Pricing

Pride of Nations is a turn-based historical strategy game set in the colonial era of the 19th century, where the player takes control of a country and guides it through industrialization, military conquest, and colonization. This release from AGEOD follows such successful historical strategy games as Birth of America, American Civil War, Napoleon's Campaigns, Rise of Prussia and Wars in America.
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tgb
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Pricing

Post by tgb »

I'm not one to normally complain about Matrix pricing policies, since obviously they work, but does it really make sense to release a 3-year-old game for $5 more than it was originally?
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Erik Rutins
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RE: Pricing

Post by Erik Rutins »

Hi tgb,

Our intention was not to change the existing price, but to match it. Can you elaborate on where you are seeing a price difference?

Regards,

- Erik
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vonRocko
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RE: Pricing

Post by vonRocko »

Another site has it for $9.95. I got it in a sale for $1.50 last year.
tgb
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RE: Pricing

Post by tgb »

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Hi tgb,

Our intention was not to change the existing price, but to match it. Can you elaborate on where you are seeing a price difference?

Regards,

- Erik

Hi, Erik:

I don't mean to be busting your chops, but this really does surprise me. The price difference I quoted was from when the game was originally released back in June 2010 (I think). At release it was being sold at for $19.95 for both the digital and physical versions. That was not a sale or pre-order price, by the way, but the list price.

I know of one well-known digital distributor who is selling the game for $9.95 for the base version, and $19.95 for the complete version with all the DLC.

I think you guys really stepped on a land mine with this one.
Rocko911
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RE: Pricing

Post by Rocko911 »

Erik,
I have verified what they are saying. The game is available in a physical format for almost $15 cheaper and with free shipping at a well know online store. Now I don't mind paying a little extra if you guys make a game better by making it less buggy, better graphics, better user interface, better AI, or just a better gaming experience. If this is the case then you need to tout or show this. If however it is just a retreading of an old game to a new group of loyal customers then I have to say I am disappointed.
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Erik Rutins
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RE: Pricing

Post by Erik Rutins »

It's not a retread - it's the same game, we're just able to make it available here for the first time.

I thought we'd synchronized on price but obviously we've got something wrong. I will check into this tomorrow with the team.

Regards,

- Erik
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Wolfe1759
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RE: Pricing

Post by Wolfe1759 »

From my posting over at Grogheads on the same subject

What really irritates me about the Matrix pricing is that they continually rip off us UK customers.

Using PoN as an example the US price is $24.99 (I only know this because of the OP, $ prices are not shown on the Matrix site accessed from here in the UK) the UK price is £21.59 which equates to $33.08. However if I go over to the AGEOD site (which is now the same company) I can buy it for £15.99.

The argument that the older Matrix games are over priced is a good one, even more so when you are being charged an additional 30% for no other apparent reason than being this side of the Atlantic.


Rather than having Matrix sell AGEOD games can we get AGEOD to sell Matrix games here in the UK then we might start getting them at a fair price ?

P.S. and it is currently priced at £7.99 on another site.
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Hotschi
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RE: Pricing

Post by Hotschi »

Available for Euro 4.99 on another well known online store.
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budd
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RE: Pricing

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rodney727
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RE: Pricing

Post by rodney727 »

+100. Again. I beg you matrix/slitheine please hire someone with retail expericence. If just only for advice. After all there is only so much college books can teach you. Enough said till the next blunder...
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Hertston
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RE: Pricing

Post by Hertston »

ORIGINAL: vonRocko

Another site has it for $9.95. I got it in a sale for $1.50 last year.

Both Steam and Gamersgate practically give this (and all the DLC) away every time there's a sale - and it's not expensive the rest of the time). Ditto Rise of Prussia.

I understand the Matrix approach to pricing the exclusive games, particularly the 'premium' ones, but you really need to revisit pricing policy on games also sold elsewhere particularly if you start selling them sometime after the original release.

