Modern Warfare 2 Pricing Only the First £50+
Development costs and weak or strong currency to blame
The video games industry's reputation as 'recession proof' takes another battering with news from Activision that the standalone boxed (Call of Duty) Modern Warfare 2 will be available at retail for £54.99, with other publishers likely to follow the £50+ route.
While Activision itself hasn't commented on the reasons for the pricing, THQ's Ian Curran has told MCV, "I’m not surprised to see the [Modern Warfare 2] SRP go up and I feel this will continue across more key titles."
Factors blamed for pricing - and for the inevitable escalation in the take-up of pre-owned titles - include rising development costs, "at a time when the take-up on these machines is slower than expected" says Curran.
Currency fluctuation is also apparently a key factor, with a weak pound (in comparison to the Euro) meaning publishers fighting to make decent margins.
While Activision itself hasn't commented on the reasons for the pricing, THQ's Ian Curran has told MCV, "I’m not surprised to see the [Modern Warfare 2] SRP go up and I feel this will continue across more key titles."
Factors blamed for pricing - and for the inevitable escalation in the take-up of pre-owned titles - include rising development costs, "at a time when the take-up on these machines is slower than expected" says Curran.
Currency fluctuation is also apparently a key factor, with a weak pound (in comparison to the Euro) meaning publishers fighting to make decent margins.
Games:
Modern Warfare 2
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Comments
deleted 16 Jul 2009 10:26
1/6
its a hard one, im sure all us gamers understand the cost of dev games and its why we pay it, but what point does it become too expensive, im surprised that game shave held the same RRP for so many years though, i remember paying 49.99 for Zelda on N64 and i remember Paying 39.99 for Sonic The hedgehog on Megadrive, so over all this time games really have become cheaper even though the RRP hasnt ever really changed, so maybe an extra 5-10 quid isnt so much of deal, in comparison though DVDs and Blurays hit the market at a price of around £30.00 but as the uptake increases the price comes down and its norm to see new release titles on DVD for £9.99 sometimes even less!, so why doesnt this happen with gaming, is it really down to preowened titles?
Rutabaga 16 Jul 2009 10:35
2/6
Activision are taking the piss. They've worked out (on a computer) that this is the most anticipated title of the year and thought, f**k it, lets see how much we can charge. It showed with COD 4 that they were lazy money grabbing bleeders that they couldn't be arsed to add rumble support to the PS3 version even though they added a map pack, They have swapped roles with EA. If Activision published Burnout you would have to pay £159 for the full version.
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Psalms 16 Jul 2009 10:50
3/6
This is killing my local indie game shop. With more and more people buying used games and waiting for prices to fall, surely this is a mistake. There's also the rise in cheap digital distribution to consider.
They should keep the standard edition cheap and get the big money from the people who 'need' the hardened or prestige edition. Then again this is MW2 so it will sell well regardless and multiplayer should save it from the used sales problem, so maybe Activision know what they're doing, but its not great for the consumer or small retailers who can't afford the risk. I, for one, won't be buying MW2 for anywhere near that price.
They should keep the standard edition cheap and get the big money from the people who 'need' the hardened or prestige edition. Then again this is MW2 so it will sell well regardless and multiplayer should save it from the used sales problem, so maybe Activision know what they're doing, but its not great for the consumer or small retailers who can't afford the risk. I, for one, won't be buying MW2 for anywhere near that price.
Daz 16 Jul 2009 11:03
4/6
so over all this time games really have become cheaper even though the RRP hasnt ever really changed, so maybe an extra 5-10 quid isnt so much of deal
cheaper? if anything they've gotten more expensive, with almost nearly all playing pretty much the same, nearly all using QTE's (though I think thats cooling down now but I could be wrong), and lets not forget that games now seem to becoming easier even on the hardest diffecluties (this could just be a select few though and not a growing trend) where as back in Mega Drive days every game was different and original (and hard as concrete)
Psalms 16 Jul 2009 15:39
5/6
@Daz
I don't agree, back then nearly all games were near Identical, side scrolling platformers, shooters and fighters and top down RPGs and adventure games being the only real genres.
The current obsession with FPS and open world games is tedious for those of us who don't like the genres but there is far more variety than there used to be outside of those games.
I don't agree, back then nearly all games were near Identical, side scrolling platformers, shooters and fighters and top down RPGs and adventure games being the only real genres.
The current obsession with FPS and open world games is tedious for those of us who don't like the genres but there is far more variety than there used to be outside of those games.
nelly 16 Jul 2009 17:05
6/6
it's currently available for pre order at argos for 45quid with a 20percent discount code on the home page. This brings it down to just over 35quid. Bit more reasonable perhaps?