SCS Needs to Revisit Their Deals (Bundles)

[MavenACTG]

I'm a new player who wants to pick up this game (and ETS2) but, based on comparative products outside the simulation space, am aghast at the DLC prices and offerings. Only Payday 2 and House Flipper come close to the excessive list of the add-ons that would be daunting to any customer they would want to court.

What really puts me off is that the available bundle deals are not that great for someone who doesn't want to buy the cosmetics. Their pricing screams "Wait for a Steam Sale," which I just missed for summer. The base game feels like it should be F2P at this point with current and potential DLC add-ons.

Breaking it down (tax excluded, rounding values)
- Northwest Pack - ~$90 full price, includes base game, 10% off to $81. $9 discount. $5 is devoted to cosmetics, meaning you're only saving a few bucks from the tacked on cosmetics.
- Southwest Bundle - $71 full price, includes base game, 10% off to ~$64. $7 discount. $5 is devoted to cosmetics, even worse deal than Northwest Bundle, turns into an awful deal if the base game was excluded or you got the Northwest Bundle.
- Texas Sized Bundle - $67 full price, includes base game and two cargo packs found in Southwest Bundle and New Mexico, 10% off, ~$7 discount. $7 is devoted to cosmetics ($3 already found in Northwest Pack), and, assuming you got the other bundles ... you might as well skip this bundle entirely.

The inclusion of the cosmetics feels like a gimmick intended to ship something few people would ever buy, which I find insulting as a consumer. If they were free to incentivize purchasing a bundle, that would be a step in the right direction, but the discount ought to be much heavier too for the volume being purchased.

As an outsider, simulation and its development culture appear to work by a different set of rules from the spaces I typically patronize, but this almost feels like somewhere between highway robbery and ill-conceived marketing, between greed and incompetence. I could go on rationalizing why they have to charge what they do, I could see their side of it, but I'm not interested, as the one paying, in what appears to be this company's efforts to maximize its revenue the way it does. If I wanted to be milked like this and thank the corporate employees for the privilege, I'd go to a casino.

So come on, sweeten the deal. The core offerings are the states and the cargo packs, thing which extend or add actual gameplay. I'd buy them all if SCS seemed to give an appearance of a damn about what they're charging. If the game was state of the art and running in Unreal 5, maybe then, but man. Every negative review of this game mentions the high price point. I appreciate there is a lot of love for this title but it is at least one or more generations behind in terms of graphics and it's not like the game holds your hand to teach you the ins and outs of how to drive a truck.

What am I missing here? That a particular way of seeing the world is dominating here, and that's "just the way it is"?

[Rapture]

I think something you are maybe overlooking is the fact that all of the DLC is optional. You can start driving with the base game right away and you don't need to add anything. Based on the original launch the game map has already been re-scaled from 1:35 to 1:20 so you're already getting more road. Add the regular updates and city refreshes and I think we do OK out of SCS in all honesty.

There is no need to buy everything all at once. If you want to add another state down the line when the price is right for you then go for it. If not, it's your wallet...

[Aspen Ridge]

Gaming costs money...if you want to game you need to make a budget...if not...then maybe it's not the hobby for you....just sayin'...

[MavenACTG]

Don't treat me like an idiot, Aspen.

I'm sympathetic to supporting a developer I have a history with and who has a proven track record. I've done it in the past, but the simulation space is something else.

Rapture I agree all the DLC is optional and that all the gameplay is there in the base game, which begs the question why people are looking forward to these DLCs and want to see an "American Truck Simulator" have a complete America and aren't expecting that to happen for years. Going new places and seeing the sights is part of the offering. There isn't even a need to buy this game. It's all optional.

I'm asking they do a better job of courting new players and creating reasonable deals.

And am I reading right? The demo doesn't include the re-scaled California map? Do you get how I might think that SCS is being a bit sloppy and needs a product manager?

[Underscore_101_3]

Isn't the demo only a few versions behind the latest version?

Maybe it doesn't have the re-worked California yet,... which is not the same as re-scaled..

[Wolfpig]

Originally posted by MavenACTG:

And am I reading right? The demo doesn't include the re-scaled California map? Do you get how I might think that SCS is being a bit sloppy and needs a product manager?

Demos usually dont get updated as frequent as the a game itself.

And i doubt that it makes quite the difference if the current Features are in the demo if you (wont) like the game based on that.

[Jon the VGNerd]

That's clearly a you problem, OP. If you missed out on the Summer Sales, then that's clearly your own fault. Wait for the next sale to happen and if you have enough money saved up, then you'll have the opportunity to buy both the base game and DLCs. Don't be a cheapskate.

[MavenACTG]

Yeah I wouldn't expect the reworked California, that isn't even done yet, yea? But I would expect them to include the rescale. It's hard to say or know -- call me someone who likes clear communication in advertising products. To Wolfpig's point, all the feature are there, true. As someone who isn't a trucker it's all a bit disorienting, but that's a Me Problem.

