Steam overpricing?

[kiranos]

Hi I recently thought about buying Empire - Total War from steam, thinking it would cost less than in a store, we'll that was not the case...

what happened to the box/manual cost, shipping cost, cd/dvd cost. Here is what I pay at webhallen.com:

Empire - Total War [PC] = 429 kr (swedish kr)

Steam
Empire - Total War € = 49.99
(EUR/SEK) 11,55
Steam price in swedish kr = 49.99*11.55 = 577,50kr

To make matters worse: At webhallen.com
Empire - Total War - Special Edition [PC] 569 kr

And on steam: € 59.99

All titles not on sale are the same. looks like I will have to get the boxes as it is still cheaper for swedes to buy...

I so wish I could buy with the dollar currency. We are not a country which is using £ we have our own currency :(

[Harkonan]

its the same with the British £. I went to look and if I remember game was offering Total war for £30 where as steam was asking for around £35. As far as I can tell this is mostly third party games on steam as games like L4D and TF2 were both cheaper on steam over here.

At a guess I would say third party makers renting steam space want to make more money for the bother of going through steam rather than using their usual distribution channels. Which does suck as I cant stand having my games on CD/DVD only :(.

(oh is that really my first post? damn I've been lurking far too long!)

[alienchild]

The funny thing is, you can register the Total War key with Steam and get the same functionality.

And yes, I've stopped buying the higher priced games at Steam as well. I'm voting with my wallet; no cash for them.

[Amalor]

I believe Steam has some kind of obligation to keep the game prices roughly equal to their retail box counterparts I can't remember the exact details but I wish this was not the case. I'd really like to see compensation for the fact I'm not getting a disc, manual and sweet ass box, but like I said it's not Steam's fault. There's always weekend sales though :)

[kiranos]

I believe Steam has some kind of obligation to keep the game prices roughly equal to their retail box counterparts I can't remember the exact details but I wish this was not the case. I'd really like to see compensation for the fact I'm not getting a disc, manual and sweet ass box, but like I said it's not Steam's fault. There's always weekend sales though :)

Wow is this true? and they say they cant make pricecuts because of all the lines needs it share of the money, and now when steam cuts a few of them, quickly they all jump in and say they cant lower the prices because of this?

damn

[nophex]

This is probably due to an agreement between brick and mortar stores and the publishers. For a lot of titles Best Buy won't carry it if it's offered via digital distribution for less what they are selling it for.

[Virtuoso]

I believe alot of the Europe prices are scewy because of the shared/individual currencies. Often the Euro is used for interstate trade, and certainly some countries have adopted it as their primary currency, but if you have a unique currency the prices will be very high.

[zeonxavier]

(oh is that really my first post? damn I've been lurking far too long!)

It's probably likely that whatever threads you posted in previously have since been deleted, and thus subtracted from your total post count. I used to have over 500 myself. I don't mind lurking, either. I generally tend to stay quiet unless I have something I feel is relevant or adds to the discussion.

[Zurik]

Its definitely not limited to just Europe. I can go on Amazon and pay way less for most games than Steam charges, and that includes shipping. I'm just wondering why you find steam charging full price for games that have been lowered everywhere else. I guess their weekend sales are a way to stay competitive, but most of the time they stay too high for too long.

[Amalor]

After some investigation it seems that there are a lot of countries paying more for games than American consumers. Some of this stems from import fees and currency conversion rates. Well in today's connected world I really can't see the point using different money systems, it seems kinda backwards to insist on everyone converting their money to one form or another and implies that one man's dollar is not worth anther's. Could someone unite the world under one elected government with a world currency so gamers can all be equal? I am serious by the way, lets stop the foolish territorial pissings and form up.

[RevXwise]

Yeah, I've been wondering about this too.

I purchased Unreal Tournament 3 from the store for $12.99. Apparently it retails for $19.99 on Steam.

[KingFire]

they've raised the finger to all euro users.
these prices are insanely high for a DD service.

[Kweli]

Steam is not friendly to non-americans..

As a Canadian, after playing the exchange rate, it costs more for me to buy through steam.... Its to bad they cant get their shit together because theres ALOT of games i would buy through them... but not when its in American dollars

[drakkarim]

(going into anti-abortion zealot like steam hating mode)

steam is the devil is disguise, they murder your right to sell anything you buy, all the while raping you for the full retail price.

the extra profits go to gabe so he can continue stuffing his ass with caviar encrusted escargot topped 24 ounce wagyu steaks.

(ends anti-abortion zealot like steam hating state)

[Jotoco]

Hey I get to get access to a lot of games that wouldn't ever come to Brazil, and still most of then are CHEAPER than what I would pay for then here.

Taxes on games are compared to taxes on gambling, here, over 100%, so it's a nice way to not pay too many taxes...

[drakkarim]

Hey I get to get access to a lot of games that wouldn't ever come to Brazil, and still most of then are CHEAPER than what I would pay for then here.

Taxes on games are compared to taxes on gambling, here, over 100%, so it's a nice way to not pay too many taxes...

Jotoco is an obvious shill account for gabe, probably from his brazillian villa high up in the mountains, where he eats the above mentioned steaks...
;)

[Jotoco]

Jotoco is an obvious shill account for gabe, probably from his brazillian villa high up in the mountains, where he eats the above mentioned steaks...
;)

Nah. He just sends me some free games as gifts

[Banlauk]

I love Steam and Direct2Drive, but usually save my purchases for their weekend deals. For example, purchasing Bioshock for 4.99, Company of Heroes for 19.99, etc. I did by Empire Total War at full price, but that was before I saw some places like Gogamer had it for 35 bucks.

I love Digital Distribution as I have wwwaaayyyy to many old CD's and DVD's lying around. I just make sure I purchase when the price is right.

