4 Reasons You Shouldn't Have to Pay More for Digital Games

Recently, Nintendo ruffled some feathers when company president Satoru Iwata said that their digital copies of games would cost the same as their physical counterparts. Gamers had initially been excited by Nintendo entering this digital storefront space, but it was a bit surprising to see that they would not attempt to incentivize their goods with any lower price point.

Sony has taken a different stance with their Vita by offering digital copies of games at a small discount, and presumably, gamers were expecting to see Nintendo follow that path. Nintendo has their reasons for keeping prices the same, and will even still allow retailers to set prices as they wish, but that doesn't change the fact that there are reasons digital games should cost less. Let's look over the main reasons for my statement.

Big Retail Profits Stripped from the Equation

When GameStop orders in boxes of the latest Call of Duty game they are not spending $60 per title. Obviously, if they were, they would go out of business so fast it wouldn't even be funny. As with most other retailers out there, they are offered discounts on merchandise by buying in bulk. Since GameStop is often buying at least one box full of titles, they're able to net fair discounts on products. After they have some games purchased for, let's say, $30 each, then they mark up the price. That markup is necessary for most businesses to turn a profit.

With digital, companies don't even need to go through a retailer if they don't want to. While some stores sell digital code cards, each big platform has a storefront owned by their parent company. As such, they are supplying all their own games to themselves, so there's no other store profiting off the markup value. The ones who would benefit from a purchase on Xbox Marketplace, PlayStation Store, or eShop/Shop Channel will be those involved in creating the game and the owner of the digital store. Since all of the money is going to these people, not distributors like GameStop, then the cutting out of the middleman should allow games to be a bit cheaper.

Costs of Pressing Media Vanish

In this day and age, a lot of gamers no longer really care about physical media, but there are others who adore tangible goods. A physical game isn't just something to be collected though. There is a fair bit of money put into making that game possible to even hold in your hands. For the most part, we tend to not think about the costs of production, but they're definitely a part of what makes a game cost more. In order to make a physical game to put on a shelf you've got to press the data onto the game media, print out manuals (or now just page inserts), purchase cases to stick the games in, and then ship them out all over the place.

If you're selling a product which has no assembly line to go through then why does it have the same value as something that does? Yes, the game itself will be exactly the same data wise, but part of the value of games comes from the physicality of them. It's not a huge deal to many but that's always going to factor into the cost of games. Manufacturing items is not free in regards to physical but with digital you've simply got to pay for the servers to store them. It's still an expense, but not the worst offender.

Shipping/Stocking Games Not a Worry

Have you ever gone to a store to find that the one game you wanted wasn't available there? Have you ever gone into your local game shop only to have them tell you they didn't even order one copy? If there's one problem with physical media is that you can't expect everything to be available all the time. Pressing and shipping discs is expensive and once the publisher decides there's no more money to be made off a specific title then they'll quit putting out more. For some games this is a very long time and for other unlucky titles they only receive a single printing. This is all about money. If the customers aren't there (making retailers shy away from purchasing copies) they are not going to risk it.

In the digital world, there's much less worry about games not being available. Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, and retailers stocking digital codes will be able to keep games around as long as they desire. Because of this, there will always be money flowing in. Publishers do not have to fear that they might print a ton of copies of a flop game and lose money on it. That will no longer be a concern for them, and as such, it would be nice to see them pass some value along to the consumers who decide to go digital.

Encourage More Sales

Companies should look to Steam for inspiration, although it seems few would be willing to follow their intense example. Why do I say this? It's simple - gamers are much more apt to buy games they weren't set on buying if they perceive they're getting a deal. While that new niche JRPG might not be worth it to you for $50, seeing it available digitally for $35 might be enough to tip some over the edge. If something is cheaper, it not only seems like a value but then more people will be willing to take a chance on it.

If on the other hand both versions of a game cost exactly the same, what exactly will push consumers to go digital? Unless they absolutely abhor physical media or are looking for complete convenience then it won't encourage many more sales. A discount, even a small one, could do wonders for getting a game more purchases. It's sad that companies won't want to think of that and simply work to grab as much profit as possible.

 
As you can see, there are a number of factors that go into why retail games cost what they do. Certainly, developers and publishers need to make enough money to keep creating and selling more titles, but there's more to it than that. It seems so silly to suggest that physical and digital games carry the same price tag because they are the same. Physical games have been priced to offset all the other costs associated with making them while digital games have much less to be concerned with. If digital games could be cheaper as a standard I feel it would benefit everyone involved.


Do you agree or disagree that physical and digital games should be priced differently? Share your thoughts in the comments!