this makes any sense.
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Crazy deals like this one should be a hint towards how much we’re actually getting screwed price-point wise by Steam when this is possible. :P
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Well that’s just the thing, isn’t it? It costs them (very nearly) nothing to actually distribute, which means they could lower the price to very nearly nothing and make sure absolutely everyone with Steam and a pulse buys the pack. I’d be really interested in seeing what would happen to overall profit if they started making permanently-priced deals such as this. Perhaps the optimal price point is far lower than everyone previously reckoned?
This is a reply to Phemox, In Case Of Failure.
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would it always be up to valve though as to what prices to put the games at, or would the actual developer have a say? because they may want to still earn a decent amount, but if the game is selling dead cheap, they might not do…
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Europeans are naughty, apparently… :-/
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I prefer the meridian4 deal on impulse. 32 games for 60 buckaroos. better range of games, and some really superb underappreciated stuff there.
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Big Rigs! Bus Driver! Hot Dog King! Be still my beating chequebook!
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Hey, Bus Driver is a good game!
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So for me, that’d be:
- The two CoH games after the original, which I’d likely not play (or certainly not finish)
- Frontlines
- Full Spectrum Warrior stuff (which might overwhelm me)
- Juiced 2, which I’d probably ignore
- Red Faction/ Red Faction 2/ Red Faction: Guerilla
- Saints Row 2
- Titan Quest/ Titan Quest: Immortal Throne
- And the four Dawn of War games/expacs, the two main games which I’ve already given up on once a piece.
So basically I’m probably looking at Red Faction Guerilla, Saints Row 2, Titan Quest (maybe) and Full Spectrum Warrior (maybe) that I’d be actively interested in. Will need to check their individual prices to see if this makes it worth it for me.
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I just realised that Red Faction Guerilla alone would probably cost me near enough to that, so it’d probably be worth it for me.
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I already own Full Spectrum Warrior and can say it’s a very fresh game, pretty good.
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Don’t expect anything out of Saints Row 2. It is such a horrible console port.
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Ah but Titan Quest is a cracker… marvellous time sink…
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It’s a time sink because it just goes on and on. I was having a ball when I wrapped up Crete but about halfway through Egypt I was getting a case of the are-we-there-yets. I managed to struggle through that and China but then I realised I had all of Immortal Throne to get through so I had to turn off.
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Is it so hard to ask a fair price for the Euro zone? £26 is about €30.
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Wow, I saw the deal on (European) Steam and went ’50 €, that’s a nice price for all those games’. Now I realize that the UK and US are getting REALLY sweet deals and we Euros are getting royally shafted again. :-( Lame.
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I have no idea how much of this difference goes to taxes and how much is just pure ripping.
How much is the VAT tax for games in the UK? It seems to me at least some of the price difference comes from the fact that here in the EU we pay a big (as in 20% big) tax with our purchase.
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Here (in Norway) we don’t pay VAT, so there’s no reason the price should be much higher than in the US.
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VAT varies wildly across Europe. From 0-25%.
We pay 25% VAT in Denmark, which means Steam’s prices are *usually* around what I’d pay in a store. Of course, I’d never dream of paying those prices, not when I can get literally 50% off by ordering from play.com or zavvi.co.uk, or even Amazon.
Steam’s prices are easily high enough to cover 25% VAT *and* still have a good chunk of profit left over. The THQ deal is nice, but nowhere near as nice as it is in other regions.
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Isn’t VAT added at the end of a Steam purchase anyway, at the checkout? Perhaps I’m confusing it with something else.
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Pretty sure it’s added in the shopping cart as it says “All prices include VAT where applicable.”
So that probably means the pack will show as €50 in the store, but as something more in the shopping cart and at the checkout for people in countries with VAT.
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AFAIK, Sales Tax is added to US purchases at checkout, whereas if EU/UK prices include VAT, it must be stated up front.
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Yeah, they’re in the shopping cart witch you have to go to before you’re able to actually pay anything.
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Nope,VAT is included in the price. (Which is why all of Europe except the UK pays a common fixed price). Steam takes the VAT from that, and in countries where the VAT is low? Just means more profit for Valve…
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hey atleast you guys dont get [told a lovely bedtime story to] like we do in New Zealand to buy modern warfare 2 off steam it costs us 90 dollars US, gtfo activision.
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Yes we do, it costs us €60, witch equals $90,50.
