Stardock's new game -- Elemental: War of Magic

[Martok]

Brad recently posted that the retail situation in Europe has gotten so ridiculous the last several years, that it's simply not worth it for Stardock to sell their games in brick-and-mortar stores over there anymore.

Apparently European distributors now demand such a huge chunk of the profits that on a $50.00 game (or whatever its equivalent in euros is -- I've no idea what the exchange rate is currently), Stardock literally sees less than 5% ($1.00-$2.00) of that. (To compare, they receive roughly 30% of the take from retail sales here in the U.S. & Canada.) Brad & Co. decided that was unacceptable and they weren't going to put up with it anymore, especially in light of their continuing success with digital download sales on Impulse.



Personally, I'm not sure I agree with their decision on this. I understand and respect the reasons behind it, but I still feel it may be a mistake.




EDIT: Heh. Ninja'ed by drone.


Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, "Frogboy" and "Draginol" are Brad Wardell's forum names.

[Louis de la Ferte Ste Colombe]

*raise from the grave*

Hello!

Well, I am looking at buying this one. I was a MoM player and although FFH2 (Civ IV mod) is doing a decent job, it does not quite cut it compared to MoM and potentially this Elemental war of Magic... Multiple reasons for that: no leader customization, no tactical battle, not enough global spells...
The other one I am looking at but could never get myself to play is Dominion 3.
Quick feedback will be appreciated.

Good luck, and have fun!

Louis,

[frogbeastegg]

Other companies manage to make it worthwhile. Bizarre.

$50 = £33 roughly. Fractionally cheaper than the RRP (£34.99 - £39.99) for most new PC games in today's inflated times but with the key difference that very, very few of those PC games ever sell for anything like their RRP. You have to be something massive like Starcraft 2 to avoid the instant mark down.

The download only version of Elemental costs the same as the download+boxed copy option. How does that make sense? Make the download only version cheaper, leave the box+download version as it is, and there we go.

At least the game will have been heavily patched if/when I do pick it up. If it's anything like GalCiv2 lots of features and tweaks will be added, as well as the usual fixes.

[Louis de la Ferte Ste Colombe]

$50 = £33 roughly. Fractionally cheaper than the RRP (£34.99 - £39.99) for most new PC games in today's inflated times but with the key difference that very, very few of those PC games ever sell for anything like their RRP. You have to be something massive like Starcraft 2 to avoid the instant mark down.

The download only version of Elemental costs the same as the download+boxed copy option. How does that make sense? Make the download only version cheaper, leave the box+download version as it is, and there we go.

I see it at 39.29€ on Impulse, which is really ok I think - although I know little about PC game pricing, I haven't bought a PC game in ages! I guess you're hurt by the exchange rate... Join the Eurozone!

Regarding price and distribution channel... I guess distribution chanel (in this case US retail) makes it very clear for Stardock that the price they have got to be the same or cheapest than digital download. Otherwise, bye bye retail! I am not 100% sure that Stardock can lower DD price without facing massive retribution from its retailer.

Louis,

[drone]

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, "Frogboy" and "Draginol" are Brad Wardell's forum names.

Draginol is also Brad? I did not know that. Granted I have only really lurked the Demigod forums.

$50 = £33 roughly. Fractionally cheaper than the RRP (£34.99 - £39.99) for most new PC games in today's inflated times but with the key difference that very, very few of those PC games ever sell for anything like their RRP. You have to be something massive like Starcraft 2 to avoid the instant mark down.

The "instant mark down" is a big part of it, I think. Here in the states, retail games have generally sold at the RRP for quite a while unless they really suck. DD may be affecting this now though, with the sales and discounts they offer.

[Beskar]

The "instant mark down" is a big part of it, I think. Here in the states, retail games have generally sold at the RRP for quite a while unless they really suck. DD may be affecting this now though, with the sales and discounts they offer.

I ordered Starcraft 2 months in advance on Amazon, so I only got it for £21. A big saving over its later price tag of £37 or whatever it was.

[pevergreen]

I ordered Starcraft 2 months in advance on Amazon, so I only got it for £21. A big saving over its later price tag of £37 or whatever it was.

RRP for any new PC game: 89.16 USD or 57.41 GBP

Console game is 10 AUD more sometimes. (extra 5 pounds or 9 USD)

You could get starcraft 2 if you were lucky (like 200 copies australia wide) at 39.63 GBP/ 61.55USD (69AUD)

When they sold out, lucky to get it at $89 AUD. I bought it from blizzard's online store at $89AUD...

Complain about PC pricing when you pay as much as us.

[Ja'chyra]

I refuse to buy Starcraft 2 as I'm not paying £40 for a pc game, I wouldn't pay more than £30.

[Beskar]

I refuse to buy Starcraft 2 as I'm not paying £40 for a pc game, I wouldn't pay more than £30.

Since it only costs £35 from Amazon, where is your £40 price tag from? It hasn't hit £40 yet.

[Ja'chyra]

Since it only costs £35 from Amazon, where is your £40 price tag from? It hasn't hit £40 yet.

The shop