Price Difference

[Cal]

Looking at the game on both Steam and the Xbox Store(for the PC version of the game, not the console version) there is a big price difference for the same version of the game across the two stores. On Steam the deluxe edition is £85 whereas the Xbox store has the same version of the game on sale for "£99+". Does anyone know why there's such a big difference in pricing across the two stores for the same version of the game??

I'll likely buy on steam anyway ad moding tools such as script extenders tend to work better on steam with Bethesda games but I'm curious as to why there's such a massive gap in pricing, seems odd considering Microsoft own Bethesda, if anything you'd expect it to be cheaper on their own store rather than a third party store

[supergoyo77]

Good question, historically console games have always been more expensive than PC games and the reason may be and I emphasize "may be" because having a good PC is much more expensive than a console or because all games are created on PC and then transferred to the console, or because you plug the console in and play and that's it while on PC you have to do several things before you can play, it's a difficult question but as a PC user the prices of my platform suit me .

[Tenoshii]

Probably a regional pricing display discrepancy between the two platforms?

[kdodds]

The US price is the same Steam or XBox store. Maybe has something to do with your government thinking they can control American companies by trying to block the AB acquisition? I wonder how many MPs are taking funds from Sony.

[Cal]

Originally posted by supergoyo77:

Good question, historically console games have always been more expensive than PC games and the reason may be and I emphasize "may be" because having a good PC is much more expensive than a console or because all games are created on PC and then transferred to the console, or because you plug the console in and play and that's it while on PC you have to do several things before you can play, it's a difficult question but as a PC user the prices of my platform suit me .

But that's the thing, I'm not talking about the Xbox version of the game, I'm talking about the PC version of the game that's sold on the Xbox store. Console vs PC price difference I can get my head around, but we're talking about the PC version being a different price on two different stores by quite a bit amount

[Bullwark]

Originally posted by supergoyo77:

Good question, historically console games have always been more expensive than PC games and the reason may be and I emphasize "may be" because having a good PC is much more expensive than a console or because all games are created on PC and then transferred to the console, or because you plug the console in and play and that's it while on PC you have to do several things before you can play, it's a difficult question but as a PC user the prices of my platform suit me .

PC games sold better. That's one reason why they were cheaper.

Console games were more expensive due to positioning of their product via marketing strategies. A console goes out as a premium product. And those games needed to follow that frame.
You cannot do that with PC because theiy're highly customizable. Only for parts. But it doesn't work as whole concept like with consoles.

Now they're trying to mix that all up to a pulp. The "industry" is overgrown and led by business people who have nothing to do with the art and passion of gaming. They're going for a higher price strategy because consumers pay anyway.

[Cal]

Originally posted by Tenoshii:

Probably a regional pricing display discrepancy between the two platforms?

Maybe although I've never seen it happen before, even the regular (PC) version of the game is more expensive on the Xbox store, just weird considering Microsoft own BGS that they'd price it higher on their own store

[Caduryn]

Originally posted by Cal:

Originally posted by supergoyo77:

Good question, historically console games have always been more expensive than PC games and the reason may be and I emphasize "may be" because having a good PC is much more expensive than a console or because all games are created on PC and then transferred to the console, or because you plug the console in and play and that's it while on PC you have to do several things before you can play, it's a difficult question but as a PC user the prices of my platform suit me .

But that's the thing, I'm not talking about the Xbox version of the game, I'm talking about the PC version of the game that's sold on the Xbox store. Console vs PC price difference I can get my head around, but we're talking about the PC version being a different price on two different stores by quite a bit amount

Strange, for € there is no difference.

[Cal]

Originally posted by Bullwark:

Originally posted by supergoyo77:

Good question, historically console games have always been more expensive than PC games and the reason may be and I emphasize "may be" because having a good PC is much more expensive than a console or because all games are created on PC and then transferred to the console, or because you plug the console in and play and that's it while on PC you have to do several things before you can play, it's a difficult question but as a PC user the prices of my platform suit me .

PC games sold better. That's one reason why they were cheaper.

