That was because certain countries have certain policies. In this case, there's not even a legal excuse!

Yeah, I do not really care.

Region price differences are usually caused by VATs (value added taxes), and when the price is kept the same, it just means that the overall price is higher, to factor in all of the VATs.

So a game could cost $40 in one region and $60 in another, but the actual company selling the game is making exactly the same about, and the increase in price is from the govt of the person buying the game. So while it might be $40 in one area and $60 in another, they are actually making like $5(or whatever it is) on each.

VATs are designed to hide the fact that it is a govt tax, so that people put the blame on the store and call them greedy.

This is almost always the reason for different prices, and people will always blame the store, instead of their govt. The reason is because that is how VATs are designed and your govt knows that you will never blame them for it.


Saying that they will always keep prices the same was a silly thing to do to start with, so I do not care that they will no longer do it.

I would much rather that GOG is allowed to grow and expand, to maybe be able to compete with steam, with drm free goods.

This petition won't work cause the decisions are already made and contracts finalized.
In the short time i am buying here I've heard many reasons why someone joined GOG.
DRM free and old games are the main reasons. But shortly after that follows clear and
save pricing for everyone. That means if they checked the forum the CEO's know that
region pricing would get split reactions from their customers. And still they are doing it
because its business. Shocking, yes, but GOG is a vendor not a knight in shining armor.

Not everyone has VAT, and this isn't even related to VAT.
If things were finalized, I'd be able to see what the mystery games even are. They aren't and there is still a NDA at hand. Someone is hiding the cards.

Well, It usually always is when I see this stuff. Which is why I say almost always and usually...

As far as I know, it could be VAT related, or something similar. If you have information somewhere proving that this is not the cause, then go ahead and post it. I mean that seriously and not in a negative way.

I just know that stuff like that is usually the cause for pricing differences... so I post about, sometimes, when I see a thread like this.

Regional pricing I can understand for physical goods in poor'er countries, but if you can mark down a digital good, why not just mark it down for everyone? (ps. greed)

Because we know it isn't VAT, its publisher related due to the 'apparent demand' for new AAA titles.

Well, if it is VAT related, it is actually marking the price up, not down, and is done because it is required by law when doing business in that country, because its a tax.

Can you be clearer, please? Are you saying regional pricing does not benefit the seller in the sense that I described?

I'm not supporting regional pricing, I'm just explaining how it can benefit a seller.

+1.

lol just came in and heard about this. Will this apply to all titles or only pre order of games?

That is not really proof. I mean, it could be because they can make more in one area, because of demand, but it would not shock me if it all boils down to some form of tax.

I still do not care either way though.

If it is them being greedy, then the product should not sell as well in that area, and the price should end up being lowered as a result. It should also be really bad PR.

If it is from a tax, then there is not really much that can be done about that. A business should not be forced to make less money for a product, just because their govt taxes make the overall price higher.

There is a base cost at hand to host and provide the files. Everything else is gravy. And if I had to guess, the publishers who want this, are probably not some Indy studio thinking of going in for welfare benefits. They could make cuts within their bloated budgets to cover any costs and bills as I stated eariler. I'm very much so anti-materialstic. He who dies with the most toys leaves a big mess for everyone to clean up, I say.
We don't know because of NDA. :D

VAT has nothing to do with it- neither we nor the Aussies have GST applied to small value overseas items yet our prices are consistently the highest in the world. Might have been excusable back in the day when you stuck DVDs in a ship or plane, but it isn't like you stick a bunch of photons in an envelope and physically mail them out nowadays.

The reasons are twofold. Firstly, (some) people will pay the inflated amounts, and that means more money for the company- if they cut prices to reflect the digital reality they will potentially lose money. Secondly, the model of most games companies businesses relies on regional offices, these have to both justify their existence and also make money. They like regionalised prices because if you have flat pricing then they might as well not exist in the digital sphere, and their retail distributors which justify their existence will be further compromised by having a cheap alternative. In general the few publishers with no regional pricing are those that are too small to have regional sales at all- like Paradox, though I wouldn't put it past them to change things given how their stance on DRM changed and with them having a US office now.

VAT is just an excuse used to defend the practice. It's not like there are separate pricings for individual US states based on their wildly divergent sales tax regimes, after all.