I just looked over the ETS2 Essentials Bundle and it's just better. 15% off, tightly focused on core offerings, and only one cosmetic, probably the one I'd have the least problem getting. Their Map Booster has the total offering of just maps, again 15%. Map Packs appear more expensive but include more countries and other features.

I get it, small, indie studio, need an ongoing source of revenue from a customer base that may not have the familiarity with other monetization schemes, player count isn't the highest so you gotta make the most of what you have...

I don't see how their ATS strategy is going work out in the long-term if they aren't bringing in new players. I wonder if ETS2 is subsidizing ATS. (And yes, waiting with baited breath for "If you like it so much you should go play ETS2 then" comments).

Originally posted by Jon the VGNerd:

That's clearly a you problem, OP. If you missed out on the Summer Sales, then that's clearly your own fault. Wait for the next sale to happen and if you have enough money saved up, then you'll have the opportunity to buy both the base game and DLCs. Don't be a cheapskate.

That's an idiotic comment and you know it. I hadn't even heard of this game until a week ago while looking for new simulation titles, and SimFest dropped. Powerwash Simulator brought me into this world.

[Qrazy]

Should be a sale next week with Oklahoma releasing. It doesn't help with the bundle situation but it's better than nothing.

[DanielHall15]

Nothing "should" ever be free; however, the base game and most of the older maps (NM, OR, WA, UT, ID) should be 50-75% off when Oklahoma releases next Tuesday. Base game should be a fiver, and if you're lucky, you might get all of these for under 30 bucks, perhaps even including Colorado, which is one of my favorites in the game.

If you read the reviews (I also mostly only read negative reviews) please also note that both ATS and ETS2 have like a 96% approval rating. The games are amaaaazing.

[Wolfgang]

The scale of the demo is the same as the scale in the full game without DLCs. So 1:20 outside of cities and 1:3 inside of cities.

[Wolfpig]

Originally posted by MavenACTG:

Yeah I wouldn't expect the reworked California, that isn't even done yet, yea? But I would expect them to include the rescale.

Not sure which version the demo is exactly (thing something in the 1.3x Builds or early 1.4x ones) but the rescale of the base map is already included in that as that happend fairly soon after the game release.

[Reese]

I personally wouldn't be against ATS being free to play. It is a business though with 300ish employees, so that seems like a recipe for bankruptcy.

The bundles for ATS are lacking, at least compared to ETS2. Current assumptions are between $350 and $500 for the entire continental states.

SCS definitely needs some competition. Right now there's a severe lack of it. Some look promising, but they're not quite there yet.

I personally have a great interest in trucking simulation, and spending full price for a relatively small map expansion is just part of the hobby. Like individual train cars for a train hobbyist adds very little to their entire set, but it does improve it quite a bit. Meanwhile another hobbyist would gladly and happily spend $75 for a single lower quality train set and never complain. I'm very cheap when it comes to buying games, but some games are worth my money in higher quantities. This might just not be the hobby for you, but there are plenty of alternatives that may take your interest.

Hopefully SCS will rethink some of their ATS bundles and pricing. It's a hard thing to balance.

[🐺Blue Wolf]

ATS/ETS2 games and DLCs go on sale often with fairly good sales with the exception of the newest map DLC. If you can't or don't want to buy all at regular price just buy them slowly over time.
Tbh maybe it's because I play a fair number of DLC heavy games, but overtime you learn to just wait for sales anyway. Sometimes third party websites can save a bit more too.

^(Reese) Absolutely no to going f2p. Even though the base games are usually around $6(CAD) on sale, f2p opens the door to the usual trashy f2p monetization, or higher priced DLCs. Texas I believe was the most expensive ATS dlc so far, and (IMO) was the most lackluster, I'd hate to think they'd charge more for the DLCs just because the game went f2p.
Also the amount of free updates we get, not to mention free trucks when they release IMO is good enough of a reason to pay for the base game still.

Overall I do agree, they do need to overhaul bundles still. I have absolutely zero interest in the next few States for ATS and can't see dumping $15-25each.

[Wolfgang]

Originally posted by Reese:

I personally wouldn't be against ATS being free to play.

Absolutely not. Big no from my end. I don't know of a single F2P game that is not a cash grab and/or just constantly throwing ads at you while selling literally every single bit of your data. I know this is the way to get income but you end up paying more than with the traditional method.

[Ebyl]

If you look at the price history, you'll see stuff goes on fairly deep sale for this game just about every month or two. The regular prices are there for people that want stuff now and are willing to pay for having it now. The sales are for anyone not in that first group.

As things stand, I don't see any real issue. If the content (especially the older content) only went on sale once a year or something, I could agree that the OP is approaching this from at least an understandable position. But with how the sales go, nah.