Electronic Arts Faces Anger Over Major Price Hikes in India

[Andy Chalk]

Electronic Arts Faces Anger Over Major Price Hikes in India

[tweet t=https://twitter.com/HundredProofSam/status/353093543633489920]​

Dramatic price hikes on EA games in India will see titles like Battlefield 4 cost more than double the launch price of their predecessors.

It was revealed earlier this week that new titles in some of EA's most popular franchises would see dramatic price increases in India. The forthcoming Battlefield 4 and Need for Speed: Rivals, for instance, are listing for Rs3499 ($58) on PC, compared to launch prices of Rs999 for their predecessors Battlefield 3 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted; the PC version of FIFA 14 will see its price increased by 66 percent over FIFA 13, from Rs999 to Rs2499. Non-EA games are going up as well but not nearly dramatically: The PC versions of Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed IV and Splinter Cell: Blacklist are all being listed for preorder at Rs1499.

Rs999 has apparently been the "standard" price for new PC releases in India for some time, and although console prices are going up as well, the increase isn't nearly as dramatic. The PS3 edition of FIFA 14 is going up to Rs3499 from Rs2999 for the 2013 release, a far-more-palatable jump of 16 percent, while Battlefield 4 and Need for Speed: Rivals are going up the same amount. EA Regional Director Chris Gatherer said in June [http://www.mcvindia.com/news/read/ea-to-increase-pc-game-prices-in-india/0117795] that the goal is to bring PC game prices in India in line with the rest of the world in order to clamp down on gamers who have been accessing Origin India via VPN to take advantage of the region's lower pricing.

As you can imagine, this has not gone over well with Indian gamers, who have taken to Twitter to express their anger with the #EAPCIndia [https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%23EAPCIndia] hashtag. One compared the Rs3499 price point to his rent, which is Rs9000, and many others have noted that the move will likely result in even higher levels of piracy in the region.

Source: MCV India [http://www.mcvindia.com/news/read/indian-gamers-react-to-ea-pc-price-hike-with-eapcindia-campaign/]


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[Irridium]

This is how you increase piracy in nations without the means to pay these prices.

Ah well, I'm sure all those people who were using India to get lower prices will now buy the games full price, making up for all the Indian gamers who will now probably just pirate. Because that's how these things work, right?

 

[neppakyo]

*claps* Way to go EA. The worst of the worst. And publishers wonder why other nations pirate so much.

captcha: lo and behold, EA is at it again.

 

[Weaver]

The best way to make more money is to increase prices so much no one can afford them!

 

[CriticalMiss]

Now we wait for an EA executive to slither out of their hellpit to explain that this isn't a price increase, it's all part of the EA experience and is 100% required for the games to function properly.

 

[balfore]

I don't quite see the big deal. I'm for the idea that games are a luxury and it seemed like they were getting very low prices. Rs999 translates to roughly $16, the prices are literally just more in line with the rest of the world now.

 

[Yuuki]

You people can't be telling me with a straight face that you were happy paying $60 for the same game that someone in India (or VPN'ing from India) could buy for $16.50. Yes, that's what RS999 converts to - $16.50 for an AAA title.

Look, I'm all for cheap games but that is just unfair because that price isn't available anywhere else. I'm aware India has a vastly lower GDP compared to US but...come on, that is absurdly cheap.
Especially considering us New Zealand folk have to pay $90 NZD ($69 USD, or RS4187) for games while people from India scoot along paying less than a quarter of that price.

 

[Petromir]

You people can't be telling me with a straight face that you were happy paying $60 for the same game that someone in India (or VPN'ing from India) could buy for $16.50. Yes, that's what RS999 converts to - $16.50 for an AAA title.

Look, I'm all for cheap games but that is just unfair because that price isn't available anywhere else. I'm aware India has a vastly lower GDP compared to US but...come on, that is absurdly cheap.
Especially considering us New Zealand folk have to pay $90 NZD ($69 USD, or RS4187) for games while people from India scoot along paying less than a quarter of that price.

The argument used in vaying price like this is often that of competion. Basically prices are set at an equivilent rate to the price it would be to make it there to a certain extent. Living costs etc. When the local made products are much lower you risk not selling, and if they are much higher the local industry winges at the goverment to add in protective taxes and regulations to force your price up. At least thats the theory. In practice things get wonky, and the prices arent always a fair representaion, internet retailing affects the price balance and the price becomes disconnected from the price it actually costs to make.