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That’s one of the reasons I don’t buy games on Steam – atrocious regional pricing. Most of them are overpriced in EU when compared to UK and US (despite having a lower average income). Even if we don’t look at exchange rates, some games (like FM, Wolfenstein or Red Faction Guerrilla) are sold for less USD than EUR…
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Compared to prices in Norway atleast, Steam is usually a bit cheaper than retail, and they also have great weekend offers, so it’s much better than retail in Norway (and probably most of western and northern europe).
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Actually it’s only better in Norway. Rest of Western and Northern Europe gets shafted in Steam pricing (well ok, not UK obviously). Plus due to conversion rates and better deals elsewhere, you can get literally every game that is on sale in Steam cheaper from other places. Yes, that includes 50% off of Batman, 50% off of Champions Online, 25% off of Dragon’s Age etc.
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Is that because of the VAT? Because exept for that Steam prices are the same in Norway as the rest of Europe (exept the UK).
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Norway just has a higher standard of living than even most other W- and N-European countries, which means everything in retail is more expensive too (you should see their prices for cars and alcohol, insanity ;-) ).
So for them, Steam is relatively cheap since it sells new games at slightly above their actual brick store retail value (45-50 €) in most NW-European countries. For the rest of us, however, it’s either the same price or more expensive than retail, except for some deals now and then (where we get shafted vis-a-vis UK and US).
I can’t help but think that one of the reasons Valve uses this weird currency scheme is that seem to confuse Europe as a currency zone with the UK or US. We’re a collection of countries with rather different pricing and living standards, not one uniform federation (well we are, but not when it comes to this).
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Hey, Norway isn’t part of your “one uniform federation”!! :P
We probably should join the EU tough, as we’re already part of the EFTA, witch is basically just a suckier version of the EU.
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Haha, yeah, and Schengen too which is even more important. Join ussss
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Double post, please delete.
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According to Wikipedia, we’re members, but not full members because we’re not part of the EU, so you’ll have to wait for us to join the EU :P
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Caddy’s edit amused me greatly.
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Yeah, that’s much better moderation than just deleting it :P
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I own all the coh, all the dow (except soulstorm), both full spectrum, the first titan quest, the first 2 red faction, stalker saints row 2 and frontlines.
So juiced 2, the titan quest expansion and the third red faction for £26. Bah!
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caddy we have to pay 60 euro’s which is 90 us dollars
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Just an amazing deal for the UK-ians, gave me the excuse I needed to get Guerilla. Also bought it for a mate.
It’s still going to make Steam a ludicrous amount of money though.
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That would be mad since it’s still November.
Thanksgiving you oaf.
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What’s that?
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It’s when all the euro-brit-etc types “give thanks” to the nord ams for their cheap software offers.
NB The whole “cheap pricing in £” probably comes from the “tax loophole” which means that all imports into the EU from the Channel Islands (eg Jersey where play.com is based) being exempt from VAT on goods priced under £18, rather than anything special about the UK or £££ per se.
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I’m more interested in GRID for £3.74 but this is a great deal. Hopefully, some equally good ones to follow.
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Grid’s a good deal even without discounts – awesome, awesome, awesome game.
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I should buy this for the price alone (the only game I own there is Stalker) but I probably wouldn’t get around to playing the damn games until Christmas 2010.
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I’m in the same boat. By the time I actually get around to playing them I should be able to buy the games I’m actually interested in for less than the package price anyway.
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At an average of ~£1.40 each! Despite me owning three of those, and I would normally only consider buying four of them, possibly six, and having literally no interest one, I say what the hell? There’s enough games there that I won’t have to buy any new ones for ages. Plus I’ve still got to finish Mass Effect.
Also of course, most of those fit within the comfort zone for PC’s specs. DoW2 might push my CPU, but everything else will be fine.
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Damn it. All ready bought everything there in earlier sales apart from Juiced, the red faction series, the Titan Quest series and the Full Spectrum Warrior series. And apart from Red faction Guerrilla I don’t care about them. But still almost worth it just to have DOW, Saints Row 2 and COH with no CD checks.
Grid for £3.64 is another sweet deal for the day though.
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Saints Row 2 doesn’t have any CD checks anyway does it? The retail version just links to steam – or at least it did in my case.
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Saint’s Row 2 is one of those mystical games that can be activated through steam with a cd key, even though it isn’t required. I actually bought it for $5 from D2D on their 5-year sale and just activated it through steam right away.
