PC Price Increase?

Yes. For instance, The State of Alaska has no sales tax at all along with the State of Delaware, New Hampshire, Montana and Oregon. But cities in Alaska can have a sales tax if they so choose. The State of New York has a 4% sales tax. California has no sales tax for digital products.

 

That should be good for you when buying products produced in the US. However, DTG produces its products in the UK and that’s where the costs have gone up. You do realise you are buying a British product when you buy DLC for TSW. So UK inflation affects everyone who buys the products wherever they happen to be. Other factors also come in to play in international trade, such as can be seen with the way most international prices have gone up more than the UK price. Everybody’s starting point though is the higher cost of production in the UK as that is where DTG are.

 

But marketed and distributed entirely by American and Japanese companies, however. So not all the costs of getting their product in the hands of consumers are derived from UK sources.

A modest price increase, based on the rate of inflation in Britain is certainly justified. But " modest " is hardly what we're talking about, is it?

 

Just bought it now and im totally ok with paying a higher price for tsw routes. Always wondered how the calculation is about routes with more detailes and realism, much more effort and time in creation, but cheaper selling price compared to ts classic.

Now the routes become longer, but people expect to get the same good quality.

Really nothing to moan about price increase. Same for loco dlcs, just wish there will be more of them.

Just trains sold their dlcs usually on a higher price level than regular dovetail dlcs. Who knows, maybe this is kind of an agreement between them. Equal market on the same price level, but jt wont start to develop their own selfcontained tsw soup. Would make sense to me.

 

Let's hope that this financial increase brings us a decrease in bugs!!! But it stings to pay the same price for a DLC as for a recent full game and this DLC is hard to swallow, in short to follow for the rest
PS: asks for the respect of the things promised in the roadmaps (corrections of bugs, various improvements ... etc rather than new DLC) in any case it is my personal opinion, therefore only engages me !! !

Sincerely, tof

 

There won't be a decrease in bugs. Higher price doesn't mean higher quality. It just doesn't work that way. Given how buggy things have been, even with the base routes being $39.99, I doubt there would be a decrease in bugs unless dtg really takes things seriously.

 

Merci pour cette explication, je ne suis pas si bête mais rien ne m’empêche de dire ce que je pense et de rêver, merci d’avance !!!

 

The distribution doesn’t just magically eliminate the increased cost of production and will be roughly the same everywhere. Those costs also increase as they are subject to some higher costs at present with the global rise in energy costs etc. The costs have gone up and the price has gone up to reflect that and we are going to have to deal with it. It seems the price increase in the UK is lower than in other regions but I don’t know why that is, it could be tax related or anything, I have no clue. It’s going to be unpopular and would be unpopular no matter how modest or alarming the increase was. Players can choose to buy or not, make more use of sales, or whatever but it’s unlikely to change because we don’t like it. It’s never been a cheap hobby.

 

Meanwhile, for $11.00 you can buy both American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2.

 

without any Stuttering

 

So sad to read such news.

 

Thanks Conductor B !!!!

 

I'm usually happy to buy DLCs at full price at release (or pre-ordering with a discount) but £30 definitely shifts DLC releases from yes to I think I'll wait and see, if I'm still on the fence after release then I guess wait for a sale

 

Also meanwhile, ATS's latest state DLC has just been released and it's 50% more expensive than previous ones (whether that is a sign of things to come or purely because Texas is their biggest ATS release since the core game is yet to be determined)...

 

Previous states have been for 12€, but Texas is larger and the price is in line with DLCs for ETS2, which add multiple countries for the same price. I would wait and see what the price is for the next state (Oklahoma) to be sure.

 

You really see in the dlc of ETS and Ats the passion of the devs and the follow up of their products.
SCS gives me Always the impression of perfectionism

 

The only thing SCS dropped the ball on was switching to FMod for sound which resulted in many of the default trucks sounding awful. Fortunately third party trucks or engine mods seem to overcome it. I did raise an eyebrow at the price for Texas but compared to Wyoming and Montana it is much bigger and I suspect better value than DTG's £30 route DLC. Again, there's always the option of waiting to see the reviews or a few months for a sale, but I have a feeling this will be dropping into my basket in the next few days, along with that superb looking Turkish route for TSC.

 

Unfortunately the price increase mess has caused a rift between the DTG apologists and the DTG critics and they are largely talking past each other.