Console games were more expensive due to positioning of their product via marketing strategies. A console goes out as a premium product. And those games needed to follow that frame.
You cannot do that with PC because theiy're highly customizable. Only for parts. But it doesn't work as whole concept like with consoles.

Now they're trying to mix that all up to a pulp. The "industry" is overgrown and led by business people who have nothing to do with the art and passion of gaming. They're going for a higher price strategy because consumers pay anyway.

But why have two different prices for the same edition of the game, for the same platform(PC), and then make it more expensive on their own store? Surely Microsoft would want people to buy the game using their own store and thus take a bigger cut of the revenue, so why disincentivise consumers from buying on your own store by making it more expensive compared to steam?

[Cal]

Originally posted by Caduryn:

Originally posted by Cal:

But that's the thing, I'm not talking about the Xbox version of the game, I'm talking about the PC version of the game that's sold on the Xbox store. Console vs PC price difference I can get my head around, but we're talking about the PC version being a different price on two different stores by quite a bit amount

Strange, for € there is no difference.

Weird, in the GB store there's a £15 difference between the two, with Microsofts own store being more expensive

[Cal]

Having to spoken to someone, I've found out that buying from the Xbox store gives you access to the game on both Xbox series S/X and on PC whereas the steam version is of course PC only which explains the price difference. Would be better if they gave the option to just buy for one platform rather than charging everyone more even if they don't own a console or PC but I'll be buying from steam anyway for the better modding opportunites compared to the Bethesda games played from the Xbox store

[-={LG}=-]

Basic economics suggests that the price is higher because people who buy from the XBox store are willing to pay more.

[supergoyo77]

Originally posted by Cal:

Originally posted by supergoyo77:

Good question, historically console games have always been more expensive than PC games and the reason may be and I emphasize "may be" because having a good PC is much more expensive than a console or because all games are created on PC and then transferred to the console, or because you plug the console in and play and that's it while on PC you have to do several things before you can play, it's a difficult question but as a PC user the prices of my platform suit me .

But that's the thing, I'm not talking about the Xbox version of the game, I'm talking about the PC version of the game that's sold on the Xbox store. Console vs PC price difference I can get my head around, but we're talking about the PC version being a different price on two different stores by quite a bit amount

I'm sorry, I misunderstood then, I apologize.

[Bullwark]

Originally posted by Cal:

Originally posted by Bullwark:

PC games sold better. That's one reason why they were cheaper.

Console games were more expensive due to positioning of their product via marketing strategies. A console goes out as a premium product. And those games needed to follow that frame.
You cannot do that with PC because theiy're highly customizable. Only for parts. But it doesn't work as whole concept like with consoles.

Now they're trying to mix that all up to a pulp. The "industry" is overgrown and led by business people who have nothing to do with the art and passion of gaming. They're going for a higher price strategy because consumers pay anyway.

But why have two different prices for the same edition of the game, for the same platform(PC), and then make it more expensive on their own store? Surely Microsoft would want people to buy the game using their own store and thus take a bigger cut of the revenue, so why disincentivise consumers from buying on your own store by making it more expensive compared to steam?

Because it makes money. Not everybody has steam installed. Not everybody is aware or do even compare prices.
There are also people who feel affiliated to MS and willingly pay a higher price to support their fav. company. This is not a joke btw.

Theoretically it should make more sense if the same version is more expensive on Steam. because they take a cut. But also Bethesda knows that they have a bigger exposure here and will sell more on steam, than on their own store.
So the MS store won't bring them as much as an income than steam would, so they try to balance it out by going higher on their turf. There also might be some regulations from platform to platform that I don't know about.

People will buy where ever there is an offer. And they know and use that. And if they see that people buy regarding other offers, they take that into their studies and will further increase their prices in the future.
So they'll increase on steam again and go with a higher price tactic on their turf like in the last example. And so on...

[Harambo]

I can also see a difference on the prices here in Brazil. Base game is R$ 349,95 (Xbox PC app) and R$ 299,00 (Steam). Same logic applies to the Premium Edition.

I think it has to do with the Old Mars Skin Pack that is exclusive to the Xbox PC app? That is included on both the base and Premium versions on the Xbox, whereas I couldn't find a mention of it on Steam