[drakkarim]

Nah. He just sends me some free games as gifts

tell him he can shut me up with a few donations as well :)

I love Steam and Direct2Drive, but usually save my purchases for their weekend deals. For example, purchasing Bioshock for 4.99, Company of Heroes for 19.99, etc. I did by Empire Total War at full price, but that was before I saw some places like Gogamer had it for 35 bucks.

I love Digital Distribution as I have wwwaaayyyy to many old CD's and DVD's lying around. I just make sure I purchase when the price is right.

you're right about the price is right, i think the most i've spent on steam is 2.50. that aside, i'd rather buy used retail for very cheap (ebay/amazon) than download for the same amount.

[jmilmine77]

Steam isn't bad for prices but i often have problems buying online and i can't get a copy of HL2 if anyone has one that they would be willing to gift to me on steam i would be extremly grateful.

my steam account is jmilmine77 please consider. Thank you.

[lockwoodx]

Steam gouges badly.

[Tellurian]

Just bought UT3 on Steam for 12€, the German retail version still clocks at 45€, so that was a nice deal I guess (also probably, not sure, uncut version...)

I steer away from most of steams more expensive releases these days, they were relatively too cheap when they still charged in $, and now they're relatively too expensive since most stores'd get me the game for cheaper. Most of the time anyway.
I'll probably stick to weekend sales and sales in general, cause I think Steam is actually a pretty good, stable and well done service.
I'm astounded at how strongly a lot of my countrymen feel about steam. I doubt that it's a purely German phenomenon, maybe I know the wrong kind of people, but those dudes they bitch and moan how it's either not running right, how it's teh ieviel spyware, or who Valve think they are forcing them to connect their precious, virgin gaming PC to the evil internet.

[Pnikosis]

Enabling localized prices is the worst move that Steam could have done. Is like going backwards, a lot of the benefits of digital distribution disappeared with this move. Now, games on digital distribution are not cheaper than retail (in fact, most of them, are more expensive in Europe), they are not available for all users, and they don't have equal price for everybody.

I know, it's the market's law. The supply and demand and all, so they can set the prices they want. But when Steam was born I was a huge supporter, I loved the system from the beginning, under the believing of having (slightly) cheaper games (by saving shipping and packaging costs) and availability (no more "sold out" games, or the need of asking in different retail stores), it was a completely fresh approach on game distribution. I supported Steam speaking about it to my friends, discussing about how good it was and all. After all, by some reason, I felt like I was a part of it, because I loved the service, which seemed like a service focused on the consumer's benefit (as we all know, a lot of the companies haven't their service mainly focused on the consumers), a service who listened their users, their community.

And I was wrong, and I felt kind of stupid by two reasons:
First: Because I supported Steam a lot, I became some kind of an unpayed sales representative, and I know I wasn't the only one doing this. So I feel I made a small (very small, but something after all) contribution for making Steam what it is now.
Second: I feel stupid for being upset about this. I shouldn't be upset, I'm not part of Steam, I shouldn't be disappointed, I forgot that this is a company after all, and like every other company, they are free to do what they think is better for their business, even if that means selling games for some people at higher prices than the rest of the world, and than retail stores. I shouldn't be upset about that, but I can't avoid the disappointment, so I also feel stupid about that.

Anyway... I think they are about to kill the digital distribution, or at least preventing a lot of new people from adopting it. Now I prefer buy a retail copy of a game, and if the "insert CD" bothers me, crack it. They made me go backwards.

[ascl]

This is definitely something that has hit me a bit lately. Not so much the prices (which I believe are the same as the US store here, but I do feel for my Australian friends who get the steam-shaft pretty badly), but the un-availability of some items due to my locale.

Its entirely possible that neither of these things are valve's 'fault', and that the publishers cause these issues... but it still sucks.

FIX IT GABE!

[Reo Strong]

Its entirely possible that neither of these things are valve's 'fault', and that the publishers cause these issues... but it still sucks.

You just hit the nail on the head. On the PC-Gamer podcast, they talk about how the Publisher is the one to set the price, not Valve. That's why Valve made games are more-often cheaper than ones put out by outside publishers. There has to be an agreement between the publisher and the brick-and-mortars, otherwise, who would even bother to purchase in a store?

I love digital distribution, it means that when I want to play a game, i can do do from home in-stead of run to the store, wander through crowds, evaluate my options through glass, find some monkey to let me make my purchase, pay for it, drive back home, muddle through whatever craptastic DRM the publisher put into place, and then finally, play my game.

Isn't search, pick, pay, download, and play a whole lot more simple and easier?

[Tellurian]

Just noticed this, someone should tell Valve to adjust the price for their "Four Pack" of Left 4 Dead", which now would be more expensive than just buying four single copies...

Or maybe the four copies are the real game, not the "reduced violence" version for Germans... o_ô
How I hate my country for this...

[Evil Avatar]

I'm no help for the OP who lives outside the USA, but stuff like this is why GoGamer is your friend.

[see colon]

Just noticed this, someone should tell Valve to adjust the price for their "Four Pack" of Left 4 Dead", which now would be more expensive than just buying four single copies...
How much is L4D in Germany? In the US it is $49.99 for one and $149.99 for the four pack. So you end up getting a copy for free.

I haven't ever paid full price for anything I've purchased from Steam. The closest I've come is buying L4D from a friend who had picked up the 4 pack (paid him $35).

[Tellurian]

When I checked it was 29€, the four pack 149€.

Probably both the cut versions...

[Meusli]

This game now retails at £29.99 for the normal version and £35 for the Special Forces Edition but on steam without a box its £40/45 respectively. Its ridiculous that this situation is happening.