The apologists accuse the critics of ignoring inflation and economic reality. Prices for all consumer goods are rising alarmingly in most markets around the world, by about 7.75% in the US and 15% in the UK. DTG and digital products are not immune to such pressures.

The critics accuse the apologists of missing the point. They do not deny the need for a modest price increase but point to the large increases in some parts of the world, including the US and Canada ( about 33% ).

DTG have not helped themselves by:

Remaining largely silent on the price issue.

Not increasing prices gradually over the last few years.

Portraying Steam's price and exchange rate guidelines as unalterable.

Employing the comical notion of pre-order without an accompanying discount.

Communication with the customer base is clearly not DTG's strong suit.

 

Thank you for your neutral views.

 

Its boggling that people can either think that any price increase isn't fair at such a time or indeed that an 800% price increase might be fair enough.

 

The sad truth is that the way people are segregated by this price raise also has a relation with their nationalities.

All unaffected are from a 'certain country'.
All affected are from rest of the world.

Neither helped by 'selectively silent' DTG, who also belong to the country of unaffected.

They should understand the gravity of the situation and defuse this cold war.

( I'm fine with the price increment due to inflation )

 

Worth every penny IMO, but obviously that's subjective.

Also, it's interesting to see the almost universal excitement around new releases on their official forum compared to the almost uniformly mixed reviews on new releases here. There are obviously criticisms, but the overall tone of discussion is much more positive IMO.

Are SCS that much better? Is it the fact that only 2 or 3 new maps at most come out per year? What's the difference?

I know it's hard to directly compare the games in terms of scope, etc, but when both have new releases in the same week it's hard not to think about it.

Anyway apologies for drifting off topic

 

If by the first line you meant the UK, well I am from there and certainly don't appreciate the need for such a large price rise or failing to offer the preorder discount we used to enjoy on new titles.

I shall be waiting for it to go on sale, at a level of discount which at least matches what the old preorder price would have been. And I also have every sympathy with those in other territories seeing even larger increases in price due to the Steam exchange rate debacle and DTG's seeming "FIFO" response to their concerns.

 

I am from the UK, personally I don't think people from overseas should be paying proportionately a great deal more.

However I think you might be over estimating the ability of DTG to do anything about it and maybe apportioning much of the blame in the wrong place.

 

From a link that JD posted himself. This steam price matrix is optional. DTG can set their own prices if they wish. They choose not to. It is what it is. It’s only a game and I can live without it.

I’m still hoping the XBox Gamepass discount will be available. The XBox price in my country is better than the steam price and the Gamepass discount would make it reasonable.

 

You're still missing the point. Either that or you don't give a jot about the players around the world who will have to pay price increases of 170% or more for BCC, to quote one example.

 

SCS does have a reputation of releasing good quality content consistently. They take their time to release products and when the product does come out, it doesn't feel rushed and generally gets positive reviews. DTG on the other hand sadly has a reputation of inconsistency in terms of quality which does lead to some skepticism about the next product which you don't really see with scs.

 

In order to maintain an effective pricing matrix, DTG would effectively need to monitor the cost of goods in every country, as well as keeping up-to-date with inflation rates and potentially also currency fluctuations. It's not a feasible exercise for big publishers to do on an ongoing basis, let alone a mid-size developer/publisher - and if they start doing it for a few countries that are called out here, you can be sure that anybody who thinks their economic reality has been unfairly modelled will be on here to complain.

It's completely correct that on Steam DTG can set prices, although it's not possible on some console platforms - so even if they did invest in a very large piece of ongoing financial analysis, there would be complaints about disparity between PC and consoles.

Those who are raising the issues here are absolutely fair in highlighting the disparities, and as a UK resident I completely sympathise with those who are affected. It's crappy.

But the vast majority of developers and publishers use the Steam Regional Pricing matrix (for the majority, if not all currencies) - and suggesting that changing a few numbers in the Steam back-end is the fix that DTG could easily implement is way wide of the mark, because it opens a whole can of worms:

1) How many currencies does DTG monitor? All of them? Some of them? How should they choose - by relating to percentage increases, or relating to local prices for other entertainment products? How to explain (constantly) why prices on Steam are so wildly out of sync vs, eg, PlayStation (because I guarantee they will be hugely out of sync in some places)? (and yes I realise that this thread already highlights Steam vs Epic, which are also good observations, but also simply highlight the level of work required, because to manually monitor and change on Steam *and* Epic doubles the admin work involved).

