The acquisition explains the high DLC price...

[7401293842]

I bought this game in EA years ago, and it has been a cute indie game (published by the developers themselves) if I recall correctly. Today I noticed that the publisher has changed to Paradox Interactive, a well known one for many strategy games.

So I googled for some news. It turned out they do not only publish for the game now, but also have acquired it (since 16 Aug, the same day when the new DLC came out): https://www.paradoxinteractive.com/media/press-releases/press-release/across-the-obelisk-ascends-to-paradox-interactive-portfolio.

Instead of being priced by game developers who lack economic / marketing insights, the game's price is now determined by a professional (and calculative) marketing division. In the language of economics, they know how to exploit information to infer purchasers' willingness to pay to set a price that maximizes revenue. It's no surprise that they set a high DLC price if they believe owners of the base game are loyal and sticky/addicted and like it enough to pay extra. Such practice also helps them extract consumer welfare through intertemporal price discrimination. What's more, after the acquisition, the cost become higher on the producer's side (think about the salaries for Paradox's employees and better organized marketing/advertisement campaign). A higher price helps cover it, too.

As a consumer, I'm definitely not a fan of the price. However, it's now less surprising to me after knowing that Paradox Interactive is in charge here.

[Panderous]

Across the Obelisk was a part of Paradox for a year or so. They just folded it in to the larger branch with this.

https://venturebeat.com/games/paradox-arc-publishing-initiative-launches-first-game-across-the-obelisk/

[Amrehlu]

Oh, that explains the horrible, money grabbing, soulless DLC from the start then I guess.

[7401293842]

Originally posted by Panderous:

Across the Obelisk was a part of Paradox for a year or so. They just folded it in to the larger branch with this.

https://venturebeat.com/games/paradox-arc-publishing-initiative-launches-first-game-across-the-obelisk/

Now it makes sense why the DLC released earlier was already expensive!

[Rail]

Originally posted by Panderous:

Across the Obelisk was a part of Paradox for a year or so. They just folded it in to the larger branch with this.

https://venturebeat.com/games/paradox-arc-publishing-initiative-launches-first-game-across-the-obelisk/

my goodness paradox? The end has come