(CA) Why are games more expensive on Steam than on Console?

[Senri]

Tekken 8 ps5 physical, trade-able, 89.99
Tekken 8 steam digital, account locked, 93.xx

Canadian $

[Chompman]

You would need to ask the game devs / publishers as they set the prices.

[Pierce Dalton]

Well, it may have something to do with Steam's cut.

[Chompman]

Originally posted by Pierce Dalton:

Well, it may have something to do with Steam's cut.

Console companies also take the 30% while steam varies between 20%-30%.

[Pierce Dalton]

Originally posted by Chompman:

Originally posted by Pierce Dalton:

Well, it may have something to do with Steam's cut.

Console companies also take the 30% while steam varies between 20%-30%.

From physical games? I'm not sure about that.

[Chompman]

Originally posted by Pierce Dalton:

Originally posted by Chompman:

Console companies also take the 30% while steam varies between 20%-30%.

From physical games? I'm not sure about that.

It would depend on where the store buys it from and what the agreement on the price is that it can be sold for is as new games usually have heavy restrictions on the price it can be set at for a certain time period.

Often times game developers still pay a percentage to the console maker for the game to be licensed for their console and factor that in their total price when they sell it to other third party stores in bulk.

[Haruspex]

Hmm.
https://steamdb.info/app/1778820/
$93.49 Canadian.
$69.99 US.
Roughly equal. That price converted to USD is $69.44 US.

$89.99 Canadian on Amazon Canada.[www.amazon.ca]
Same at Gamestop.[www.gamestop.ca]

Compared to US retail prices for console.
$69.00 USD at Amazon.[www.amazon.com]
Gamestop's website is being weird and not loading, so $69.00 USD at Walmart.[www.walmart.com]

Since the Canadian Steam price is roughly equivelant to the US Steam price after conversions, I think a better question would be why is Tekken 8 a bit cheaper on console in Canada specifically?

It's not the cut. Consoles take 30% plus an additional licensing fee for third party publishers. Steam's cut is 20%-30% flat depending on sales.

Physical has a cost associated with printing the physical media, then shelf space at stores, then the retailer's cut, so that doesn't make much sense.

In the end, only Bandai Namco can answer the question, since they're the ones who set the prices.

A little breakdown on game prices, physical vs digital.
https://www.serkantoto.com/2020/12/30/price-video-console-game-digital-physical/

In the case of physical sales, retailers generally pocket around 30%.

Additionally, third-party publishers need to calculate with around 15% in licensing fees to Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo and another 5% to manufacture the physical media.

So third-party console publishers get around 50% of the full price of a physical game.

[76561198407601200]

Originally posted by Senri:

Tekken 8 ps5 physical, trade-able, 89.99
Tekken 8 steam digital, account locked, 93.xx

Canadian $

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1778820/discussions/0/4147320059827879280/?ctp=4#c4147320315757225070

[AlexTheRedScout]

Originally posted by Senri:

Tekken 8 ps5 physical, trade-able, 89.99
Tekken 8 steam digital, account locked, 93.xx

Canadian $

game devs set the price for other currency's

[Pierce Dalton]

Originally posted by Haruspex:

Hmm.
https://steamdb.info/app/1778820/
$93.49 Canadian.
$69.99 US.
Roughly equal. That price converted to USD is $69.44 US.

$89.99 Canadian on Amazon Canada.[www.amazon.ca]
Same at Gamestop.[www.gamestop.ca]

Compared to US retail prices for console.
$69.00 USD at Amazon.[www.amazon.com]
Gamestop's website is being weird and not loading, so $69.00 USD at Walmart.[www.walmart.com]

Since the Canadian Steam price is roughly equivelant to the US Steam price after conversions, I think a better question would be why is Tekken 8 a bit cheaper on console in Canada specifically?

It's not the cut. Consoles take 30% plus an additional licensing fee for third party publishers. Steam's cut is 20%-30% flat depending on sales.

Physical has a cost associated with printing the physical media, then shelf space at stores, then the retailer's cut, so that doesn't make much sense.

In the end, only Bandai Namco can answer the question, since they're the ones who set the prices.

A little breakdown on game prices, physical vs digital.
https://www.serkantoto.com/2020/12/30/price-video-console-game-digital-physical/

In the case of physical sales, retailers generally pocket around 30%.

Additionally, third-party publishers need to calculate with around 15% in licensing fees to Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo and another 5% to manufacture the physical media.

So third-party console publishers get around 50% of the full price of a physical game.

Well, that's an interesting article, but have you read the introduction?

"A common question over the last decade from investors has been: What is the share for digital versus physical video game sales among publishers and retail stores or platform providers?

Strangely, information about this important topic for the gaming business is all over the place, outdated or straight-out incorrect.

Here is my own analysis, but please note:

This is not and can never be an exact science because the numbers below are typically never disclosed, fluctuate over time and vary – depending on who you ask, where and when."

Thanks for sharing, anyway.

[Pscht]

"Why are games", then lists a single example. That's not how this works.

[JPMcMillen]

Originally posted by Pierce Dalton:

Originally posted by Chompman:

Console companies also take the 30% while steam varies between 20%-30%.

From physical games? I'm not sure about that.

It is true. For every physical copy of the game you produce, you own the console company a fee.

That's how the consoles used to make their money because the console itself was usually sold with very little profit, or sometimes even at a loss. This worked because they knew that the real money was in the games.

[Pierce Dalton]

Originally posted by JPMcMillen:

Originally posted by Pierce Dalton:

From physical games? I'm not sure about that.

It is true. For every physical copy of the game you produce, you own the console company a fee.

That's how the consoles used to make their money because the console itself was usually sold with very little profit, or sometimes even at a loss. This worked because they knew that the real money was in the games.

Well, I wasn't saying there isn't any fee, you know. The point is that it might be lower than 30% for each game sold.

It's a complex matter because each company (Nintendo, Sony, etc) may have their own set of rules.