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Oooh, Osmos for 2 euro is something I can’t resist.
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That’s what I said. Only game I actually bought in this sale though tempted by a number of others.
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That is a bargin. The only game i bought also.
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As soon as I saw this was happening on Steam I immediately closed it and vowed not to look at the main store page till the week was over. Damn you RPS. Ah well it’s certainly worth the purchase.
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The other offers are very interesting. Not so much the content but the precedent – new stuff like Arkham Asylum, Dragon Age and Champions Online, while not discounted much, are cheaper than any retail stores are doing them for. Not seen Steam have offers like that before. It’s either over-priced new games or dirt cheap older games.
Farcry 2 worth a punt at £10?
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I certainly enjoyed it. Although unless you prefer Steam the game is £6.50 at ShopTo, or £10 elsewhere for the Fortunes Pack ed. I’ve got the latter, and while it’s got some nice vehicles, I wouldn’t spend 3.50 more for them.
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Not that I’m complaining but why does a one day sale seem to last more than 27 hours?
http://store.steampowered.com/early-holiday
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It’s probably just the first ‘day’, to generate the necessary interest and monentum before the first day is actually over and allowing customers to spread their cash over as many different days/games as possible.
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Thuesday is Thanksgiving in the USA, so it’s likely most employees at Valve will be on leave. That’s why this first round of sales lasts until Friday morning (US time) when they get back to the office and start the next set.
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I’m not paying $75 for Red Faction Guerilla and a bunch of stuff I already have/don’t want. I’d've paid £25, though. Thanks, Steam!
Anyway, on the topic of savings, amazon.co.uk has a bit of a sale on, including Bloodbowl for £17. I bring it up since there are probably some people wanting to get in on the RPS league and such: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Focus-Interactive-Blood-Bowl-DVD/dp/B002JTW2ME/ref=sr_1_42?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1259238183&sr=1-42
Impulse also has Sins of a Solar Empire going for $10 and the complete Sword of the Stars for $7.50 and because they’re not rubbish, they don’t mysteriously make you pay more for their games because you live in another country with a comparable GNP per capita.
Bit of a thread about these deals going on in the forums, incidentally: http://rockpapershotgun.com/rpsforum/topic.php?id=827
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Are THQ in any kind of financial trouble? Becuase they really are giving shit away here. Two major franchise titles like Red Faction Geurilla and the Dawn of War 2 both released recently are available for peanuts. You don’t expect those in a deal like that.
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I can’t justify buying this, I own too many of the games
They just had their THQ week ffs!
I’m thinking I should buy Dragon Age but they might have a better deal at chirstmas
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I just bought Dragon Age and then about 15 minutes later realized that they’ll probably have a better Christmas sale, and I probably will barely play it before then. Oh well, at least I have it.
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The price is right and I only own STALKER, but few of the games were on my to buy list. However, at that price I might find something which surprises me. Hmm, do I bite?
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Hint…. buy from http://store.steampowered.com/sub/2539/?cc=uk (online) if you want the cheap UK price and put your country in as UK when buying on credit…
it worked for me no worries buying LFD2 uncut down under…
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and just in case I wasn’t clear enough… it will link to your existing steam account with no worries…
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Surely that doesn’t fucking work, right?
Right?
I mean, there’s no way circumventing the regional pricing is that easy and I never picked up on it. It’s clearly not going to work.
¬_¬
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well it worked for me and many other aussies buying LFD2 to get it uncut… unless there is more strict restrictions for other publishers but I doubt it… usually Asia/Russia games are the only ones to be region locked out from price discrepencies….
what have you got to lose? Try it…
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Oh Yeah… make sure you tick the box saying you live in the country you have entered (as in UK)
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Oh Yeah… make sure you tick the box saying you live in the country you have entered (as in UK)
Perhaps make sure you have closed any open steam tabs and maybe clear cookies? I can successfully open US/AU/UK pages at the same time without issue but as soon as I start the order it will all go to the first loaded region page… (https does that I guess?) Just muck around with it regardless.. /?cc=US /?cc=UK /?cc=AU at the end of any steam shop link should do it for browsing.
Perhaps you need to run it through a proxy just to be sure you get stalker.
After some investigation around LFD2 there is actually different sku’s for the different versions (as in 2539 might be slightly different to the EU version number??) so just screw around with it.
