Electronic Arts Faces Anger Over Major Price Hikes in India

[Woodsey]

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.

Yes, because the average salary is the same in all countries.

http://www.payscale.com/research/IN/Country=India/Salary

The top wage in that - just over a million - is just over £10k. Which'd get you nowhere in this country.

Why not just add up the prices for each region (converted to a common currency), divide by the number of regions, and use the results as the single global price?

Also see above.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

So apparently everyone's ignoring the fact that suddenly tripling the prices of AAA games is fucking stupid.

I honestly don't know whether what the Indians originally paid for AAA games was 'fair' or not compared to the rest of the world, whether because of conversion rates or the minimum wage and living costs or whatever, and I'd rather not argue about something I don't know much about, but any idiot should be able to see that this is nucking futs of EA.

Someone on here already said that if the cost of AAA games in America suddenly rose, there would be an outrage. Well, why wouldn't there be one in India when the costs triple, even if they are arguably 'cheaper'?

Point is, this should have been a more gradual process. As it is, they're just inviting anger and piracy.

 

[mojoismydog77]

I don't understand EAs reasoning behind this decision. If your games cost more one of three things will happen.
A they buy another company's game.
B they go pirate the game
C The customer stops buying games.

 

[Terramax]

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

But do we know that no-one can afford them, just from what ONE FUCKING GUY says?

Therefore, all I see is spoiled kids complaining that they have to spend more of their generous allowance to play with their overly expensive toys now.

I'm going to guess that this could be the case. There are too many factors to put into consideration, with not enough on the details in this article jump to conclusions.

I dislike EA at the best of times also, but if 999 is just $16, that's about £10.00 in the UK.

£10.00, brand new PC game, upon release?! HOLY FUCK! That's cheap. That's 1/4 the UK pricing.

 

[Tien Shen]

ANd in Australia we pay AUD 98 for a new AAA console game even though our exchange rate is 1.1 Aussie dollar to 1 US dollar.

 

[J Tyran]

EA where starting to look like they might begin to behave themselves, then they go and make piracy in India more attractive.

/golfclap

 

[WindKnight]

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.

Let me make an analogy.

Japanese boxsets of anime cost 5-10 times what they do in America or England. What do you think would happen to foreign anime sales if a Box-set that costs $30 is suddenly $150-300?

 

[WindKnight]

Let me make an analogy.

Japanese boxsets of anime cost 5-10 times what they do in America or England. What do you think would happen to foreign anime sales if a Box-set that costs $30 is suddenly $150-300?

Your analogy doesn't work because in this case, the price was adjusted to be on par with the rest of the world.

It'd more appropiate to ask how they'd like it to pay $30 instead of $150-300.

That would be like India telling EA they should sell games all over the world for $16.50, not $60. Wonder if they''d take that advice...

 

[Tazzman]

Damn I should've been importing games from India. Anyway while it would seem unfair that games were that cheep in the first place you just have to remember that most Indians live in poverty. EA are just being unfair by making gaming unafforable and turning it into a luxury enjoyed by the few.

 

[Yuuki]

But please, do go on about how awful life is for you, that you have to deal with expensive game pricing while folks in India get to choose between gaming and housing. You poor, poor creature.

The best part is that you're continuing to ignore chunks of my replies, because you keep telling me how I'm rich when I've already told you that I spent most of my life actually LIVING in the very poverty that you actually know fuck-all about. You trying to tell ME what living conditions are like over there is like an american telling a chinese guy about chinese food. It's embarrassing, stop it.

There is no point in trying to explain anything to you because you just ignore most of the post.
I have to keep this post short in case you decide to skip most of it, sorry. If I try to discuss too many things you'll just ignore it (again).

 

[Tazzman]

Damn I should've been importing games from India. Anyway while it would seem unfair that games were that cheep in the first place you just have to remember that most Indians live in poverty. EA are just being unfair by making gaming unafforable and turning it into a luxury enjoyed by the few.

The poor don't even care because otherwise, the Indians pay just as much for their gaming systems as we do.

