The PC (Personal Computer) is a highly configurable and upgradable gaming platform that, among home systems, sports the widest variety of control methods, largest library of games, and cutting edge graphics and sound capabilities.
I am brand new to PC gaming as I have just gotten a computer that is geared toward gaming for the first time in my life. I have been taking in Steam and looking online for PC games that I have missed over the years. I noticed that there are many games that are also on consoles, put the price differences are quite radical. It seems as though the value on PC games lowers rather quickly as apposed to console games that often remain at high prices for a good amount of time. My question as stated in the title is why are PC games often cheaper than their console counterparts?
The marketplace is more competitive, and PC games are primarily sold through digital means which cuts shipping, manufacturing and retailer costs. Publishers actually earn more money, while selling for less, per unit on PC.
" The marketplace is more competitive, and PC games are primarily sold through digital means which cuts shipping, manufacturing and retailer costs. Publishers actually earn more money, while selling for less, per unit on PC. "
Even retail boxed copies of PC games are cheaper, it comes down to an overall market preference for console versions (which in turn is largely due to the much cheaper hardware costs for a decent experience).
On top of what has been mentioned above, anyone who is looking to release a game on the Xbox 360 or PS3 has to pay licensing fees to either Microsoft or Sony, which results in a higher priced product.
" On top of what has been mentioned above, anyone who is looking to release a game on the Xbox 360 or PS3 has to pay licensing fees to either Microsoft or Sony, which results in a higher priced product. "
Same thing happens on Steam. Valve doesn't just let you publish games on there for free, they get a cut too.
" On top of what has been mentioned above, anyone who is looking to release a game on the Xbox 360 or PS3 has to pay licensing fees to either Microsoft or Sony, which results in a higher priced product. "
Same thing happens on Steam. Valve doesn't just let you publish games on there for free, they get a cut too. "
That's a bit different. Valve's fee is akin to the retailer fee for boxed games (like at Gamespot or EB). The MS and Sony licensing is another fee on top of that (about 10% or ~$6). Seller fee is typically ~40% for digital, 60% for brick and mortar.
I would like to say that it is becuase the of the costs difference in the hardware by drawing comparisons between consoles, PCs and printers. Cheaper printers have higher costs for ink so therefore cheaper consoles would have higher costs for games but after recent events I now think that the theory is hogwash (to use an expression borrowed from another thread).
I now think that PC games are cheaper as most of them are ported at next to no cost from console versions, sold as an after thought and sometimes just becuase developers want to squeeze a few extra $$$s out of the market, all of their development costs would have been spent on the console versions and that's where the costs will be recovered, PC sales probably just add to a bonus fund. Or maybe I'm being too cynical though looking at the comments about Crysis 2 I don't think I am.
Mostly due to there being no platform tax on PC. Partly due to the market being unwilling to pay the same for something which has zero resale value (compared to console games which can be resold).
Steam do not take a cut as platform owner - they take a cut as the retailer selling the game. There are substantial savings in digital distribution vs retail distribution, but these don't seem to be getting passed on to the customer at all. I can still always get a box copy delivered at launch for less than a digital copy.
After launch however, it is much easier for prices to come down rapidly on the PC - especially for digital distribution. This is because there's still no platform tax to cover, and the minimum profitable price on a digital sale is pennies.
I don't suspect the trend will last indefinitely. Paradigm shifters will come along.. change things... Battlefield 3 will retail at 60.... EA will begin getting ideas... new trends will be set.
Stop asking that question, do a bloody search next time, its because consumers like to assume that what they pay for a game is what its worth, console owners pay 60 dollars so they get all confused when they see games sold for 50.
" I don't suspect the trend will last indefinitely. Paradigm shifters will come along.. change things... Modern Warfare 2 will retail at 60.... EA will begin getting ideas... new trends will be set. "
Fix'd. That said, wait a couple of weeks and the games will be quite a bit cheaper (e.g. Bulletstorm's PC version attempted to retail for £40, yet it's now available for £25). The only exceptions to this rule are Blizzard games (you'll struggle to find Starcraft 2 for less than £29.99 new), and to a lesser extent Call of Duty games.
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