• Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Am I the only one who finds this story laughable? As a mostly console gamer, if feels like Nintendo releases games for $70, and they NEVER drop in price.

    If you can find a walmart that somehow still has PS2 and gamecube games, the PS2 game will probably be some sports game, and it’s been reduced to $0.10.

    The Gamecube game will be some kirby game, and still 2002 MSRP of $60.

    Meanwhile over on steam, they’re like:

    "Ok, this is a AAA game, came out in 2025, MSRP is $60, but we’re running a sale to pick it up for $5.

    Also, here’s a shitton of free games. Go nuts."

    • KubeRoot@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 day ago

      I don’t think the example at the end of your comment is relevant, since to my knowledge it’s the publisher deciding on pricing and doing sales, and steam is still taking the same cut.

      I also think it’s generally not a great thing, since it basically puts the value of the game at $5, making it not worth getting off-sale, while also creating urgency to do so during a sale. I respect Factorio developers’ choice to just not do sales at all, and state so, so that buyers know exactly what the price is.

      • fyrilsol@kbin.melroy.org
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        1 day ago

        Yeah but don’t publishers/developers also have the options to not partake in sales? I think they do, otherwise we’d see every game on the market all going for a sale.

        • KubeRoot@discuss.tchncs.de
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          11 hours ago

          Yes, the publishers have control over that, which is why I’m saying it doesn’t make sense to praise Steam over games on it going on sale.

      • Katana314@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        I think Valve does get some say in the amount and timing of sales. It’s something they need to control to arrange the big seasonal sales, and something publishers must agree to, or set an acceptable range, when first signing up.

        • Minnels@lemmy.zip
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          1 day ago

          My guess is that valve sends invites to devs and publishers and if they are interested to join they get to set their own prices. Why would valve even try to control any of that? If I don’t remember wrong I have even seen games not even released or getting a cheaper price in the festivals. Sales is probably the same but you need to lower the price a bit.