Shouldn't developers reduce cost of games in poor countries to reduce piracy?

As your probabaly know, piracy rate is highest in poor countries. This is mainly because people in these poor countries can't afford to buy legitimate games due to high cost. I'll take my country, India, as an example. India is a very poor and underdeveloped country. Here, the standard cost of a game is around Rupees 3000, which is equivalent to around 60 US dollars when converted directly. I know, for most people of US, $60 is peanuts. But here, the equivalent rupees 3000 is half their monthly salary for the common man. So legitimate games are out of reach for the common man here. This scenario is true for most third world countries. You may say third world countries aren't really the market for games, but wouldn't it be better if the game publishers priced their games lower in these countries? That would hugely reduce the amount of piracy, and the loss of revenue for the developers/publishers. What I mean to say is, games need to be priced according to the economy of the country, rather than the fixed standard of 60USD.

They do this, but it's only Russia, China and Korea.

I personally have no problem paying for my games, but I'm in Europe in a country where the usual European 60 *euro sign that is broken* is pretty much 1/3 of the average wage (average, not minimum).

Corporate greed in just two words, but in a perfect world, prices would be altered to fit the economy of each country.

Yes they should, as you said 60 dollars in the US is really nothing more than gas money, anyone can make that in about a day.

EA does it for India to, most of there games only come out to 30 dollars USD

Many games aren't available at all in some third world countries and so the only way they can play them is through piracy.

It also depends on the political stance of the country. Before the war on terror, movies were banned in Afghanistan and they only way they could be seen was through pirate copies coming in from places like India and watched in basements were the authorities couldn't see what they were doing. Those in charge were terrified of the influence western entertainment would have on their own culture.

Video games should be for the US and UK only.

*EDIT* That was indeed, a joke

They do to an extent, but a lot of the piracy stems from poor localization. Valve noticed at even at lower prices, the russians were priating HL2 like mad. After some research, they found out that the Russians were pirating a custom version of HL2 which had much more accurate translations and better VOs.

Valve put more empahsis on making good localization of all of their games and noticed a sharp drop in piracy after.

Video games should be for the US and UK only.

HyperWarlock

Video games should be for the US and UK only.

HyperWarlock

lol. Really?

They do to an extent, but a lot of the piracy stems from poor localization. Valve noticed at even at lower prices, the russians were priating HL2 like mad. After some research, they found out that the Russians were pirating a custom version of HL2 which had much more accurate translations and better VOs.

Valve put more empahsis on making good localization of all of their games and noticed a sharp drop in piracy after.

Wasdie

Yeah, Valve is one company I really respect. Their games are priced quite low here in India. But Activision and Blizzard games are exorbitantly priced.

Video games should be for the US and UK only.

HyperWarlock

Oh...says who? I'm neither from UK nor US, but I'm amuch better gamer than the average UK/US gamer. Stop being so narrow minded.

[QUOTE="HyperWarlock"]

Video games should be for the US and UK only.

sunil_u123

Oh...says who? I'm neither from UK nor US, but I'm amuch better gamer than the average UK/US gamer. Stop being so narrow minded.

Pretty sure he was being sarcastic.

[QUOTE="sunil_u123"]

[QUOTE="HyperWarlock"]

Video games should be for the US and UK only.

bloodling

Oh...says who? I'm neither from UK nor US, but I'm amuch better gamer than the average UK/US gamer. Stop being so narrow minded.

Pretty sure he was being sarcastic.

Yeah, I was joking.

[QUOTE="bloodling"]

[QUOTE="sunil_u123"]

Oh...says who? I'm neither from UK nor US, but I'm amuch better gamer than the average UK/US gamer. Stop being so narrow minded.

HyperWarlock

Pretty sure he was being sarcastic.

Yeah, I was joking.

Oops! Sorry, i didn't realize it. It should have been obvious you wer joking, after all your profile image is of Joker! :P

They do this, but it's only Russia, China and Korea.

DanielDust

[QUOTE="bloodling"]

[QUOTE="sunil_u123"]

Oh...says who? I'm neither from UK nor US, but I'm amuch better gamer than the average UK/US gamer. Stop being so narrow minded.

HyperWarlock

Pretty sure he was being sarcastic.

Yeah, I was joking.

