Aussie Customers - Price

[Adam Parker]

Congrats on getting this game so soon in the release cycle.

But the price is killing me, it's $72 Australian Dollars!

Gary Grigsby's ACW is same priced in US dollars in the Matrix store front ($49.95) but only $53 Australian Dollars. It's the only reason why I found it comfortable enough in my wallet to risk a purchase.

Why the difference in Aussie store price here?

[Erik Rutins]

Simple - every time we release a game, we set the price based on the current conversion rate. Then we periodically go through and update the conversion rates for older games. WBTS has not been updated yet and the conversion rate when it was released was more favorable for Australian customers than it is now, with the US dollar having strengthened again. Enjoy that while it lasts, it's in your favor - we should have everything updated again by the end of the year.

[Hertston]

I think this is a matter of more general concern; like Napoleon at War and Wacht am Rhein I'm passing on this one because of price as well. A year ago I would have probably bought all of them.

I think Matrix need to at least take on board that while recent exchange rate differences are reflected in their own prices, they have not been with games I can source from elsewhere so, combined with what seems to be their own price rises (particularly with WaR compared with previous CC titles) Matrix titles are now very uncompetitively priced. That doesn't matter if the game is good enough, so I'll still be buying Bulge for example, but it means I won't be taking a chance on anything I'm not sure of. Particularly when, as with all AGEOD titles, I know it will be available in my local store, in a box, in a couple of months time for half what they are charging for it.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Hertston
I think this is a matter of more general concern; like Napoleon at War and Wacht am Rhein I'm passing on this one because of price as well. A year ago I would have probably bought all of them.

I think Matrix need to at least take on board that while recent exchange rate differences are reflected in their own prices, they have not been with games I can source from elsewhere so, combined with what seems to be their own price rises (particularly with WaR compared with previous CC titles) Matrix titles are now very uncompetitively priced. That doesn't matter if the game is good enough, so I'll still be buying Bulge for example, but it means I won't be taking a chance on anything I'm not sure of. Particularly when, as with all AGEOD titles, I know it will be available in my local store, in a box, in a couple of months time for half what they are charging for it.

Um... with all due respect, that makes no sense to me. WAR was priced exactly the same as COI, there was no price rise. The prices on many of our games are using an older exchange rate that is _favorable_ for non-US customers. When I look at other stores, they do price conversion on the fly quite often, which means that all their games are always at today's exchange rate, so you'd pay MORE there for WBTS or any other games that had better conversion rates when they were released. Our policy, in this case, is helping non-US customers not hurting them, by keeping the price of many of our games lower than they would be at today's conversion rates.

Regarding a new release, why would you expect us to price it at something other than current conversion rates on the day that it's released?

As far as the UK goes, there are a lot of large game companies that price their games at $1 US = 1 UK Pound, so in fact as far as I can tell we're more friendly to non-US customers in at least two ways than the usual retail mainstream games.

Regards,

- Erik

[Hertston]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

WAR was priced exactly the same as COI, there was no price rise.

In which case my apologies for 'misremembering'.

Regarding a new release, why would you expect us to price it at something other than current conversion rates on the day that it's released?

I didn't say that I expected anything else. I did say that, compared to games I can source elsewhere, your prices (for whatever reason) are no longer as competitive as they were and are in the case of the last few releases more than I personally am prepared to pay. I appreciate your situation is somewhat different from those publishing and distributing box games for UK sale but that doesn't change the fact that they don't convert prices from $US but stick to 'standard' UK pricing.

As far as the UK goes, there are a lot of large game companies that price their games at $1 US = 1 UK Pound, so in fact as far as I can tell we're more friendly to non-US customers in at least two ways than the usual retail mainstream games.

Like who?! That's true of the DVD and CD markets but never has been for the videogame market. Standard 'full price' in the US for a PC game has been $49.99 for many years. Standard 'full price' in the UK is either £34.99 or (less frequently) £39.99 but in both cases all - and I mean ALL - the stores sell for at least £5 cheaper and online stores are usually even less expensive (with free postage thrown in). The only PC game I've ever actually seen on sale for £40, 'collectors' editions and such apart, was CoD 4 which, judging from the Steam price, was sold at a premium in the US as well.

[Adam Parker]

Just thought I'd ask.
 
Yay for me though re GGACW. Man the shopping was great when we were in the States in July.
 
I can't even order through Amazon now - books and transport have gone up sharply.
 
It's the DARK AGES I tell ya [:D]

[Magpius]

ditto;
When the Aus. dollar dropped below 80c U.S, online shopping became nothing but sweet memories.[:(]
and I recall predictions that it would reach parity by December! [:o]

[JudgeDredd]

Well, tis true to say most people feel the pinch. I thought about the price myself but once the problems are ironed out, I may well get this title as I have a real need for WWI (my reasons for GoA not satisfying them (as much as it IS a great game) are mentioned elsewhere)...
 
Like Hertston, though, as much as I would like to give Matrix my money, I will prob get it cheaper from store soon...just need to preserve money at the moment