Sony, seemingly, has plans to bring PlayStation Now to more countries soon – including India. The service is only available in a handful of territories right now, but IGN India reports that coronavirus scuppered its plans to expand the subscription to more countries last year. As the pandemic gradually begins to settle, the organisation is looking to revisit the idea.
Stock, as has been the case globally, is effectively non-existent in India – but a report citing unnamed retailers suggests PlayStation’s bigger problem in the country may be pricing. It’s claimed that upcoming releases like Returnal and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart have pre-order numbers in the “double digits”, as Sony pushes for prices of 5,000 Rupees compared to the 4,000 Rupees of PS4.
In response, the Japanese giant is looking to spotlight initiatives such as the PS Plus Collection and Play At Home, but it is going to be fascinating to see how things play out here. Practically everyone is dissatisfied with PS5’s software prices, but is that going to have a meaningful impact on the firm’s bottom line – especially at a time when there’s a strong push for low-price subscriptions?
[source in.ign.com]
Comments 36
I really hope they improve PS Now in general
Well, as every time I criticise PS Now and PS Plus providing duplicate games people inevitably reply “doesn’t matter (to me) it’s not in my country”, it will be good to have that removed.
Also, it may indicate that Sony are going to merge them, and this is one step on that path.
Even if not, it will still be good for people in these new countries as it’s generally a great service at a great price.
High prices effecting sales makes me very happy indeed.
They really need to consider dropping prices to the original level and just offer everyone that had PS5 before the drop a couple free months of PS Now or Plus.
Kinda like Nintendo did when they dropped the price of the 3DS 5 months after launch and offered free stuff as an apology to those that paid it.
@HeeHo
I’m more thinking the lower ps5 game sales are a result of back compat, ps collection, plus/now, and the free games.
I’m sure if these hundreds of games weren’t available, and very cheap, more ps5 games would have been sold.
@thefourfoldroot That's a fair point. There are more games to play for free on PS5 right now than anyone has time for, plus the monthly ps+ games, plus the ps+ collection.
Lots of people will be playing through those. Surely that has to have an impact on top of the higher prices.
Good one India! Sony's answer to people voting with their wallet is to offer a cheap service for people to use, while they wait for the high prices to come down? FU Sony mate!
Delighted game sales are struggling Sony will have to pull there head out of there backside and go back to reasonably priced games
@Luminous117 yeah! Considering how they are nuking the storefronts in a couple of months that would be a way to not only bring the games to recent consoles, though not playable through disc, just digital sub, and it would be a way to increase the value of PSNow
I can confirm ps5 software price in Indonesia is too high, assassin creed valhalla, hitman 3, heck even nintendo games are about $40, sony 1st party games like demons souls and spider-man remaster is $70, there's no way I want to buy new sony 1st party games with price like that.
Here's mario bowser fury for about $46:
https://drakuli.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=180_181&product_id=29602
Here's returnal for about $70 in the same game store:
https://drakuli.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=210_211&product_id=28478
Console storefronts should learn from Steam's price localization in order to get decent sales and exposure in the markets where purchase powers aren't strong. Mario and Zelda would have been unknown in Asia if not for the Famiclones and bootleg cartridges.
If you can put a whale like me off paying for new releases you've done something seriously wrong. I just cannot see any way they don't reconsider the pricing outside the US.
Well I'm Indian...
Would be glad to see ps now launch in my country.... Hope it's soon
@thefourfoldroot Also the fact that it's still close to impossible to find a PS5 that isn't being scalped.
Maybe try giving ps now to more countries regardless, give everyone options.
I'm still hoping that the software price hike bites them in the ass globally and they reduce it back to what it was. £70 is extortionate.
@Medic_Alert actually, it's the other way around for many people during the pandemic, hence the huge success of ps5 that has no killer app and costs way more than a mere game.
Sales of certain goods have increased tremendously during the pandemic with most people staying home being unable to spend their money on all sorts of things (restaurants, cafes, etc). While, unfortunately, millions have lost their job, those who were unaffected have more disposable income than before.
I’ve owned a ps5 from day one and still haven’t bought a ps5 game for it. Absolutely refuse to pay the prices, I’ll wait 12 months and buy them second hand from now on.
Why does everyone think Sony started the whole $70 dollar games thing? Wasn't it Take-Two that first brought it out announcing it with NBA 2k. It's called development costs and inflation people, get use to it. Besides, I thought you all wanted to support your favorite developers? or is that gone now too? Being negative towards everything seems to be the new norm lately.
