These games are all overpriced.

[mhenryblack]

You'd sell way more of them in the $20 USD range. I have heard this from multiple people.

The current pricing just doesn't fit the content, imo

[omnislash024]

You have no idea what you are talking about. The people who translate these games, who don't give us horrible shoddy work like MoeNovel and Sakuragame, they need to be compensated. The original developers need a slice of the pie as well. Don't be so damn cheap.

If you want these games so bad, get them on sale and be thankful they aren't charging you more.

[mhenryblack]

They would sell more copies at a lower price point... Which would to a higher profit because of increased volume.

No matter how great the lewd content is, $45 usd is too much for a visual novel.

I would also be suprised if the developers made any additional money regardless of how the game sold.

The pricing and sales are often the domain of the publisher

I would buy this on sale, say 50% off, and I am not alone. (Thus far, no sale price has approached that.)

Lowering the base price would mean they wouldn't have to wait for sales to sell the games.

I only have a casual interest in these titles, and was merely making known what price point would actually see me buy the game, since this is a subjective opinion, there is no way to "Not know what I am talking about".

Also, if you feel the pricing is so great, why don't you own the game?

[Uncle Greasus]

Henry, VN's have a ton of translation, licensing fees, localization etc etc in work that needs to be done. By your comment alone you prove without a shadow of a doubt to have NO IDEA of the state of the industry, nor the costs involved in the process, so might I suggest you inform yourself thoroughly first THEN talk? Also by your first comment, you kinda destroyed the validity of this part "I only have a casual interest in these titles, and was merely making known what price point would actually see me buy the game, since this is a subjective opinion, there is no way to "Not know what I am talking about"."

[mhenryblack]

Originally posted by Force:

Henry, VN's have a ton of translation, licensing fees, localization etc etc in work that needs to be done. By your comment alone you prove without a shadow of a doubt to have NO IDEA of the state of the industry, nor the costs involved in the process, so might I suggest you inform yourself thoroughly first THEN talk?

Both comments seem to indicate a failure to understand either the relation ship between publishers and developers or how improper price points affect profit. If a unit prices is too high, it will stifle sales.

Regardless, I assure you, I am very much aware of the back end demands of video production, including how developers are often exploited by publishers, interestingly enough, by the same sort who fail to properly price games, which HARMS sales. It a basic concept in retail sales. Lots of my friends have this wish listed, but few have purchased it.

No matter what the state of affairs is at the specific publisher, I assure you, making more money because of a higher volume of sales is not going to harm either either the publisher or the developers.

Also, oddly enough, you don't own the game either... if the price point is so excellent, why didn't you buy it?

[Uncle Greasus]

Maybe I own it on Mangagamer to make sure that Steam doesn't cut off the sales to much, ever thought of that?

The fact that you don't know much about VN's shines through yet again. It's a niche industry where every sale counts, yet here you come in thinking you know what they should do and that they need to cut down sales price when the West already pays much less for these titles then others in the East do.

[mhenryblack]

That wouldn't be a factor in how to properly price the game on steam. It would be an ulterior motive on your part, because you seem to feel that higher sales/profit on Steam would negatively affect you on another platform.

They would not hurt the developer or the publisher.... making your argument not only irrelevant but also somewhat self interested. Your concern is not for the people involved with making the game, but for ANOTHER PLATFORM. At least you were honest about it..

Suppressing sales here, hurts the publisher, I merely wanted to share my OPINION on how they could sell more of the games.

[Uncle Greasus]

Think about this carefully: If the publisher doesn't make a good return on this, you wouldn't even see this here, unless it was maybe in Chinese and we wouldn't have this discussion if so. Push comes to shove, this price is likely necessary for them to keep localizing these games, but I'm out of this discussion. It's pointless to talk with someone who doesn't understand just how hard these publishers and developers both have it.

[mhenryblack]

Think about this carefully: If a unit price point is too high, it will suppress sales. Even if people who otherwise would have purchased the game, wait till a sale, it can cause issues with quarterly earnings, complicating a publishers finances.

You seem to be having trouble understanding that a higher unit price (per game) doesn't translate into higher EARNINGS. The prices on these games absolutely suppress sales, which harms overall profits in the end.

It's basic commerce. Just check the Steam chart numbers on these games, they aren't selling as well as they could, a love MSRP would lead to MORE net profit because of volume.

[Hifumi Senpai!]

Oh gosh, I had a good laugh & I just can't skip this thread.

Why are you so hung up on lower price & volumes trumps all? Basic commerce? Lol. Your understanding... No, your brain needs a little tweaking. It goes back to pricing 101 & a little bit of simple math.

Tell me is there a difference in gross profit if you can sell:
100 copies @ $40 per copy
Or
200 copies @ $20 per copy

Both option will still earn you $4K isn't it?

Lower price & higher volume DOESN'T necessarily translate it HIGHER Earnings.

Also, VN industry is pretty niche with a small fanbase. Assuming you can only find 1k buyer out there, 1k x $40/copy revenue > 1k x $20/copy revenue.

Secondly, there are other major macroeconomic & demographic factors that will affect earnings (Dev reputation, Branding, Tax, Hobby & etc) causing them to fluctuate. It's not that hard to use your brain just a little bit more & you'll arrive at the answer.