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What did you pay with? Because in order to get Steam to accept non-UK debit cards on the UK store I’d have to enter a UK address, which would mean the payment bounces because it’s not the card’s billing address.
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Visa Credit worked for me… I do think I recall aussies having issues with debit cards… they then used VPN or somesuch to do it… and perhaps Paypal.
You purchase the game through your web browser, not through Steam. When you’re entering your details for the purchase, it will ask you your country of residence…you need to set this to UK.
Perhaps Valve made this ‘easier’ to do for LFD2 seeing that they control Steam and are generally liberal with region locking/pricing etc… maybe they have to keep it tighter for THQ (a la the ip lockout for Germans)
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brilliant! just tried changing the country and it worked! Thats fantastic, never knew I could do that! Woohoo!
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I’ll have to give that a try one day :)
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Weird, seems to work.
Try using “?cc=us” for dollars.
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I can confirm that it works. Click UK as country & use ?cc=uk after the links.
Buying the US versions does not seem to work.
Still. For Left 4 dead 2 you save about €12…
Probably won’t last for long until they figure this out.
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I’m just not going to bite, though I sent the Lucasarts Complete Package to my brother. Somewhat sadistically, since he’s usually ‘too busy’ designing a game and going to college to play games. And there’s too many damn games out this season already. Muahaha.
As for the THQ deal, sure I sorta want Red Faction: G, and maybe if I give Dawn of War II a shot again I won’t hate it so much, and maybe Frontlines: Fuel of War would be worth owning .. but I’ve rented or beta’d all of those games already, and as for the rest, they’re either terrible or I own them already.
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Am I blind, i don’t see any “Stalker” listed here:
http://store.steampowered.com/sub/2540/
Also, there are “only” 13 games included. Am I missing something?
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Uh-oh. It seems the package might vary from region to region?
http://store.steampowered.com/sub/2539/ is the UK package and contains STALKER.
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Your link redirects me to my own link, which is really weird. It looks like the German version has less games in the package but the price is the same. The first banner even states “more than 15 games”.
Args.
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Yeah..no Stalker in there for us Germans. It’s the same story as with the GTA-series (except 4, that is): not available here.
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While this deal failed to convince me to part with £25 for 18 games, it did result in me spending £25 on 5 games. Yet I still feel I got the best deal.
I finally got the DoW1 platinum pack – the only part of the above package that I both wanted and did not already own – and spoiled myself on a copy of Arkham Asylum. Happiness is a warm holiday sale.
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see the sku’s are different…. 2539 for UK 2540 for German? (stalker was banned perhaps?)
Use a proxy to order…
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Yes I noticed the difference but no, STALKER isn’t banned here in Germany. Also the Article talks about “18 Games”, in my list there are only 13. So what else is missing?
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CoH + 2 Addons
Frontlines
FSW + Addon
Juiced 2
Red Faction x 3
Stalker
SR2
TQ + Addon
DoW + 2 Addons
DoW2
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Well, I’m glad to see Steam is treating people outside the US equally and equitably, as usual.
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About the proxies (or a VPN-connection): I just used that once for Steam to activate my copy of Saint’s Row 2 (bought from the UK via play.com) because it wouldn’t activate while connected with a German IP.
So what’s the risk in using a VPN to make Steam think that I’m in the US? Certainly a lot of the stories you hear about people getting banned from Steam are plain FUD, but is there any risk? If this works, I might want to buy L4D2 (the cut version is just no fun, really..).
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Well I sure as fuck ain’t paying 60% more in country where we have average net salary of 1210 € compared to 2410 € in UK. Fuck that – i wouldn’t buy it if UK/US had it for $1 and we had it for $1,60.
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Are you sure there is such a big difference?
Eurostat Nov. ’09 (GDP (PPP))
per capita)
UK € 27,600
France € 26,000
CIA Factbook (GDP – PER CAPITA (PPP))
UK $ 36,700
France $ 33,300
France: shorter working week, cheaper alcohol, tobacco, cars tax, ins., fuel, houses…arguably??? cheaper/better healthcare, education, pensions … more expensive for various specific goods.
Tax revenue as percentage of GDP is higher in France c.43% than UK c.39% but this seems like splitting hairs when compared with Demark’s c.50% or US/Japan’s c.30%
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Hang on… why am I talking about France? /confused
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http://forums.premiumgamer.com/read/How_to_Left_4_Dead_2_Uncensored may help some of you with VPN etc…
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Hey my mistake i guess NZ isnt the only place getting screwed. Ill admit there are some deals to be had on steam even here, but im hesitent to use the service because the pricing is just not stable here. They actually raised the price of borderlands after release ffs. Now that be some moneywhoring.