I've had ps5 from day one I not bought a ps5 game all ps4 versions with digital upgrade. . I mean I get most games for 40-45 so don't see the need to spend 70+. The only exception to this rule is probably the new ratchet and clank game I've managed to get it for 65 . I usually wouldn't pay this price unless it included like a season pass etc
@Medic_Alert Depends what kind of games you have if a game has no monetization then i dont agree with your point.
A complete Ubisoft game is not €60 it never has been plus it has massive monetization.
A sportsgame does not need too be €70 i agree plus a shooter like COD with has so much monetization the same thing.
@GamingVeteran Sportsgames do not need too inflate prices same like other heavy monetized games.
If COD sells MT of €15 a pop then dont give me that nonsense they need a pricehike.
If a game is complete and polished without other means of extra its a other thing for me.
Low sales could be due to a lot of sold consoles sitting unused with scalpers. Even if 60% of sold consoles went to people who genuinely want them, many may not care at all about Returnal and more won't take the risk on it at the price it cost. We don't know how many sold consoles are in the hands of actual players. Everything's a mess and while price factors in, I don't believe it's the sole reason for low sales. Increased price did not hurt the PS2.
@GamingVeteran
How many publishers are actually charging £70/$70?
Sony, Activision and Take Two. I can't think of any others.
So for example, why would I pay £70 for Returnal, when I can get RE Village for £55 digitally, and even cheaper physically?
These are the issues Sony have caused for themselves.
@Medic_Alert Sorry you are wrong. It's not an excuse that development costs on video games rival movie productions now. Maybe you don't understand how inflation works. Hell I'm old enough to remember a lot of SNES games being $70, this price increase should have happened a long time ago. The other things you mention (DLC, microtransactions etc.) are optional things you don't need to buy, so mentioning them is pointless. And predatory tactics...seriously? That is a parent problem, kids should be learning reasoning skills in school instead of gaming all day.
£70 for a game is just ridiculous. Worse thing is some of the PS4 games are also increasing in price but they didn't cost anything more to develop than they did a year or two ago and retailed for £40 to £50. This is Sony trying to screw over early adopters, pure and simple. Management just don't care and it's sad to see Sony headed this way.
@Medic_Alert Nothing you said justifies lowering prices, nothing. Nobody is apologizing for companies. In your mind, the gaming industry having a record number of users/buyers that they should lower prices? Like what is your reasoning behind that. These companies are businesses, they make money, reinvest money, repeat. And if you have been gaming as long as you said, then you would know that prices in the 90's were the same now and higher in some cases.
@Medic_Alert Yes, but you don't NEED to buy the digital deluxe editions. Just buy the standard one, that's why they have options.
What’s the minimum price Sony can charge for ps 5 while still making a profit?
Damn you, getting my hype up with a R&C picture before I have to time read the headline...
@Medic_Alert Then buy the normal addition? I dont see extra Digital Deluxe/Collectors Editions as a rippoff. With a little bit of extra crap we dont need. In the end its a choice if you want a extra costumes or a statue i love those.
But in the end you can get complete games that work out of the box (Yes there some that are not perfect).
I have no issues not even with a expansion with the Last of Us i had a great base game with a great extra bit of story. Infamous First Light short but sweet expansion.
Ubisoft extra content, expansions, MT's and even a "timesavers" XP boosters if i look at the games i sometimes forget i bought a €60 game. Because it looks like a life add used for free to play games.
And the liveservice thing for me is we will fix it later or not. I never see this as a good thing.
@Dryster More than it currently sells for.
Broken record, me, but PS Now in Australia ever?? 😕
Sony’s greed affecting their sales, shocker. They don’t seem to know how to respond to customers unwilling to pay the price increase. Compared to the value from the competitor. Then again endless people happily buy the exact same Nintendo games.. but they don’t have price increases do they?
Sony will have to come up with something, and promoting your existing services isn’t going to be it, as they cost more money and have no PS5 games.
@Medic_Alert Totally agree, it’s standard practice to play mind games through advertising and promotion, need to increase the profits to keep the share holders happy.
@GamingVeteran Your analogy is flawed, SNES games cost so much because cartridges were a fortune to buy even in bulk, and the market wasn’t nearly as big as it is today. Cartridges have always been the most expensive media to use.
And as for films, well if a film cost as much as a game to produce, currently I could rent that film on release on a streaming service to watch for £15, I could then wait and buy that film in 4K for say another £15, so £30 total to buy the same film twice, one to keep one to watch. How does that compare to a Sony £70 game bought through their digital store? The film studios are still making a huge profit.
@Dryster
They are currently selling PS5 at a loss, that’s why they need to make money on software:
“[SIE experiences] loss resulting from [the] strategic price points for PS5 hardware that were set lower than manufacturing costs,” reads the investor report.“”
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