Thirdly, there are other storefronts that contribute to the overall sales & they're are not tracked by steam. They also have lower tax/commission rates than steam.

So before you give a lecture on how to price a product, GTH (Go Think Harder) because what you wrote are half crap & half sensible.

While I understand people tend to gravitate to lower priced item, demand & supply is not as straightforward as you think. Clearly the devs know what they're doing when they priced the game, based on their historical sales and experience.

[Kumo]

"You'd sell way more of them in the $20 USD range. " is an objectively true statement and most people would agree with your opinion, so it's kind of funny that this thread doesn't reflect that. It's the result of arguing with MangaGamer fans that even post on their discord server. Not exactly ideal people to have a rational discussion with, especially when it's clear they took your, very standard opinion, as some kind of personal attack.

Anyway, the fact of the matter is, a $44.99 VN is not going to sell very well on steam, unless it's a top tier one like The Fruit of Grisaia or CLANNAD. There are too many great games and VNs, that a person could spend that money on instead. Like Muv-Luv Alternative, which is ranked very highly on vndb and is cheaper than this game's base price. Once you get into the $40 range on a VN price, many casual VN readers nope on out pretty damn quick, and wait for a big sale, unless it's something that's been really hyped up or has game-play. MangaGamer prefer the strategy of charging a lot and hoping their small and loyal following still buy it at that price. It's similar to what they do on the Japanese side of the eroge industry. It also lets them discount it later for more sales, so they don't really lose anything by charging high initially.

It's impossible to know for sure whether or not the amount of increased sales would be enough to make up for the lower price, so I don't know why people are acting like they know one way or the other. Regardless, this thread is not a good look. If I hated MangaGamer, and wanted to make their fans look bad, I would just show people this thread. Not a single person that replied was polite and the OP was not even remotely hostile. Just someone with a opinion that is very common among casual and potential VN readers.

[mhenryblack]

There are a significant number of consumers out there who will never buy above a certain price point.

My entire opinion is predicated on the Notion that they absolutely will make up for in volume what they lose in unit cost, and then some.... And then some.

I've seen many of my friends who like lewd games wish list these titles without purchasing them... This is a niche title, But steam exposes it to a bigger audience than it ever would have had otherwise.

Once again, You're making these arguments, but you don't own the game here.

I think they're leaving money on the table with their pricing structure.

[mhenryblack]

Kumo, Thanks.

I'm just some guy with an opinion, but I do sell things for a living so I'm not completely lost. I would really like to see the developers in the publisher succeed, and my original post was made in good faith.. I'm not trying to rip anyone off.

I did check the charts on these games and none of them sell very well at the price point they're at..... Which is a shame.

The viable window for a product purchase on Steam is longer than some other platforms, but I think that there is a sizable fraction of players who will just never pay the asking price.

At the very least, more frequent discounting that put it in the $20 range Might be a good idea.



I only made this thread, because I talked to a few friends about the game.... We all share the same opinion that it looked interesting, but it was overpriced.

[Wildbreed]

Originally posted by mhenryblack:

Kumo, Thanks.

I'm just some guy with an opinion, but I do sell things for a living so I'm not completely lost. I would really like to see the developers in the publisher succeed, and my original post was made in good faith.. I'm not trying to rip anyone off.

I did check the charts on these games and none of them sell very well at the price point they're at..... Which is a shame.

The viable window for a product purchase on Steam is longer than some other platforms, but I think that there is a sizable fraction of players who will just never pay the asking price.

At the very least, more frequent discounting that put it in the $20 range Might be a good idea.



I only made this thread, because I talked to a few friends about the game.... We all share the same opinion that it looked interesting, but it was overpriced.

VNs on steam are regionally Priced...so that also factors into sales...and even tho ive bought this i havent left a review.... i know a few others same as me...

also this franchise ( Kyonyuu Fantasy ) initially started off as Manga gamer store exclusive series.. on i own the first 2 VNs over there...

These were published on steam after a long time when steam started allowing stuff..but majority of the dedicated fans still buy this on the home store ..as you know old habbits die hard..so dont assume the sales just by steam numbers.. especially for this series ..

i also own subverse..so dont assume that i am a MG fan or something along those line...
the only thing that i am a fan of is eroge and anything equivalent

https://imgur.com/a/WSHB4D7

[Iron Monkey]

I have to agree they are a bit overpriced. For 20 to 30 hour VNs they really should be like $30 tops ($20 is too low). This is also comparing them to other (arguable even higher quality) VN like the NekoNyan games just as an example. All lower priced and has more content. And while not having adult content in game by default (sadly), its free on their site easily accessed without having to jump through any hoops.

I bought the first one in this series but not the rest because of the price/content ratio. Just waiting for 50% ish off sales to grab the rest.

[Amadan]

i remember when paying $15 to $40 for PC game was normal. Now everyone only seems want to pay $5 to $25 when something is on sale. i suffer from this too.


i think raph koster is right. games are giving is more and we're paying less. either the industry changes what it's doing to keep profits up, or game designers and game developers will be without work. rmember, back in the day people were spending about $90 in todays dollars on Mario Brothers. let that sink in. They spent more for other games, like Mortal Kombat--in the region $125 todays money.