 

[Nikolaz72]

So the Indians are supposed to pay the same as everyone else now and this is supposed to be an outrage because...

Face it, video games are a luxury.

I'm not exactly wealthy either and can spend 30 bucks per month at best. Do I cry? No!

I wait till prices drop naturally or I get a good offer. Also, as CrossLOPER said, when they can effort the equipment necessary to play Battlefield 4 (i5's and Radeon HD 7xxx don't exactly come cheap), they can afford spending a bit on the latest games as well.

And now a game in India costs the, well.. Comparing wages and the cost of food in the west, Ten times what we pay for games.

You have 30 bucks a month? Good for youuuuu.

The discussion is about EA making games so ridiculously expensive that Indians no longer can afford them, thereby they have lost a massive income they had before. Which hurts them aswell as Indians, that is 'why' we look at this and call it stupid. Because there is no winners, merely one party who thinks they are winning... While really they are loosing. Every year. Constantly.

 

[Andy Shandy]

While I can understand those in India being annoyed at the extreme price hike, the EA guy actually has a point. It's bringing them in line with everyone else. It's not that it's unfair, they've just been getting it significantly cheaper than everyone else up until now, not to mention the people that have been exploiting the system outside of India.

Perhaps if they sell games in store, they can keep the price from before, or at least not increase it as much? Would mean that people from outside India wouldn't exploit that anyway.

 

[Abomination]

Yeah, smart move EA. This won't result in more piracy from a country that is known for having an entire city dedicated to IT. Bangalore is going to become the homebrew capital of the world.

The average Indian is poor, but many an Indian is tech savvy and knows how to adapt old tech to modern standards.

 

[Covarr]

Alternate headline:

[HEADING=1]EA Pisses Off Someone Else[/HEADING]

Nice and generic, because let's face it, EA is always making someone mad. My only concern is that eventually every fourth headline would be identical.

P.S. Thanks

 

[chiefohara]

It was kind of inevitable really. With the next gen consoles being region free they were going to have to start making a worldwide standard price for games to stop us buying new titles for half nothing from lower priced markets

 

[Baresark]

Hmmm, a lot of people don't seem to understand regional pricing. The overall exchange rate in inconsequential, no one is working on a world economy. There isn't only a single currency. Perhaps we should also be super pissed the person quoted above is only paying 9000rs ($149) for their rent when I'm paying $975 (58838rs). They aren't the entitled one's you jerks, you are the entitled ones. It's called shared suffering and the general consensus is that if you have to pay $60 for a game, they should have to pay the same even though they live in a different country with a totally different monetary value and economic level. You think it's being fair that they pay what you pay, but when they make a 10th of what you make in terms of exchange rate, it's not actually fair.

But, it is a leisure activity, and since people take leisure really seriously, it will only increase piracy rates dramatically. So, good for EA, you have made a nation of pirates because they are not a nation of rich people. Now they'll have an excuse for more DRM, we should all be happy about that, right?

 

[Lord_Gremlin]

PC gaming is Eastern Europe and Asia is a special thing... India reminds me of Russia in that regard. Console games in Russia cost same as in all European countries save for UK - $70-80 for newly released one. But PC games? $20. It just how it goes.
It is kinda wrong and in case of India just as wrong too, but any good businessman will tell you that instantly tripling the price is a bad idea. Hell, try selling games for $80 in US and you'll have an outrage.

Damn, I wish I could get new games for $60 at launch day... Anyhow, there's only one thing that will suffer and it's EA profits in India.

 

[spindoctor]

Look, I'm all for cheap games but that is just unfair because that price isn't available anywhere else. I'm aware India has a vastly lower GDP compared to US but...come on, that is absurdly cheap.
Especially considering us New Zealand folk have to pay $90 NZD ($69 USD, or RS4187) for games while people from India scoot along paying less than a quarter of that price.

A normal sized loaf of bread in India costs 50 cents. Five dollars can buy a pretty good meal for two people. This is the comparison you're working with. 'Vastly lower GDP' is not just a turn of phrase.

Tell me this... how would you react if a game cost a third of your monthly rent? What would you say if the price of your games went up from $90 NZD to $300 NZD?