(As a side note, bear in mind that DTG can only set prices in some places where they are classed as the vendor such as Steam and Epic, because to specify pricing in other retailers - such as Green Man Gaming or GoG.com - would be price fixing and is illegal...

2) How often should DTG commit to changing prices? Once per year, per month, per week? Less frequently would likely mean bigger swings in pricing (and result in complaints, especially with big economic changes we're currently seeing); more frequently would require at least one full time economist/analyst to cover a selection of currencies; or a whole team to track all of them.

All of this doesn't change the point that DTG could address this. But my point is that it's not a trivial step to take, which is why most people selling games on Steam use the SRP matrix - and trust that Valve does a good job of tracking all the above. (The argument as to whther or not Valve does do a good job of tracking this is of course for anybody to choose... but also a totally different discussion).

 

I'm grateful that you guys felt that way. Thank you very much.

Thanks a lot. It's great that you see my point. Unfortunately, some people can't understand you unless they haven't walked a thousand miles in your shoes.

Thank you, gentleman. I would like to say that it's more than crappy.
Maybe, I can't digest the fact that somehow steam is more responsible than DTG.

Honestly, I'm not a gamer. I'm just a train enthusiast.

 

Only just just saw this thread as I usually post in the Playstation forum not in the PC Master Race threads , but my thoughts on the mooted price increase -

Cost of living crisis or not, £29.99 for a DLC will I think put a few people off. There's a psychological effect that comes into play with consumers when a product breaches another tens decimal unit, 29.99 is closer to 30 than it is to 20 after all, and nowadays £30 is a good chunk of cash for many people.

Of course, this is why we still have products selling for xx.99, not that this 1 penny under 30 quid fools most people.

With a lot of big budget games coming out at 50 to 60 quid, and this dlc being sold for 50% of a premium title many will see this rightly or wrongly as a cash grab.

I suppose we will see in a few weeks when DTG have their sales data for this particular DLC as to whether their pricing strategy works or not.

 

See, I can't debate like a politician or an economist.
But different commodities have different perceived values in respective economies.

( Assuming you are from UK )
Train Tickets, Hospital Bills, Higher Education, and Domestic heating might be a problem for you guys. They are rather affordable to the common man in my country. ( Majority of us don't need a medical insurance or an education loan ).

Automobiles, Alcohol, consumer electronics ( manufactued outside and imported ), garments ( from foreign brands ) are expensive to us.

( Conversations like these really make me realize how great my country is, despite it's many flaws )
भारत माता की जय

 

Don't forget about not living in a country that had a head of government crash the currency of their country which forced the central bank to do a bailout effectively and was outlasted by a lettuce

 

Thank you for your kind comment. The conversation I had with you later made me realize that I'll rather ride a train in my country ( for much cheaper price ) than buy a British game about trains.

 

Fun Fact: There is a tourist train package here, that lasts more than 45 days XD

 

TBH I don't think this is intentional. I think that DTG either doesn't care or doesn't have the ability/resources to try and fix an appropriate currency conversion for every country. How many customers do they have from your part of the world versus other countries? They only have so many people and they may have to make a sacrifice based on what they're able to do. I don't think they're doing anything out of malice based on where people live. After all, I know Indians who have USD and American addresses to leverage, Americans who have GBP and British addresses, etc. It's nothing personal, I'm sure.

When both sides hate you, that's often a good sign that you're a principled man.

As you already allude to in your first paragraph, and as OldVern has made many good points about, inflation doesn't affect entertainment products as harshly. The very nature of them being a luxury good means they have to compete that much harder given the inflationary impact on the basic necessities. ATS is going for $5 - I've never seen a quality video game cost so little.

Spoken like a true patriot and like someone who knows how to lead a balanced and happy life! o7

That's a red herring. It has nothing to do with whether or not the currency conversion scheme is justified. In fact, if I were an Indian patriot, here's how that criticism would come across. (Please allow me what I admit is an extremely generous indulgence, it's not meant to be offensive in any way...it's my attempt to try and look at an issue through someone else's perspective.):

"A Westerner is deflecting accusations of price-gouging against my countrymen by our former oppressors. He does this by criticizing us for a perceived failing that is in no way related to the topic at hand. He is doing so with the assumption that the values of elite Western globalists are our values, and uses the mouthpiece of the Western elite establishment in my country as his 'evidence'."

