Could someone fill me in on the price?

[Kankaku]

Why does this Early access game cost so much? This is the only EA game I've ever seen at full Triple A price while still in EA. Has it already gone gold but they're using EA to add extra content for free or something?

[desrtfox071]

Covered on the Steam store page.

Basically, it's a preorder with EA access.

You are paying for, and receiving the full game on launch. Until then, you have access to the EA content.

Again, covered in full on the Steam store page description of the product.

[Rusted Metal]

The price has remain the same during the whole of EA (unless you are in a country with volatile currency) as for why it's the price it is, we can't really say, some will say greed others the say something else. They have used EA as a way for people to give feedback which they do actually listen to but since it's so close to release if you were hoping to have any input then it's probably too late to change anything major.

It should be noted that technically it is discounted since buying now will give you a free upgrade to deluxe edition with comes with early access to the full release of act 1

[Kankaku]

Originally posted by desrtfox071:

Covered on the Steam store page.

Basically, it's a preorder with EA access.

You are paying for, and receiving the full game on launch. Until then, you have access to the EA content.

Again, covered in full on the Steam store page description of the product.

I know how early access works. Thanks for the backhanded explanation lol.

[Kankaku]

Originally posted by Rusted Metal:

The price has remain the same during the whole of EA (unless you are in a country with volatile currency) as for why it's the price it is, we can't really say, some will say greed others the say something else. They have used EA as a way for people to give feedback which they do actually listen to but since it's so close to release if you were hoping to have any input then it's probably too late to change anything major.

It should be noted that technically it is discounted since buying now will give you a free upgrade to deluxe edition with comes with early access to the full release of act 1

Fair enough, thanks.

[desrtfox071]

Originally posted by Zombwich:

Originally posted by desrtfox071:

Covered on the Steam store page.

Basically, it's a preorder with EA access.

You are paying for, and receiving the full game on launch. Until then, you have access to the EA content.

Again, covered in full on the Steam store page description of the product.

I know how early access works. Thanks for the backhanded explanation lol.

Well, I mean OK, You asked. The details of this EA is covered on the Steam Store page for this product, so I assumed that you hadn't read it, and thus didn't know the details of this EA.


For example, from the Steam store page:

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?
“The price of the game will remain $59.99 USD / £49.99 GBP / 59,99€ EUR at launch. As Steam makes periodic changes to their recommended regional pricing to reflect changes in purchasing power and currencies around the world, the price in other currencies may change to reflect Steam’s most recent recommendations.”

I suppose, if you've gotten everything you need form Rusted Metal's response, then you're all good, otherwise, there's probably detail you may want to know on the Steam Store page.

[Kankaku]

Originally posted by desrtfox071:

Originally posted by Zombwich:

I know how early access works. Thanks for the backhanded explanation lol.

Well, I mean OK, You asked. The details of this EA is covered on the Steam Store page for this product, so I assumed that you hadn't read it, and thus didn't know the details of this EA.


For example, from the Steam store page:

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?
“The price of the game will remain $59.99 USD / £49.99 GBP / 59,99€ EUR at launch. As Steam makes periodic changes to their recommended regional pricing to reflect changes in purchasing power and currencies around the world, the price in other currencies may change to reflect Steam’s most recent recommendations.”

I suppose, if you've gotten everything you need form Rusted Metal's response, then you're all good, otherwise, there's probably detail you may want to know on the Steam Store page.

None of that explains the abhorrently high cost though. Which was my question in the first place.

[desrtfox071]

Originally posted by Zombwich:

Originally posted by desrtfox071:

Well, I mean OK, You asked. The details of this EA is covered on the Steam Store page for this product, so I assumed that you hadn't read it, and thus didn't know the details of this EA.


For example, from the Steam store page:


I suppose, if you've gotten everything you need form Rusted Metal's response, then you're all good, otherwise, there's probably detail you may want to know on the Steam Store page.

None of that explains the abhorrently high cost though. Which was my question in the first place.

Standard AAA price. And yeah, it's covered in the quote.

Regarding why the price for the game is the same now vs at release it's because Larian did not want to incentivize a bunch of people to buy during EA who weren't otherwise interested in participating in the EA. So, rather than artificially incentivize people with a "discount", they decided to keep the price the same. Now, really, Larian did water that down a bit by announcing that anyone who buys the standard game during EA will also be upgraded to the Digital Deluxe version, so meh, still some late incentivizing going on there i think. YMMV.

tl;ddr Larian didn't want people buying the EA just because it was cheaper than the release cost. (They did water that down later though with the free upgrade)

[Kankaku]

Originally posted by desrtfox071:

Originally posted by Zombwich:

None of that explains the abhorrently high cost though. Which was my question in the first place.