If they can't afford the games then how in the hell can they possibly afford the hardware those games run on?SKaREO

That problem is not there, because we in India usually have systems that just meet or exceed the minimum requirements. Hence we play on low or medium settings. The monster systems that you people from developed countries own, are just a distant dream for us.

the problem is if they lowered the price in the poor countries we'd all spoof that we live there and buy the $0.75 American blops 2.

-Not all games are $60. -You assume $60 is no big deal for everyone in the U.S. -If $60 is half a month's salary in India, the last thing you should be concerned with is gaming.JKnaperek

It's not like goods are priced like in the US you know :roll:

Believe me, pirates won't buy games unless they're like 3-6 euros. And that's impossible.

Games are often priced at $60 because the developer needs to sell them at that price in order to make money. It doesn't make sense for them to sell the games in any country for a loss.

I hear that India has a good supply of educated individuals in IT and software development. I wish more Indian entrepreneurs would start game development companies. It may be a cultural issue. Maybe not enough Indian software developers are interested in creating computer games. It sounds like it could be an untapped land of game development to me.

If you don't mind region lock because people will import the hell out of it.

I think it is not profitable. $60 sure they are making $30-40 off of every retail sale. So, I guess the minimum would be $20 to break even, maybe $30 for a small profit. I think the game companies think they can't compete with the piracy even with low prices. In many of those countries, they don't do any policing of piracy. A $10 profit is not worth all the effort.

There is a solution to this with free to play. I think in the future more and more games will be free to play with either ads on loading screens/billboards or in-game microtransaction shops.

As your probabaly know, piracy rate is highest in poor countries. This is mainly because people in these poor countries can't afford to buy legitimate games due to high cost. I'll take my country, India, as an example. India is a very poor and underdeveloped country. Here, the standard cost of a game is around Rupees 3000, which is equivalent to around 60 US dollars when converted directly. I know, for most people of US, $60 is peanuts. But here, the equivalent rupees 3000 is half their monthly salary for the common man. So legitimate games are out of reach for the common man here. This scenario is true for most third world countries. You may say third world countries aren't really the market for games, but wouldn't it be better if the game publishers priced their games lower in these countries? That would hugely reduce the amount of piracy, and the loss of revenue for the developers/publishers. What I mean to say is, games need to be priced according to the economy of the country, rather than the fixed standard of 60USD.

sunil_u123

wat are u talking about ?

PC games are very cheap in india even more than Valve's steam sale :P

As your probabaly know, piracy rate is highest in poor countries. This is mainly because people in these poor countries can't afford to buy legitimate games due to high cost. I'll take my country, India, as an example. India is a very poor and underdeveloped country. Here, the standard cost of a game is around Rupees 3000, which is equivalent to around 60 US dollars when converted directly. I know, for most people of US, $60 is peanuts. But here, the equivalent rupees 3000 is half their monthly salary for the common man. So legitimate games are out of reach for the common man here. This scenario is true for most third world countries. You may say third world countries aren't really the market for games, but wouldn't it be better if the game publishers priced their games lower in these countries? That would hugely reduce the amount of piracy, and the loss of revenue for the developers/publishers. What I mean to say is, games need to be priced according to the economy of the country, rather than the fixed standard of 60USD.

sunil_u123

[QUOTE="sunil_u123"]

As your probabaly know, piracy rate is highest in poor countries. This is mainly because people in these poor countries can't afford to buy legitimate games due to high cost. I'll take my country, India, as an example. India is a very poor and underdeveloped country. Here, the standard cost of a game is around Rupees 3000, which is equivalent to around 60 US dollars when converted directly. I know, for most people of US, $60 is peanuts. But here, the equivalent rupees 3000 is half their monthly salary for the common man. So legitimate games are out of reach for the common man here. This scenario is true for most third world countries. You may say third world countries aren't really the market for games, but wouldn't it be better if the game publishers priced their games lower in these countries? That would hugely reduce the amount of piracy, and the loss of revenue for the developers/publishers. What I mean to say is, games need to be priced according to the economy of the country, rather than the fixed standard of 60USD.

WizardGlass

That is just an idiotic thing to say. I dont expect you to understand why, since you wrote it.

I think the main reason that games are not massively reduced in poorer countries is mainly because theres nothing stopping people importing the games back to wealthier countries and just reselling them. You already see it often enough where people are reselling Russian keys online.