These people can afford an old, used single core PC with Windows XP at best. Not exactly what you need for Battlefield 4.[/quote]

Right and what about those who already own a console or were gifted one by a charity. Why should they now have to fork over more money just because some EA executive wants to line his pockets some more

 

[Campaigner]

If they don't want to pay the price then they have to buy something else. Really simple.

 

[sapphireofthesea]

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.

Unfortunately that is not how economics works. Prices are based on the strength of the local currency, with most countries implementing import and export duties to normalize the difference between nations (like how electronics in England used to be basically the same price in pounds as they were in dollars, even though the pound was nearly twice the dollar at one point).
EA making the price the exchange rate equivalent across all countries will see an effective decrease in England, an almost doubling in St. Kitts (well off Caribbean island), I think an increase of 4x in Trinidad.
Why? because people in these countries get paid different amounts in the local currency. Think of it as they get paid the same as you, but their money is 2:1 to the US dollar, it means they have half the money you have. It works because locally things cost the same sort of price as in the US (EC$1.20 for a Choco Bar that cost US$1), but if the US is used as a benchmark, then suddenly things double in price that use that benchmark and poof, things become overpriced for the locality.

The whole thing about using the Chinese market is the reverse of this, by making stuff their they are making the Chinese locality their benchmark so an item that cost them C$100 to make only really cost them US$10 to make.

The defense of this is that if EA are making the items outside of India then it would cost them 'different' than the local price, but as they mention digital distribution then yea...the difference of economies does not count and they are big boys they can just as easily region lock (preferably with-in reason and allow transfers of accounts).

Hope this clears up why this is such a bullshit decision and why EA are effectively making it a must to pirate there.

*I use Caribbean currency as I am originally from the Caribbean.

 

[WindKnight]

That would be like India telling EA they should sell games all over the world for $16.50, not $60. Wonder if they''d take that advice...

As I said, the price was just adapted to be on par with the rest of the world. Following you analogy, 150-300 would already have to be the normal price while only Americans pay $30.

Japan makes the anime, and they get to set the price. Moreover, the high pricing model is necessary in Japan for the creators and distributors to make a profit. Foreign sales are treated as a sideline at best, and profit at home is the main focus. Trust me, you are far more likely to see a Japanese company pushing to have prices go up in line with their domestic prices (which would kill the foreign market)than consider lowering the home prices. (they generally settle for gimped extras and options though to discourage reverse importing).

Essentially, western markets can 'support' $60 for a game as while its a high price, its not a fortune in terms of the average take-home pay. In India, the average take-home pay is a fraction of what it is in the west, meaning what is a small sum to us is a huge sum to them, and not viable. To reference an earlier post, it would be like expecting a western gamer to pay $210 for a game.

 

[Dr. Thrax]

The best part is that you're continuing to ignore chunks of my replies, because you keep telling me how I'm rich when I've already told you that I spent most of my life actually LIVING in the very poverty that you actually know fuck-all about. You trying to tell ME what living conditions are like over there is like an american telling a chinese guy about chinese food. It's embarrassing, stop it.

There is no point in trying to explain anything to you because you just ignore most of the post.
I have to keep this post short in case you decide to skip most of it, sorry. If I try to discuss too many things you'll just ignore it (again).

Except you've done pretty much the same thing you claim CriticKitten has done by ignoring pretty much all of the very valid, very strong arguments that he's made. You pointed out things while crying "SEE? THEY PAY THE SAME AS WE DO!" for things, while failing to provide any counterargument to anything he's posted.
CriticKitten supplied a response to the pricings you've provided, yet you ignored that. He pointed out the massive disparities between our economies, which you've ignored. Living quality, ignored. Market, ignored. See where I'm going with this?

Don't start accusing others of ignoring parts of someone's post when you're doing exactly the same thing.

 

[Yuuki]

The best part is that you're continuing to ignore chunks of my replies, because you keep telling me how I'm rich when I've already told you that I spent most of my life actually LIVING in the very poverty that you actually know fuck-all about. You trying to tell ME what living conditions are like over there is like an american telling a chinese guy about chinese food. It's embarrassing, stop it.