Standard AAA price.

But WHY is it Triple A price when it hasn't gone gold yet. You could have just never commented or just said "no one knows" lol.

Edit: I noticed you changed your comment after the fact to add what I actually asked for. Thanks. For whatever reason that wasn't/still isn't showing up on the store page for me.

[desrtfox071]

Originally posted by Zombwich:

Originally posted by desrtfox071:

Standard AAA price.

But WHY is it Triple A price when it hasn't gone gold yet. You could have just never commented or just said "no one knows" lol.

Yeah, I edited my response with more detail. The actual answer though is simple, "Because that's how Larian wants to do it.", per the EA statements. I did list the reasoning given by Larian in the post above though to give you a better idea.

And it's kinda laid out (the reasoning) in the EA description, but it isn't super clear:

Only buy the game now if you’d like an early look, or if you want to participate in community feedback ahead of the full launch. Otherwise, we suggest you wait until version 1.0 releases ...

[Cirrus]

Originally posted by Zombwich:

Originally posted by desrtfox071:

Standard AAA price.

But WHY is it Triple A price when it hasn't gone gold yet. You could have just never commented or just said "no one knows" lol.

Edit: I noticed you changed your comment after the fact to add what I actually asked for. Thanks. For whatever reason that wasn't/still isn't showing up on the store page for me.

Triple aaa games cost triple aaa price also during preorder….There is nothing strange about it. This EA is not the kind of EA you think it is.

[Kankaku]

Originally posted by Cirrus:

Originally posted by Zombwich:

But WHY is it Triple A price when it hasn't gone gold yet. You could have just never commented or just said "no one knows" lol.

Edit: I noticed you changed your comment after the fact to add what I actually asked for. Thanks. For whatever reason that wasn't/still isn't showing up on the store page for me.

Triple aaa games cost triple aaa price also during preorder….There is nothing strange about it. This EA is not the kind of EA you think it is.

I mean it IS strange but it's a good kind of strange I guess.

[Yojo0o]

I think early access games being full price should be the norm. Micro-developers abusing discounts to generate sales on a product that may never be completed has tarnished the entire model. The decision for consumers should be clear and fair: no penalty for waiting for full release, no monetized FOMO.

[Razorblade]

Originally posted by Zombwich:

None of that explains the abhorrently high cost though. Which was my question in the first place.

BG3 is being developed by a successful company with plenty of money to fund the game's development. If no one bought the game in Early Access, it would not affect the game's development in the slightest. As such, they have no reason to discount the game.

Developers normally discount EA games because they're indies who need your money now, lest they go bankrupt. In contrast, Larian is more than happy to wait for your money until you're willing to part with it; they're in no rush.

[Kankaku]

Originally posted by Razorblade:

Originally posted by Zombwich:

None of that explains the abhorrently high cost though. Which was my question in the first place.

BG3 is being developed by a successful company with plenty of money to fund the game's development. If no one bought the game in Early Access, it would not affect the game's development in the slightest. As such, they have no reason to discount the game.

Developers normally discount EA games because they're indies who need your money now, lest they go bankrupt. In contrast, Larian is more than happy to wait for your money until you're willing to part with it; they're in no rush.

That's usually done via kickstarter or itch io etc. It's actually illegal to use EA as a means to fund the development of a game.

[Quillithe]

Originally posted by Yojo0o:

I think early access games being full price should be the norm. Micro-developers abusing discounts to generate sales on a product that may never be completed has tarnished the entire model. The decision for consumers should be clear and fair: no penalty for waiting for full release, no monetized FOMO.

I dunno, I have no problem with the discounted model.

Idea is that since the game isn't finished and you can't be sure it will be (and in a lot of cases these are first indie projects, so a consumer won't have a lot of trust to fall back on) you pay a lesser amount that's designed to be the value of the part of the game that's currently complete.

Indie devs get funding, players get games - sometimes they might not be finished, but that's why you paid less - because you're supposed to pay for what you're getting and not what is promised.


Of course, Larian doesn't need to do this because they didn't need funding as badly. I think that's fine too.