Price increase

[Coops]

For those who have not seen the announcement....
The price for Below Zero will be increasing from $19.99 to $29.99 US upon launch in early 2021.
Buy it now if you want the early access price.

Edit: Also, Subnautica will be increased from $24.99 to $29.99.

[Andreas]

Sure, they will increase the price for release. And then, a few weeks later, the price will drop again. *shrugs*

[kevlar]

the price increase in my best estimation is directly related to the Nintendo switch plans. And the game on PS4 has been 30 since launch (I believe). There are some switch games that are in the 20 range but the majority of the lower price point games are about 30. SN could easily have sold for 40+ and still done well, and this is the side of UWE (if still exists) that still has a string (one of few now) to my heart in they haven't been greedy sobs like EA, activision, 10 cent gaming, perfect world, etc. And have done charity work for the ocean/pollution, AND never forget released NS1 for free to the world.

Is BZ worth 30+? Gawd no. But it does allow for probing of the market on how many people aren't paying attention or are willing to shell out that amount on PC regardless, and pending on that success or lack there of they now have a buffer to offer it on sale (which quite a few threads have been posted about asking if a sale were to happen) and not lose any margin from the current price.

It's smart business imo, not greedy thus far, but my only head tilt is should BZ be the same price as SN? My feeling... heck no. Should be 5 bucks less at a min. This could pose a problem in that the the ends don't justify the means at all and could be risky, possibly.

One of the things I am curious about is what the ESRB is going to be for BZ. Now that they have obliterated the story and content and added all the current, 'stuff', that is now the game, I don't see how this could be rated the same as SN.

[dande48]

If it makes it to GOG, I'd gladly drop another $30 for the first subnautica. I am surprised they are increasing the post launch price for Subnautica though. In fairness, it was underpriced, but consumers won't be happy paying more for an older game.

[Tresh]

Funny how they're raising the price of the game that has less content than the original above the price that the original was available for.
Almost as if the excuse "It's just a spin-off and not meant to be a full sequel" held about as much water as a sif and the developers have just become very, very lazy.

[Storm]

Would have been nice if they increased the price but also continued improving the game in meaningful ways.

[Matt]

Publicado originalmente por Dunathon:

Funny how they're raising the price of the game that has less content than the original above the price that the original was available for.
Almost as if the excuse "It's just a spin-off and not meant to be a full sequel" held about as much water as a sif and the developers have just become very, very lazy.

You've got to remember that Unknown Worlds Entertainment is not a very big game development company. They only have 20 employees (Or something around that). I don't think it's laziness.

[Tresh]

Publicado originalmente por Snowy:

Publicado originalmente por Dunathon:

Funny how they're raising the price of the game that has less content than the original above the price that the original was available for.
Almost as if the excuse "It's just a spin-off and not meant to be a full sequel" held about as much water as a sif and the developers have just become very, very lazy.

You've got to remember that Unknown Worlds Entertainment is not a very big game development company. They only have 20 employees (Or something around that). I don't think it's laziness.

Well, they made the first game big, epic and awesome. For the second, they had the framework, they had a lot of assets they could reuse (think tools and basebuilding) or only had to alter slightly before bringing them in; the were more familiar with how the engine works and how to code in it.
Then they had a wiff of success and what do they with the second game? They make it smaller, create a less coherent story, cram in some ham-fisted anti-coorperate messages (not saying the first game didn't have anti-coorperate overtones; it definitely had, but it didn't feel as forced there), and then they make the game more expensive. I would call that lazy.

[dande48]

The first Subnautica was an absolute steal at $20. It's still a steal at $25 (or even $30).

But, like all successful companies, profit is king. Making a sequel to a massively successful game is a guaranteed way to make a lot of money. Just look at the "Lion King" remake. Everyone hated it. It was an inferior movie compared to the original. And yet it raked in $1.6 BILLION at the box office.

From the beginning, with this game, it was almost guaranteed that it would:
1. Not be as good as the original.
2. Be massively profitable.

As for the politics and anti-corporate B.S. ... When done right, that stuff sells. Rebelling against the "system" is part of the "system".

[Deadman]

Lets be honest they were underselling this game in terms of price. $20 for the original? It was the best game I played in 2018. 30 bucks ain't that bad at all.

[The Talented Wilford Brimley]

Buy ARK instead. Better ocean anyway.

[MN Fats]

I was wondering when this would happen and anxious about if it would be done without warning, but Unknown Worlds made it extremely easy for me and I can not possibly love this developer any more for this among other things. I bought the game in a heartbeat. Nevertheless, I am holding out for a more finalized release to actually play it. Subnautica won me over instantly and I am optimistically hoping for this game to recapture at least some of that magic, and I know playing the pre-release will take away some of that "perfect polished game" feeling.

[bongerman85]

the price is fair

[Rua]

I regret buying this game even at $19.99, its a downgrade in every aspect of the first game, making a narrow tiny map just to remove the fanfavorite loved vehicles is one of the worst ideas i have ever seen in any video game

the only thing i wanted to see improving from the first game, was bigger maps to explore with our cyclops and seamoth, more open world with some sort of replayability and maybe even multiplayer, and NOT relly so much in the story, they did the opposite

first game $30 sure fair- this game? probably worth $10-15, this is a mini expansion DLC in terms of content and size

[Cheesehead]

The original Subnautica was worth every dollar I paid for it. The price change I don't mind one bit. After all, it's up to them how much they want to charge for it. Perhaps they will add on to the original.

I was going to wait until the release of the new game to buy it, but a friend gifted me it. I would have gotten it regardless, but I wanted to wait since I very much dislike buying early access games these days.

Since I got the shaft more than once this year buying so called triple A games, which are going up in price, this minor increase is just that: minor. Besides, if your gaming dollar is limited, you can always wait for a sale.