There is no point in trying to explain anything to you because you just ignore most of the post.
I have to keep this post short in case you decide to skip most of it, sorry. If I try to discuss too many things you'll just ignore it (again).

Except you've done pretty much the same thing you claim CriticKitten has done by ignoring pretty much all of the very valid, very strong arguments that he's made. You pointed out things while crying "SEE? THEY PAY THE SAME AS WE DO!" for things, while failing to provide any counterargument to anything he's posted.
CriticKitten supplied a response to the pricings you've provided, yet you ignored that. He pointed out the massive disparities between our economies, which you've ignored. Living quality, ignored. Market, ignored. See where I'm going with this?

Don't start accusing others of ignoring parts of someone's post when you're doing exactly the same thing.

All my evidence of Indian stores charging the same for all imported products made by international brands as the rest of the world, ignored.

Logical fallacy trying to point out that games are unlike all those other products, ignored. Hell, I pointed out that gaming consoles are NO cheaper in India than anywhere else, they didn't have to "adjust the price so those poor, poverty-stricken people could afford it", but when it comes to games (you know, those things that you already need to own a console/pc to PLAY) then the rules change?

It's alright for business software, gaming peripherals, PC hardware, clothing products, cellphones, cars, shoes, sports equipment, etc from the big brands to cost international prices - but as soon as we bring up games, then I need a fucking lecture about economics, poverty, minimum wages, GDP and other crap? You see nothing strange about games being 70-80% cheaper in India, games that aren't made locally (like goddamn bread or milk) but imported from foreign nations like all other big-brand products I listed above? FYI digital distribution is still in the stone age in India due to horrific internet, almost everyone buys retail copies that have to be shipped in.

Again:
http://www.flipkart.com
http://www.theitdepot.com
http://www.techshop.in

I don't know what kind of people I'm dealing with here, either blind or plain crazy.

 

[ash_mohak]

Seeing several posts bashing Indians for protesting against the price increase here =/ What people don't get, is that the average Indian earns around 1,60,000 INR a year which equals roughly 2,500$.. yes... 2,500$ PER YEAR(and I'm talking about metropolitan cities here, not rural areas..its much worse there). I earn 12,000 INR only per month (144,000 per year). Personally, I don't think I'll be able to afford a game that costs more than 33% of my monthly salary. Now before anyone says that games are a luxury and all, I agree with them... games ARE indeed a luxury.. but if a luxury you can afford suddenly triples in price, of course you're gonna be mad about it. Being in the gaming industry myself as a game QA tester, I don't support piracy. But such high prices won't leave many people much choice. They are killing the gaming community here in India with these prices.

Lets put things into perspective... An average American can buy multiple Xbox's if they decide to spend all of their monthly income on that... An average Indian would have to save up 2 month's income to just buy ONE Xbox! That's how much of a difference there is in the cost of living. Now tell me that the lower price of games here wasn't justified. Also.... seriously, why would you want to make a paying customer turn to piracy... that's just what EA is doing to Indian gamers. I think this pic show's what I'm talking about.... http://www.ctworkingmoms.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/equality-vs-justice.jpg

Now before anyone says that I was talking about pirating games myself and all, I ain't threatening to pirate buddy, I work in the gaming industry (have actually worked for EA in the past as well) and I personally DO the hard work that is required while making games. I don't support piracy. But this move by EA won't leave many others any choice at all. And EA indeed makes a profit @ selling these games in India @ 20$ because the games that are sold retail here, the disks of those games are clearly labelled manufactured in India (hence, the mfd cost is low as well). Now you'll argue that the development costs are still high and i agree with you there... but that just means that EA will make a little less profit from India by selling at a lower price... now compare that to what will happen now... higher price... VERY low sales cause the gamers just can't afford to buy them... EA is just hurting its consumer base here and this WILL be a poor decision in the long run.