Game Prices on Steam: should there be regulation/guidelines?

Gian-Reto Alig · 2016-05-25T13:28:32

I searched through the game catalogue on steam this weekend while waiting for friends online. Haven't done so in a while, and I never actually just searched for a category (RPG this time) and actually looked at all of them. I was shocked a little bit about the average price. Besides the few big name Indie or AAA games that where in the list (amazed that these actually are not shown BEFORE all the others by steam), most of the smaller and no name Indie games where in the price range of 2-5$, with some few charging 10$ and more, and a few being available for free. Now, I am pretty much aware of the average quality of many of those RPGs, thank you very much. I did though take the time and looked at some of them, especially the user reviews. Found some interesting things, like this Indie RPG that looked like the usual RPGMaker-ware, yet seemed to garner quite positive reviews for its 12 hour campaign, thus most probably a game made by good devs with limited art skills and budget. As far as I remember the devs asked for 2 bucks for the game. I am aware that the competition on steam is getting ever more fierce, that consumers often have a bad attitude towards certain types of games (for example RPGs that struggle to deliver the visual fidelity of a 16bit era JRPG and have an RPGMaker typical look and feel), and that it is a free market where everyone can ask for any price they like. I am also aware that you might make more cash in the end aiming for a lower price point. Question is, in whose interest is it that prices on Steam start to fall in the Indie category at least just as the did on mobile years ago? Its certainly not in the best interest of the Indie devs that feel the pressure to lower their prices too. Cannot be the best interest of the big AAA Studios, they might not be directly affected as its not direct competition, but over the long haul their prices will also be affected by the average as players perception of "fair prices" shift. I would even say its not in the best interest of the consumer. I am not one who loves to pay way to much for overpriced products, mind you... but I am always willing to pay a fair price for a good product. Is there a GPU available for 50$ less that has a slightly worse cooler, is clocked lower (and thus not guaranteed to reach clocks of the other product) and is from a brand with slightly worse support? Given the base price is 600$, I will gladly plonk down the additional money. Similarly I will gladly pay a little higher prices for games, as long as they are fair (I am not asked to pay more than people from neighbouring countries (Fallout 4.... no, just no), price does not increase for no reason over time, I am not asked to pay twice for the game thanks to big parts of the game being locked behind a DLC paywall, and so on). I guess there are many players like me. I have limited time, thus my hours dedicated to gaming per week I can count on two hands. I will most probably not play more than 3 or 4 games per 6 months, maybe per year. Many times I dust off old games for nostalgias sake which take up some of my playtime. I have not problems with paying for games I enjoy. I would even go so far that I don't care about paying MORE for console games than PC games on Steam (I don't own a "current gen" Console because they have the power of a last gen PC, not because of the price). I still do like to take part in Steam sales. More because I can try out games I wouldn't buy at normal prices than because I am not willing to pay the full price on all games. But I digress... my personal opinion is that Players are mostly willing to pay current prices (50-75$ for an AAA game, 10-30$ for an Indie or old AAA game), given the game is good and to their liking. They want to be entertained, and if that entertainment costs as much, they are willing to pay. Of course there are binge gamers, or poor gamers. Still, with Steam sales, even a more expensive game can become reachable to them, even though maybe not at release. I don't think it is in the best interest of players that prices are raced to the bottom on steam as they are on mobile. If an Indie has trouble asking a price for his quality niche game that gives him a RoI, he will not produce another game of this ilk (maybe leave game development altogether). If the possible price range gets lower, games produced will cut back on budget, thus ultimately on length and quality. And of course, last but not least, Steam cannot have an interest in having the prices on their platform drop too much. Thus, would there be a value for limiting the options of price ranges to some fixed prices (so for example, either you put your game on Steam for free or choose the 5$ price tier), or at least release guidelines on how much a certain type game should cost on Steam (don't know if something like that exists already, as I don't have a game on steam)? Just to adress the "perceived quality" topic: It is my believe that if a 12 hour RPG with mediocre graphics garners very positive feedback, the price of 5$, maybe even 10$ is easely justifiable. Game length is 25% that of an AAA RPG (I would guess 50 hours average, leaving out all the non-story fetch side quest and completionist collecting tasks).... given a 60$ price for an AAA RPG, that would make 15$ a fair price. If you adjust now for the subpar graphics by modern standarts, and maybe not so stylish graphics even by Pixel Art Indie standarts, 2$ still seems far to low, given that the good feedback the game got points in the direction that the gameplay and story must be rather good, especially given the low opinion on "RPGMaker shovelware" on Steam. Might not be an openworld Blockbuster with dialogue options impacting the story, crafting and all that, but that is hardly what JRPGs are about (which is where most RPGMaker games seem to get their inspiration from), so that should be irrelevant to its target audience. Would a player who enjoyed the game have bought it too for 5$? Most probably. Might haven taken longer for the game to get enough good reviews to sell to people who were more skeptic... might have ended up with a similar number of players in the end, while making 2.5 times as much money for the dev. Might 10$ be too much given the RPGMaker looks? Don't know, might be pushing it already, but given the story and gameplay is as good as the positive review suggest, might have still made at least as much as the same game at 5$, with a better base price for sales and future price reductions.

Games Business and Law Business

Started by Gian-Reto May 17, 2016 10:14 AM

20 comments, last by Gian-Reto 7 years, 10 months ago

Khaiy

2,148

May 25, 2016 01:07 AM

Since we mostly agree I don't want to spiral down into nitpicking. I'm definitely not saying that the Steam market is perfect (or even necessarily that good), or that there aren't real problems with race-to-the-bottom price competition, or anything to minimize the issues we're talking about. I'm really just saying three things, which you may or may not agree with to varying degrees:

1. Price controls are hard to get right, and getting them wrong doesn't necessarily result in a better situation than what you were trying to fix in the first place

2. The problems we are talking about are real, but likely have other solutions than price controls

3. Given (1) and (2) a price floor seems, to me, unlikely to be the best choice

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Gian-Reto

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May 25, 2016 01:28 PM

Since we mostly agree I don't want to spiral down into nitpicking. I'm definitely not saying that the Steam market is perfect (or even necessarily that good), or that there aren't real problems with race-to-the-bottom price competition, or anything to minimize the issues we're talking about. I'm really just saying three things, which you may or may not agree with to varying degrees:

1. Price controls are hard to get right, and getting them wrong doesn't necessarily result in a better situation than what you were trying to fix in the first place

2. The problems we are talking about are real, but likely have other solutions than price controls

3. Given (1) and (2) a price floor seems, to me, unlikely to be the best choice

As said, I am unsure myself if a price floor is the best option. As long as it helps keep prices at a certain level and small devs surviving, anything is fine with me.

Hopefully Steam continues to improve their services, and taking proactive steps, instead of just letting things spiral out of control should prices start to slip.

Game Prices on Steam: should there be regulation/guidelines?

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