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Salt And Sacrifice Price Increases Up To 276 Percent Following Sony Interference

Some fans were in for a shock on launch day.

www.thegamer.com

Salt and Sacrifice launched earlier this week to positive reviews. However, fans looking to pick it up may have found that the price has suddenly jumped in their area, as Sony has reportedly made moves to price match with the Epic Games Store release.

This comes from indie developer, Ska Studios, who now explains that Sony made the move after realizing that Epic was selling the game at a much different price. As a result, the price has either increased or decreased in all regions, as listings are adjusted to match what Epic was offering - regardless of what the original price was in that particular area. In Brazil, this means the game is now 276 percent more expensive than previously advertised.

My sympathies to the Brazilian gaffers looking forward to this game.

 

[ckaneo]

Sony has been real weird about regional pricing since they entered the PC space more.

I wonder why they have any say in Salt and Sacrifice's price?

 

[adamsapple]

Sony has been real weird about regional pricing since they entered the PC space more.

I wonder why they have any say in Salt and Sacrifice's price?

Likely a co marketing deal that lets them push the publisher to meet demands.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

I paid $20 and it's worth much more.

 

[kingfey]

Is that legal? Could you actually increase the price of the product after it launched?
Any legal expert on this matter?

 

[Bernd Lauert]

 

[ckaneo]

Is that legal? Could you actually increase the price of the product after it launched?
Any legal expert on this matter?

Of course it's legal. What would be illegal is taking the money automatically from customers who paid the original price. In Europe the price actually decreased lol and they refunded the extra dollars.

 

[ANDS]

Is that legal? Could you actually increase the price of the product after it launched?
Any legal expert on this matter?

I'm sure there's specifics to digital storefronts and no law degree here ("IANAL" just looks weird) but at least in the US there's nothing deceptive going on here: you know the price before you purchase it. It'd be different if they pulled the horseshit like BETHESDA was doing with FO76 MTX "sale prices" or if they listed the price as being valid for a certain period of time.

. . .still another bizarre SONY business move (boy those just keep on coming) and sucks for folks in certain markets.

 

[DGrayson]

Seems like they are ....







salty.

 

[A.Romero]

Is that legal? Could you actually increase the price of the product after it launched?
Any legal expert on this matter?

Not an expert but don't see why not. Pricing on products changes all the time, they usually go down but stuff like energy and food goes up too.

Pricing reacting to market conditions is one of the basics of capitalist dynamics.

It wouldn't be legal to not respect pre orders though.

 

[adamsapple]

Seems like they are ....







salty.

and the consumers pay the ...





sacrifice

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Is that legal? Could you actually increase the price of the product after it launched?
Any legal expert on this matter?

Of course you can

 

[ParaSeoul]

More money for the devs,whats the issue?

 

[BennyBlanco]

This one’s for the players™

 

[Guilty_AI]

More money for the devs,whats the issue?

Not necessarely, in some of these regions a lot of people simply won't be buying it anymore.
Its the whole reason why regional prices exist.

 

[Dream-Knife]

Seems about right for an EGS exclusive.

 

[Lokaum D+]

I m Brazilian and i can tell you that i ll get a free copy since this 276% more expensive, thanks Sony.

 

[kevm3]

Sony went from being my favorite console maker to me being indifferent to them. The leadership at Sony has turned into a mixture of old greedy MS with some ultra SJW pandering.

 

[Gen.Grievous]

I m Brazilian and i can tell you that i ll get a free copy since this 276% more expensive, thanks Sony.

At least you're used to getting fucked over in the electronics space.

 

[adamsapple]

I m Brazilian and i can tell you that i ll get a free copy since this 276% more expensive, thanks Sony.

yarrrrr me maties

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[yamaci17]

5 times increase in turkey as well
it was released for 33 tl
now its 153 tl

 

[Beardsalt]

I paid $20 for my copy and it’s still $20 in the PS Store?!

 

[Guilty_AI]

I paid $20 for my copy and it’s still $20 in the PS Store?!

regional pricing

 

[Beardsalt]

regional pricing

I know, sucks for them lol!

 

[adamsapple]

5 times increase in turkey as well
it was released for 33 tl
now its 153 tl

Yikes.

Regional pricing is fucked when they try to equalize it everywhere. Kinda defeats the purpose of regional pricing in the first place.

 

[Guilty_AI]

I know, sucks for them lol!

not really since now they'll get the game for free lol

 

[Beardsalt]

not really since now they'll get the game for free lol

Bastards!!!

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

Sony went from being my favorite console maker to me being indifferent to them. The leadership at Sony has turned into a mixture of old greedy MS with some ultra SJW pandering.

With a sprinkle of Nintendo, charging a premium compared to what other similar products are charging and getting away with it because we still pay up

 

[itsjustJEFF]

Of course it's legal. What would be illegal is taking the money automatically from customers who paid the original price. In Europe the price actually decreased lol and they refunded the extra dollars.

The funny thing is it says "the price either increased or decreased..." a lot of ppl stopped reading after "increased" glad you were able to get it cheaper! It's very easy to paint a narrative, especially in some ppls heads, like with anything these days ppl get trapped in a echo chamber and get into their own heads. I'm not saying Sony are saints, far from it, but some ppl really be letting video games live rent free in their heads. If you read that and automatically chose to focus on "increased" maybe you have a bias you're not aware of?

Honestly, if you think company A is so much worse than company B, move to company B cause obviously you believe company B is less "asshole" than company A... just remember, they're all assholes, I guess you just choose which asshole you like best lol

EDIT: I understand regional pricing, that's a fact of life. There is no way around that. I used to pay more than $5 a gallon for milk in Hawaii, it's much cheaper in SF now. I used to pay over $5 for the most basic ass eggs... I get basic ass eggs now for less than $3. It's like, it is what it is. Does it suck? Yes, do I go online and bash the milk company? I ain't got time for that.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Of course it's legal. What would be illegal is taking the money automatically from customers who paid the original price. In Europe the price actually decreased lol and they refunded the extra dollars.

It likely depends on the scenario. All about intent. But you are correct in this scenario.

For price issues (not limited to this game scenario),

If a guy buys a car for $50,000 and and dealership agrees to it, signs the paperwork, but for some reason there was a technical error and he only paid $5,000. They can come after him for the $45,000. It'd be like getting paid at work an extra zero on a pay stub by accident. He cant claim finders keepers.

But he buys a car for $50,000 and everything was agreed upon and signed, and afterwards the dealership says they forgot the car is actually $60,000, they cant come after him for $10,000 extra.

If the error was that giant, perhaps a judge will look at and reverse it. Who knows.

 

[Varteras]

 

[Clear]

"and we're obligated to match prices on all platforms"

Shouldn't have stipulated to that in the publishing contract then.

Also as Sony have had to match prices both up and down, its pretty obvious that the deal was with EGS, and that Sony are themselves obligated to follow the rules despite it resulting in a 25% price cut in the UK, a far larger market than Brazil or India where it went up.

Sounds to me that it was a condition Epic set, most likely to protect their store exclusivity premium.

 

[Oddvintagechap]

Sony has mentioned they lose money in some places cause currency exchange rates.