Why are Xbox One games 70$ instead of 60$?

Hi... Australia here!

So we're getting shafted to the tune of $89.95 - $99.95 per game, and even more for special editions... Ala Watchdogs DedSec Ed for $150... Heck Titanfall Limited edition was $399!

Now before the "oh, but that's because of how far away you are" card gets wheeled out, we get royally bent over with digital content too... I'm guessing there's no shipping involved there though.

An inquiry was carried out with the likes of Apple, Microsoft and a few others... And the bottom line was, "it was a fair price for this region"... Yes, there's the cut the government's collecting from import tax, but we're seen as high income earners in
comparison to other countries, but the catch is our cost of living is higher in comparison too, so that advantageous figure effectively is nullified. Leaving us paying more than the rest of the developed world.

Just sayin...

 

Dont mention shipping .

Apparently to run a factory , make a disc and ship it ... only accounts for 4% of the game cost , if you argue , the thread will be deleted .

 

Paint, don't take things so personally. I don't know what it is, but your thread was deleted for a reason - there's no need to keep reminding us of that fact. Move on! That being said, you're right - if you start an argument (as opposed to a proactive discussion),
it will probably be deleted.

 

US seems get good prices in the world. Unless a country has US beated. And one said about instruction manuals in games. There is none. Just some heath and warrenty info.

 

Are the games region locked .. ?

 

XB360 games case is mostly yes. But a XB1 game is no. You can in thory get a Japan XB1 game and played it on a american system. But movies and dlc are still region locked.

 

^ For starters, there is very little hope that you could discuss or explain the Australian economy. No-ones asking for pity from Canada, we can import just like you can.

 

I wasn't talking about shipping costs per-se... But that there's a greater perception of import/sales tax on physical goods that have been shipped as opposed to digital content.... Which obviously is not.

Here's just one example to back up my points... Albeit it's about steam pricing, but it can be applied across the board.

www.kotaku.com.au/.../watch-dogs-australian-price-hike-is-unjustifiable-at-least-ubisoft-tried-to-justify-it

Either way it's not right.

 

Oh man, Kingvas was the recipient of my message. Sorry Dark Things are expensive because we are alone apparently, what an economist, Should come to the XB forums for all of my financial advise.

 

New Zealander here and we pay anywhere from $99 (on sale) to $109 or $119. Prices very from store to store of course so there are probably higher prices than that somewhere.

 

Hello Everyone

At the moment, I'm still paying $60.00 for new Xbox 360 games. However, I wouldn't be surprised if this generation of games will be $65.00 to $70.00 before taxes are applied to them because of the rising cost of game development.

Have a nice day or afternoon or night everyone

 

I pay between $50-55 for digital games.

 

Exenomorph, that link didnt work .

Can you tell us the gist of the story ?.

 

@ PAINT MACHINE

www.kotaku.com.au/.../watch-dogs-australian-price-hike-is-unjustifiable-at-least-ubisoft-tried-to-justify-it

Watch Dogs' Australian Price Hike Is Unjustifiable. At Least Ubisoft Tried To Justify It.

23 MAY 2014

Last night Ubisoft changed the pricing of Watch Dogs on Steam, increasing the price from US$59.95 to US$74.95 in an instant. Almost instantly complaints hit the Kotaku inbox. “Australia Tax” was the unanimous cry in almost every single email I received.
‘WTF’, ‘WTH’? Regardless of the abbreviation you care to use, this is just another high profile example of one of the worst and most unfair aspects of playing and buying video games in this country.

But before I attack Ubisoft for this practice, it’s worth giving them the benefit of the doubt on a few issues. Firstly, the price jump that Watch Dogs made is actually generous compared to some others I’ve seen. In my experience there have been far worse
offenders. Activision and Bethesda spring to mind, with PC games on Steam leaping from $59.95 to $89.95 overnight. The price jump here, as bad as it is, is gentle compared to the one Fallout: New Vegas received some years back.

And unlike those two companies, Ubisoft actually took the time to at least respond to customer complaints. This is rare. In my three years as Editor of Kotaku the issue of digital pricing has been a discussion local publishers simply refuse to engage in.

Last night on its Facebook Ubisoft did its level best to justify the price increase.

“Unlike Ubisoft US, Ubisoft Australia & NZ is a part of the European business group,” Ubisoft Australia explained. “We buy and sell product at euro-based cost of goods and royalties, as does UK, France and most of continental Europe.”

That was part of a full back and forth conversation on the official Ubisoft Australia Facebook page last night, a conversation which represents the first time, in my memory, that a local publisher has openly discussed its digital pricing policy with its
customer base. As anti-consumer as these price hikes are, I think Ubisoft should be commended for its transparency.

But.

But surely it’s time for some sort of change. Surely. Particularly when it comes to PC games sold on Steam. With box copies sold at retail there are arguments to made, some of them fair. It does cost more to run a business in Australia. Our minimum wage
is higher, our population is small and is spread out across a massive chunk of land. Australians do, in general, make more money here. I don’t agree with the pricing of retail games in Australia, but at the very least I can understand it.

When it comes to digital I can’t understand it. Particularly when consumers are dangled with the golden carrot of US pricing only to have it snatched away at the last second, literally a week before release. It’s a cruel unfair practice. Ubisoft is calling
it a pricing error, but it’s an error we’ve seen all too often in Australia and an error that makes the unfair pricing we have to deal with here in Australia all too transparent.

And while I commend Ubisoft for being open about price changes and the reasons they were made, ultimately my response (and the response of most consumers) is ‘who cares’?

Who cares that Australia is part of the European territory? What does that matter to me or anyone who buys video games? It’s actually meaningless to me as a consumer. If I lived in Europe I’d be equally as *** that I was expected to pay more for a digital
product. Who cares that the US and Europe are separate entities? I don’t think that’s good enough. If that’s the way you run your business then make adjustments. What’s stopping you? What’s stopping Ubisoft, as a company, from making Steam pricing consistent
with exchange rates across all territories?

We live in a global economy, we live in a world where digital products are sold sans middlemen. Consumers shouldn’t be expected to wear the same old costs. Price hikes of this kind are unjustifiable and that is literally the bottom line.

 

Omg , .

Thats terrible dude ... more than a 50% price rise overnight .

Does it not work out cheaper to buy games from abroad ?.

Just out of curiosity , what sort of price would you pay for a used .... Cod Ghosts .. for example .