Current Events > Next gen game prices in Australia are a total joke

(+) Yeah! (+)

I see a lot of conversations online about $70 not being a big deal for countries and well I'm not gonna argue for or against that.

But in other countries it has gotten so much worse.

To give some context $60USD currently converts to pretty much dead on $80AUD. AUD prices do include a tax of 10% to be totally fair as well. So at most a $60 game should convert to $89. Use that same logic for next gen games and you've got $95 no tax or $105 with.

So historically most games seemed to have settled around $99 in Australia. It's expensive and I never pay that price. It's already a lot more than most other regions. An interesting exception here is actually the Nintendo Switch where games have remained at $79. Probably because the Wii U and 3DS did overall bad here.

So what did companies do when next gen hit? While a chunk of companies decided to not only charge more they even had a larger price increase than what the US got! Creating a bizarre scenario where prices can vary drastically depending on platform and store. On top of that at some point they've realized that a $20-25 upgrade fee is ridiculous. So they've also upgraded the cost of last gen games to make the upgrade fee $15 to match the US more.

This is what RRP currently looks like in Australia
Horizon: Forbidden West PS5 - $124.95 PS4 - $109.95
Call of Duty Vanguard PS5/Xbox Series X - $119.95 - PS4/Xbox One - $109.95
Far Cry 6 - $99.95
Halo Infinite - $99.95
Pokemon Legends Arceus - $79.95

So you're looking at a whopping $45 price difference between Horizon Forbidden West and Pokemon Legends. Absolutely nuts.

Now it's not as bad as it looks. I never pay RRP. I generally have been able to get new releases for around $69. So here's what Amazon looks currently since they have a price match policy.

Horizon Forbidden West - PS5 $108 PS4 - $88 (I managed to snag a preorder on PS5 for $88 due to a price error lol)
Call of Duty Vanguard PS5/Xbox Series X - $98 - PS4/Xbox One - $84
Far Cry 6 PS5 - $72.90 Xbox/PS4 - $78
Halo Infinite - $78
Pokemon Legends $68

The pricing is just all over the place. It's not consistent at all. It's not just Australia either. I think this sort of thing is happening in Europe as well. At least companies like Amazon and department stores manage to bring it down to more normal pricing here but it shouldn't be up to them.

Australia is also an example where you can see that pricing is decided on the confidence of a company more than any excuses such as rising game budgets.

---

Yeah the Australia tax always screws us. Always has.

---

How is game censorship in Australia these days? Getting games at high prices with less content sounds like one of the worst things for gamers there.

---

Cheater87 posted...

How is game censorship in Australia these days? Getting games at high prices with less content sounds like one of the worst things for gamers there.

There was controversy with Disco Elysium recently but the ban was reversed.

---

Here in the UK next gen games are the equivalent of about $90 USD depending on the game.

---

And they wonder why piracy rates are so high

the prices here are similar, 79 for a new ps5 game which is close to 125AUD

game prices stagnated around the $60 mark for like 20 years while dev costs skyrocketed, so even though they found new ways to monetize through dlc, the prices on the box have been due a hike for a while now

Gotta pay for that surveillance and police state somehow.

No game is worth that price.

Even back when GTA5 came out they were pricing it at $119. I always wait for online sales to get it at half price or less, never at EB or JB.

---

Kaiganeer posted...

the prices here are similar, 79 for a new ps5 game which is close to 125AUD

game prices stagnated around the $60 mark for like 20 years while dev costs skyrocketed, so even though they found new ways to monetize through dlc, the prices on the box have been due a hike for a while now

A big part of the problem is that game prices in the 80's and even 90's where hyper inflated and a ripoff.

---

Im glad Switch games are usually less than $100

---