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Fucking hell..
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WE WIN! FOR ONCE, WE WIN!
What planet do you live on? I’ve yet to see a game being more expensive in the UK than the rest of western Europe.
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Happy Thanksgiving… ya fucking limeys.
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Dear god, I have to run home and see if:
A) This bundle is available in Israel
B) Which price is relevant for us.
As it stands, with today’s conversion rates, it’s:
166 Shekels for the Anglo-price.
190 Shekels for the Americano-price.
285 Shekels for the Euro-price – while that’s still a pretty good deal, It’s a huge ripoff compared with the other prices.
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Not bad that, that’s what an hour at the beach with a bucket to collect all those Shekels?
I always find pulling them off rocks a pain.
(P.S. just a jest, I don’t know why but Shekel just sounds like it should be a shellfish).
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₪
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People should also take notice of the Valve complete pack, which includes everything they’ve ever made for about £55 – and that includes L4D2.
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Thinking about this, but I already own a few of the games, would this mean that should I make the purchase that I am able to gift the duplicates to people or do they simply ignore my already active games?
Because then I could gift a couple to my brother and then it’s like it’s his Christmas too or Turkey day, sorry.
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So I checked and it seems you only get to gift extras if they are valve games.
Is this Package delivered as a lump or does each game come individually?
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Each game is individually added to your Steam account. My list of not installed titles is ludicrously long now…
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Before complaining about the difference in prices depending on region, consider this truth.
You live here.
Whatever sort of money you might potentially save if you lived there, wherever that is, is probably swallowed by the cost of relocating to there. This is of course a specious argument, but then again, so is the complaint that someone else, half a world away, is getting a deal for cheaper than you are. It’s still a good deal. Either accept it with good grace and take advantage, or don’t. Getting out a calculator and working yourself into a fit over percentages and exchange rates betrays a lack of rational thought concerning you purchases.
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There’s no real reason we should have to pay more, therefore we shouldn’t have to pay more.
Just being fine with is is what “…betrays a lack of rational thought concerning you purchases.”
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I’m sorry, I call a 40% price difference with a country that’s literally only 1.5 hours away and around the same standard of living not a ‘fit’. If they were getting cheaper games in Bangladesh where life is tough and weekly wages are 50 dollars, then yes, I’d be having a fit. But this just doesn’t make much sense.
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Gulag, the problem is that it is very rarely a good deal. As I said upthread, the THQ deal is pretty good no matter where you live (although Europe still pays 40% more than the UK, despite general standards of living, wages and everything else being about the same)
But in general, there is very little to “take advantage of” from Steam if you live in Europe. Unless you consider it “an advantage” that you get to pay twice as much as you would otherwise.
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@Meneth – There are ‘real’ reasons we pay more in Europe, but you don’t like them, ergo they don’t carry any weight with you. I’m all for levelling the price across territories, but if it’s a good deal, I’ll take advantage, not squander my time complaining about how the other guy is getting a better deal.
@Rinox/jalf – For the record I do live in Europe, not so far from the Brit’s at all. By and large, we do pay more for the same goods. Such is life and no amount of wishing otherwise changes that. I agree that Steam has a less than stellar record concerning prices vs. retail, but when the deals come along, I’m not inclined to gripe. After all, it can’t be Christmas every day.
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What are they then? And why didn’t they exist back when Europe still used $ on Steam?
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You’re probably right that there’s no use complaining endlessly about it. Still, Valve isn’t going to change anything if we don’t bring it up (even if they’re not reading this very thread :-D ).
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And by complaining in this thread we raise awareness about it, so more people will complain where Valve’s going to see it :)
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@gulag
It isn’t so bad for videogames, but here’re some numbers from a 2007 PC Pro magasine investigation (PC Pro a mainstream, widely-read and intelligent magasine aimed at home and business users):
Rip-off Britain: excuses exposed
Tech firms keep asking us to pay more than our American counterparts for the same products. But do their excuses have any merit? Stewart Mitchell asks the experts. Computer companies have long seen Britain as a modern-day Treasure Island, where prices are bumped up as soon as goods arrive on our shores. The rip-off Britain campaign transformed the way cars are sold in the UK, and brought prices into line, but we’re still an easy target when it comes to software, even in the global internet age.
