Just noticed this while per-ordering the disc form amazon UK.

I shop in both euro and british pounds depending on which retailer that i buy from so I put in both of the prices. I also round up to nearest euro

Price on steam: 50 euro. 40 Pounds

Price to buy disc from amazon: 34 euro. 27 pounds

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Civilization-Beyond-Earth-PC-DVD/dp/B00JQ04O5M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408624802&sr=8-1&keywords=civilization+beyond+earth

Price to buy steam code from amazon: 50 euro. 40 Pounds

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sid-Meiers-Civilization-Beyond-Online/dp/B00MW8M63W/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1408624802&sr=8-8&keywords=civilization+beyond+earth

So, disc version seems the best value even after you add the extra 2.50 pounds for shipping

It's been like that for a while now. I bought Fallout NV on disc because it was €30 as opposed to something like €45-50 on steam and once I got it the disc box just had the dvd and a steam key inside of it. I'll continue to do it as long as it's the cheapest option, I don't care enough about getting these games day one to pay nearly 50% more.

@jesus_phish: Yeah I noticed it before too, I bought the disc version of Skyrim for half the price of the steam version. Its just seeing the physical copy pricing right beside the steam code price on amazon just made the price difference seem so ridiculous.

Digital distributors like Steam are counting on consumers preferring convenience over price. And the advertising on Steam makes consumers, myself included, forget to even consider the alternative of buying a physical copy.

Steam only really price matches in the US, because retailers tend to stick a lot closer to MSRP. They've been terrible about EU pricing for years, sadly. I've had friends paypal me money, and then I gift them games with my paypal balance because the price difference is so silly.

Pricing for digital games is set by the publisher so it will always be full price at launch. Physical copies are priced by the retailers who will try to undercut each other, so retail will always be considerably cheaper than digital except when big digital sales happen. It has been like this for years.

Go for the third option: £24 Steam code with the 20% Off coupon http://www.greenmangaming.com/s/se/en/pc/games/strategy/civilization-beyond-earth/

The steam price is showing £29.99 for me.

There's a 25% voucher valid until monday.

Edit: here is the code: GMG250-FFSELE-CTED00

I got Fable Anniversary for £16 and Civ for £22.

Oohh, the next Civ game for £22.50? That sounds pretty alright!

@fattony12000 said:

Yeah but Civ 5 was kind of a mess at launch... for months. I still bought it just now anyway... so I should blame myself.

Yeah Digital pricing is usually ridiculous for day one buys. Diablo 3 on PS4 and Xbox One is £60 on both their stores. That like $90.

thanks thread for making me preorder it :\

I have more GMG credit that what a 25% off voucher is worth and since you can't use credits and vouchers together anymore i don't have any pressure to buy now for the best price.

It's definitely the game i'm looking forward too the most this year but i'm waiting for reviews from knowledgeable people. So basically no reviews from typical gaming sites since they all showered Civ 5 with endless praise despite that game being a disaster at launch. You just can't play for 20-30 hours and review a game like Civ. You just can't. But it sure didn't stop them anyway.

In any case i'm a bit more hopeful for this one. They are building on the foundation of Brave New World instead of redesigning everything from the ground up like they did going from Civ 4 to Civ 5.

Update

Just looking through Amazon again

Both the steam code and the physical copy are now priced at 25 pounds. 31.29 Euro

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sid-Meiers-Civilization-Beyond-Online/dp/B00MW8M63W/ref=sr_1_7?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1408833131&sr=1-7&keywords=Civilization+Beyond+Earth

@alistercat: Thanks for the head's up, was about to go order it without the voucher, getting it for a bit less is always nice.

Just getting it on GMG with no voucher is still ~$16 cheaper than buying on steam though.

€31 is a great deal, after the exchange rate conversion that's still about €7 less than what the game is selling for in the US right now. Amazon prices in the US are still showing $49.99, or about €38.