[QUOTE="sunil_u123"]

As your probabaly know, piracy rate is highest in poor countries. This is mainly because people in these poor countries can't afford to buy legitimate games due to high cost. I'll take my country, India, as an example. India is a very poor and underdeveloped country. Here, the standard cost of a game is around Rupees 3000, which is equivalent to around 60 US dollars when converted directly. I know, for most people of US, $60 is peanuts. But here, the equivalent rupees 3000 is half their monthly salary for the common man. So legitimate games are out of reach for the common man here. This scenario is true for most third world countries. You may say third world countries aren't really the market for games, but wouldn't it be better if the game publishers priced their games lower in these countries? That would hugely reduce the amount of piracy, and the loss of revenue for the developers/publishers. What I mean to say is, games need to be priced according to the economy of the country, rather than the fixed standard of 60USD.

mafia97

Huh? 999? Check out Diablo 3. it costs 3500. And Modern Warfare 3 costs 3000.

I am from Bosnia my country have very very bad economy after USA stole all resources and money after war 1995 ,.... So averge payment for job here is like 400 $. Price for normal new game is like 50 + - .....

[QUOTE="mafia97"][QUOTE="sunil_u123"]

As your probabaly know, piracy rate is highest in poor countries. This is mainly because people in these poor countries can't afford to buy legitimate games due to high cost. I'll take my country, India, as an example. India is a very poor and underdeveloped country. Here, the standard cost of a game is around Rupees 3000, which is equivalent to around 60 US dollars when converted directly. I know, for most people of US, $60 is peanuts. But here, the equivalent rupees 3000 is half their monthly salary for the common man. So legitimate games are out of reach for the common man here. This scenario is true for most third world countries. You may say third world countries aren't really the market for games, but wouldn't it be better if the game publishers priced their games lower in these countries? That would hugely reduce the amount of piracy, and the loss of revenue for the developers/publishers. What I mean to say is, games need to be priced according to the economy of the country, rather than the fixed standard of 60USD.

sunil_u123

Huh? 999? Check out Diablo 3. it costs 3500. And Modern Warfare 3 costs 3000.

I agree it would be a good business move to lower the prices of games as needed, but this notion that it is corporate greed causing piracy is absurd.

Blaming piracy on the corporations for the way they price games is a copout crooks who pirate games use to justify it. People pirate games because they can and because they lack morals or they simply don't see it as a crime because they justified it (see first sentence). I know plenty of people who pirate music, movies, and games who have more than enough income to purchase them, they just choose to steal instead. You cannot justify stealing whenever you don't agree with the price tag, your power as a consumer lies with not making the purchase and the company not getting your hard earned money.

If you are too poor to buy a $50 game you should not have a PC, you should not have the internet,(not saying you don't deserve these things, saying you should not be able to afford this either) and you should probably be spending your spare time figuring out a way to not be poor instead of playing games. I fail to see any logic in this argument at all.

nah they'd rather whine that piracy is killing their sales

It's sad that the DD and retails price their games like crazy ... 60 bucks in US and 50-60 euro in Europe where some countries have a poor economic system and thus people can't waste money on games thus stimulating piracy. Another problem is the publishers - Ubisoft and EA are being plain terrible with their marketing strategy. And then there is M$ which only cares about the countries with high income for the households and thus being able to spend money on their products, and for those that do not meet their $tandard - piracy is developed due to the terrible terms and conditions the publishers put on the products ...

And after all this piracy what happens ? Devs have no revenue from their hard work due to the brilliant strategy of their publishers and distributors ...

And who is to blame ? Of course the devs and publishers will blaim the people ... but are the "customers" that want the product really guilty, or are they simply victims of the greed of those big fish ?

Every time I check a game store or some DD like Steam, GMG and etc. I always think about "are people in poor countries actually able to afford this ?" ... just looking at the prices and that thought are enough to make me show a sad panda face :(

Believe me, pirates won't buy games unless they're like 3-6 euros. And that's impossible.

SovietsUnited

"Believe me"?

Are you one?

nope. if you are poor, you cant buy games. simple as that. nobody owes you anything. if you want to buy games, make more money. if you cant make more money where you are, move to were you can. nobody is "trapped" anywhere... they just like to think they are. even someone with zero dollars can hitchhike to a new location.... or new COUNTRY depending on where you live. change your situation, stop being a victim.WizardGlass

You know, it's sh!t people like you who brought Bobcat Goldthwait to film God Bless America.

They can't do that extensively in western countries for 2 simple reasons: proxies, friends abroad.

actually i agree with the arguement. games should be cheaper in 3rd world countires like s. africa, uzbekistan, and ukraine. thatd be pretty smart.