Both Microsoft and Adobe recently released long-awaited upgrades to industry-leading software packages, but instead of being greeted with open arms by consumers, vastly inflated prices have prompted unprecedented animosity. “In the UK, a full copy of Vista Ultimate will cost you £350; in the US, it will cost you £195,” says Paul Milne, a disgruntled consumer who set up a pricing petition on the Downing Street website. “The US version of Vista is exactly the same as the UK version. There’s no difference, so I can see no reason for such a huge difference in prices between the UK and the US, other than Microsoft simply ripping us off.”
Microsoft isn’t the only company in the dock over price discrimination. Adobe, the biggest hitter in the world of graphics and web design, has riled its normally loyal community with an outrageous mark-up on this side of the Atlantic. Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection costs $2,499 in the US. That’s around £1,270 in UK money, but Adobe has priced the CS3 Master Collection at £1,969 excluding VAT – an astonishing £800 higher than the US price. “What surprises me is that there seems to be no coherence. It’s only where they have little competition that the price difference is so extreme,” says Danielle Libine, a financial analyst and critic of Adobe’s pricing. “For example, it isn’t so dominant in video software as it is in Photoshop or design software, and there’s a smaller mark-up in Europe for video products.”
The anomalies don’t stop with Microsoft or Adobe: they can be seen almost across the board. Quark, for example, charges British customers twice the US price for QuarkXPress 7, while Corel puts a 91% premium on buying Paint Shop Pro in the UK. And it isn’t only software; it’s hardware and music too. When the PlayStation 3 finally arrived in the UK, it cost £425, compared with £300 in the US and £250 in Japan, while Apple is facing European court action for selling the same content at varying prices – with the UK once again topping the pricing charts.
The manufacturers have myriad excuses for why goods are so much more expensive in the UK. They vary from exchange-rate fluctuations to the cost of translating software into Flemish, but are these “factors” mere smoke and mirrors to hide an ugly truth; that we’re charged more because they can get away it?
We’ll examine the most common excuses in fine detail, asking economic experts to deliver their verdicts on the validity of the manufacturers’ claims. We’ll also look for loopholes where you can make the most of the weak dollar and buy direct from the US, helping to beat the great software rip-off.
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The manufacturers’ excuses: each section can be read here: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/119660/rip-off-britain-excuses-exposed
1 – It’s the retailers’ fault: we don’t set prices
2 – Fluctuating exchange rates mean we have to protect ourselves
3 – European taxes force up prices
4 – Economies of scale and greater competition mean US retailers sell for smaller margins
5 – We set prices according to local market conditions
6 – VAT makes UK prices look artificially high
7 – Regionalising software is a substantial additional cost
8 – The cost of doing business is higher in the UK
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Conclusion:
As our analysis has shown, the vast majority of the excuses manufacturers offer for Britain’s sky-high prices are either bogus or exaggerated. Yes, there are a few legitimate reasons why we might have to pay a little extra, but nothing like the ridiculous mark-ups we routinely see on hardware and, especially, software.
So why do we continue to allow manufacturers to take advantage of us? In most cases, it’s simply because we don’t have a choice. Products such as Windows, Office and Photoshop are industry standards that most end users and, in particular, businesses can’t comfortably do without. As our panel of economists kept repeating: “It’s not about how much money most people have got, it’s about whether enough people are willing to pay.
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@Teejay. Yes, the only reason they ask more is because we still buy it if they do.
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Some steam prices are over 30% more than a physical copy at retail. True that is only some and like i said there are some deals to be had. But im sure once one company starts getting away with it the rest will surly follow.
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I also find it amusing when Europeans complain that we Brits get video games cheaper than they do generally, while it’s true and I understand the fustration it’s one we Brits usually feel for everything else except videogames.
Almost every kind of luxury is cheaper in the EU mainland (except for the middle of the big tourist cities), even necessities are cheaper (food, clothes so on).
So yeah it’s a bit mercenary for video game companies to charge more, but I can understand why they do given that although we Brits tend to earn more, we actually have a lower disposable income.
Houses (rent/mortgage) fuel, cars, utility bills, service bills (phone, broadband etc) all higher in the UK (with a few exceptions in places), normally a fair chunk higher at that.
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@Starky: You haven’t been to the mainland recently, have you? ;)
Anyway, it depends a lot on where you go. Compared to Scandinavia, *everything* in the UK is cheaper.
