Witcher 2 Price Goes Up Down Under

[Gindil]

I'm extremely interested in this, since it's a direct look at some of the problems that online distribution should undercut.

I'm currently looking for the names of the publishers of content in Aussieland.

Not only this, but I believe with the US assistance [http://www.zdnet.com.au/us-offered-nz-help-on-copyright-wikileaks-339314215.htm] on just NZ's copyright law, it would be a lot more interesting to see if there's negotiations there that perhaps need to be looked at even more.

I'm not positive on everything for Australia, but it's quite ridiculous that Steam games are so expensive ($70) along with this price getting jacked up so much.

 

[Rigs83]

Witcher 2 Price Goes Up Down Under

More good news for Witcher fans in Australia: not only will The Witcher 2 be censored in your country but you're going to have to pay more for it, too.

We found out yesterday, to nobody's great surprise, that toned down [http://www.amazon.com/Witcher-2-Assassins-Kings-Pc/dp/B003VJNPPE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1304696025&sr=8-1] for the Australian market, in that you won't be able to choose sex as a quest reward. [On the upside, you'll apparently still be able to have lots of sex just for fun.] Today we discovered another little tidbit of happiness: the game is going to cost more than originally expected, too.

GOG revealed earlier today that because of "licensing reasons," the price of The Witcher 2 available through GOG Facebook [http://www.gog.com] page, its pricing policy was in violation of legal agreements with other Australian distributors, forcing it to kick up the cost.

Fortunately, the guys at GOG are a stand-up bunch and they're doing what they can to soften the blow. It's too late now to preorder at the original price but its "Fair Price Package" is being extended to Australian customers, giving them a $26 U.S. credit to use on the site. That could easily add up to another four or five games and possibly more if you happen to catch a sale.

I don't know why Australia always seems to get the short end of the stick in these deals. You can only blame a dysfunctional rating system for so much, after all, and while it's not the most conveniently-located continent on the planet, I would think that digital distribution would make that almost entirely a non-factor. So what's the deal?

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings comes out worldwide on May 17, exclusively for the PC.


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There may be hope for Australia [http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/05/10/er-australia-gog-drops-geo-ip-check/] yet in getting the real version of the Witcher 2