I can understand 'supporting' Matrix as well, but I'm sure everyone would rather do that buying new games than over-priced old ones?
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IainMcNeil
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RE: Pricing

Post by IainMcNeil »

Hi guys,

nobody has the right to sell the games any more except us. We own them exclusively now. We are the only place it can be legitimately bought. All other sellers have been contacted and asked to remove the games from sale. If we allow others to sell it will be at the same price as us. However it takes time for the hundreds of stores that Paradox licensed it to to be contacted, respond and remove the games. Going forwards you wont be able to get Ageod games anywhere except direct from us so there will be no price discrepancy, but it is not something that we can fix overnight.

It is true that Paradox sold these games at ridiculous prices on Steam and Gamer's gate but that's a thing of the past that will never happen again. These are massive games and justify a sensible price point. We can;t fix the mistakes from the past but we can make sure going forwards it all works.

UK customers get a direct currency conversion to US customers so the price is £17.99. The Ageod store is migration to our payment system so when this happens all prices will match exactly. UK customers are not getting cheated in any way. It is a pure currency conversion.

Is anyone seriously suggesting that this enormous game is not worth $24.99? It clearly is and just because someone had the crazy idea of selling it for $5 on Steam doesn't change that fact.

I'm sure once you look at the big picture you'll understand the logic and why sensible prices are needed to ensure ongoing development. After all there is a reason that Paradox split from Ageod - their business model just didn't work and was losing money every month. If you want these type of games you need to expect to pay a reasonable price. That's just common sense.

Thanks for you understanding while we move to rationalize the pricing and remove the games from sale on other sites. In the next couple of months everything will be completely unified and we hope to have the games removed from sale everywhere else.

Iain McNeil
Director
Matrix Games
Rocko911
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RE: Pricing

Post by Rocko911 »

Ian, you do know that by US UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) Law you cannot get rid of retailers selling legit hard copies they have in their inventory bought during any original agreements.
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IainMcNeil
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RE: Pricing

Post by IainMcNeil »

An additional point - that Bundle Pack for PON on Gamersgate has never been passed to us so thanks - we are chasing that up now and as part of the investigation discovered around 15 additional Ageod titles we have rights to that were not reported! As I said it will take some time to piece this all together but we'll get there!
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Ranger33
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RE: Pricing

Post by Ranger33 »

I can understand paying a premium for wargames, and I would rather those dollars go to Matrix than Steam. That said, there's absolutely no way I'm paying MORE for a game than it originally cost, years after it was released. After looking around at several reviews mentioning the price, the game was definitely $20 at release.
vonRocko
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RE: Pricing

Post by vonRocko »

Wow, I'm glad I got it before slitherine did!
undercovergeek
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RE: Pricing

Post by undercovergeek »

ORIGINAL: Iain McNeil
Thanks for you understanding

i dont think anyone is 'understanding' - youre simply taking away any other options
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mbar
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RE: Pricing

Post by mbar »

If this release was including all the DLC then I could understand the price point.

But from the store page this looks like just the base game.

Can anyone confirm what is included in the package?
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Hertston
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RE: Pricing

Post by Hertston »

ORIGINAL: undercovergeek

i dont think anyone is 'understanding' - youre simply taking away any other options

+1

Were PoN a new game it would certainly be 'worth' the asking price, and more, but what's done is done. There are plenty of games across all genres 'worth' far more than you can currently buy them for. Nobody else is taking two-year old plus games and hiking the price to above release level on the grounds that they are 'worth' that!
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IainMcNeil
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RE: Pricing

Post by IainMcNeil »

Hi guys,

I understand the frustration and confusion but we're teh good guys :)

The game was available for $20 at Steam when it released as a way to get early attention. The $24.99 price is what Ageod have been charging for many months - they can't remember when it changed to that but it has been for a significant amount of time.

Its part of the Steam model to offer games cheap to get some attention. This was taken to a ridiculous extreme and at one point Pride of Nations was on sale for $1.50. This is clearly unsustainable. The sales did go up but overall the revenue generated from the sale was lower than the normal price as you have to sell 20 times as many units. The game made a huge loss overall and will never break even.

We can't control what happened in the past, but we can put Ageod on a steady footing gong forwards.

These are huge games and to make Ageod a sustainable business we need to charge sensible prices. The reality is that if you want to play these type of games, these are the type of prices that you will need to pay.

We want to make Ageod a sustainable business so you can enjoy these games for years to come!

Thanks for your understanding.

Iain McNeil
Director
Matrix Games
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