That's one way I could see someone responding. Nothing personal and I am in no way accusing anyone of acting in bad faith. I respect all the people I quoted!

 

The secret is to figure out a way to pay for the DLC in Indian Rupees from the UK.

It's half the cost of £29.99 if you do the exchange rate from the price of 1600INR.

 

You should've quoted 'The Onion' instead, I would've taken it more seriously.
And sincerely I want you to believe that 70% of us don't have basic healthcare.

Delusions like that ended the British Empire.
In fact, please let me know what else you know about us.

You made my day gentleman, I'm not angry. With all seriousness, I would really like to know more about your perception of us !
( somewhere more appropriate than DTG forum )

 

Agree, with you. It's not intentional. But when you are running a business that caters to an international audience, decisions should be made by understanding everyone's perception.

I know a few people ( and a few 'groups' of people ) to whom it doesn't apply.

I'll take the compliment, I know how to lead a balanced & happy life.

When your fellow human beings fail to understand you, it's better to take a step back and re-evaluate your position.

Thank you for that.
The only thing concerning with the gentleman's argument was that he took an 'economic example' and twisted it into an entirely off-topic post.

Apart from that, I'm not surprised he came up with a random article on the internet to defend his stance.

We often make fun of ( North American & European ) foreigners and tourists ( in a gentle way ) about how little they know about us.
We detonated a nuke on the very day when an American delegation was sitting in New Delhi to ensure that it doesn't happen. We've transported rocket parts on horseback and supercomputer modules in lunch boxes.

No issues if people fail to understand all of that. Doesn't matter how they perceive us.

Not a big problem if Steam / DTG quotes prices in an unfair manner. I was doing them a favor, we're a big enough market ( and so does many other countries ) that can't be ignored for long.

 

Gentleman, something is wrong with your healthcare system if you are consistently pushing subjective arguments about medical accessibility on a social forum about the prices of a videogame. ( At 06.25 in the morning, in your local time )

Quite frankly, I don't want a British guy lecturing me about my own country.

 

All this debate for a difference of £5 or so. If you cant afford it right now, don't buy it. You always have a choice. Nobody is forcing you to buy anything. I quite enjoy this game, I have racked up many hours and am happy to pay for routes and add-ons that I want. I also own a business, costs are rising in all directions, so it's normal that some of this is passed on to the customer.

 

Slight correction, I bought up the subject of a steep price rise.

I was just explaining how different entities perceive different value in different countries

No part of this post says British healthcare is bad.

You have no authority to determine that.

 

Most of this thread isn’t about £5. If you convert the price to UKP, I’m being asked to pay £15 extra in my country and it was already slightly more expensive than the UK price.

I have no objection to a £5 increase. Everything is going up in price.

 

Fine Sir, Let's sign a truce.
Neither of us will quote each other's post from here onwards
Deal ?

 

For the ( 'don't know how many times' )th time, Yes. The point I'm pushing for.
( I promise not to get into any controversial threads on this forum anymore. Will stick with trains only. )

 

Not ignoring you gentleman.
Just that it's kind-of futile to debate about a policy, where neither of the debating parties is responsible for the decision-making.

 

I think the main objection was less seeing you as claiming the healthcare system here is bad, and more amusement at the original suggestion anyone in the UK would have problems with hospital bills when healthcare is free in this country, so we don't pay any kind of bills for it. We just get it as a basic right.

 

My apologies there. I thought NHS was an American organization.

 

So, Xbox version is out and the price is far more reasonable than on Steam (37.80 CHF (with Gamepass) instead of 44.50 CHF on steam). Previous routes were between 31.50 CHF and 34 CHF. With gamepass

So that is reasonable for me, I’ll get it for XBox. Still think the Steam pricing is way out though.

 

£26.99 on xbox with the GP discount, plus I have a fiver on MS rewards, so I got it for £21.99

 

Well, for me it was $7.99 and Texas is $10.99. DTG addons were $14.49 and now are $18.49. Psychological difference is huge here .
It is still almost OK for me, but nearing the price of some AAA games in the region...