Compared to Poland, you’re right, the UK is expensive. Compared to Germany or France or other western European countries, not really.
It’s getting pretty popular here to take on one-day shopping trips to London. The savings easily outweigh the cost of the plane ticket.
Of course, I’m not one to complain about games being cheaper in the UK. I take advantage of it by buying 99% of my games from British online stores.
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Maybe it’s costly compared to some parts of the EU, but not to Norway, as Norway has some of the highest prices in the world and probably not compared to the rest of scandinavia either.
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I suppose, saying “the EU” is a lot of countries and it varies quite a bit.
I find it hard to believe people are taking day trips to london though, or if they are that’s a bit thick, London is by far more expensive than any other UK city.
Again I suppose it depends where you live, I live in the north of England where wages are around half that of London/southern wages, but the cost of living reflects that in some ways (not in others).
So we have the same deal that many Europeans have, it’s actually cheaper for us to get the ferry to Amsterdam or as you said Poland.
It’s hard to get statistics for it as they vary wildly and don’t take into account differing things for example that wages in London are almost 4 times higher than many parts of the UK, and that London and that London is responsible for something like 20% of the countries GDP.
It tends to stack any statistics taken about the UK.
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Jalf is right, actually, there are entire advertisement campaigns for one-day shopping trips to London with the Eurostar train. They’re all over the place.
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Also there is no excuse to jack a price up almost 50% a couple days after release as was the case with borderlands.
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Comparison – if I get Modern Warfare 2 of Steam I’d pay 60€ ( about $90US) if I get it of game.co.uk I’d pay about 41€ (shipping included). We’re talking a physical copy sent by mail for 1231 km (765miles).
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AND I HAVE NO MONEY :(
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Ok, wheres the frickin’ catch?!
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I want but don’t have a credit card. I am currently in frantic negotiations with my clan for someone to gift it me.
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I must say this is a bit crazy … I have Titan Quest and Stalker and that is it … bring it on !
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Isnt the best way round all this is to setup a paypal, gift a steam friend kinda thing ?
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I’d be tempted if I didn’t already own most of these from other sales. :P
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Gah I thought, hey Champions Online for $20 so I bought it and have now been downloading a patch for a long long time…….still only at 50% =( This of course because of the sale, playing for free on Thanksgiving and ….I just want to fly is that so much to ask.
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Stop being so dramatic, a good deal is still a good deal, even if someone else gets a better deal.
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I just wanted to add here, on topic of deals, that Hearts Of Iron 3 is £6.50 at Direct2Drive at the moment.
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Fantastic deal there, though I already own all the ones in that pack that I want and one that I don’t.
Just for RFG and Titan Quest it’s well worth the price though.
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I’ve seen RFG for €15 and Titans Quest for €10.
But if there are more games in there that you’d like to play, go ahead.
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Done and done. Even though I already had all the Dawn of War titles and CoH its still an amazing deal. I do have 61 uninstalled games on steam at the moment though….
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Lovely deal…
Except that I already own Stalker, Company of heroes, Red Faction 2 andTitan Quest & Expansion.
These bundle deals should really offer something if you already have multiple games. Gog.com has the idea right if they offer a bundle: 50% off on second game if you already own the first one.
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It’s a slightly deceptive deal tbh. Most gamers worth their salt will already own the select best few of those games – and would only really be buying the remaining mediocre ones. I suppose one benefit is getting an extra digital copy of the best ones for ease-of-use (if you’re aiming to move away from physical copies), along with some bonus games you may/may not play one day.
Still, I guess it shouldn’t be sniffed at. A good deal is still a good deal.
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Wow, we really did come out on top with this. And one of my American acquaintances became incredibly agitated to the point of being totally pissed off when he heard about it.
Apparently, British people don’t deserve good deals because we don’t have Thanksgiving/Black Friday, and we certainly don’t deserve better sale prices than America, apparently, due to the holiday or whatever.
I was almost tempted to buy this pack on principle because of that.
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New deals up. Dead Space for £7.50. Majesty 2 and Knights of the Old Republic both get 75% lopped off their prices (down to £6.24 and £1.74 respectively). Cities XL is half off.
This is going to be an expensive few days; I’m rather tempted by Dead Space and Majesty 2.
(Also featured: L4D2, Mini Ninjas and Madballs in Babo: Invasion).
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is dead space worth 10€?
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