What's up with steam's local pricing for certain pc games?

[Savy561]

So I'm in the process of deciding if I'm gonna go with a PS5 for next gen or upgrade my gaming pc and for the most part I am leaning towards the PS5 due to Sony's exclusive which I personally love, but I really just can't ignore certain games pricing on steam vs PS4/PS5, one such example is dirt 5 Amplified Edition which is R439 on steam, R1449 on PS5 and R1512 on xbox series S/X.

Now this is a massive difference in price but not all games are like this such as the new Yakuza like a dragon which is R999 on both platforms. So I thought I'd ask, why do certain publishers do such bad conversion of our Rand In SA while others don't specifically on steam?

 

[AlphaJohn]

So I'm in the process of deciding if I'm gonna go with a PS5 for next gen or upgrade my gaming pc and for the most part I am leaning towards the PS5 due to Sony's exclusive which I personally love, but I really just can't ignore certain games pricing on steam vs PS4/PS5, one such example is dirt 5 Amplified Edition which is R439 on steam, R1449 on PS5 and R1512 on xbox series S/X.

Now this is a massive difference in price but not all games are like this such as the new Yakuza like a dragon which is R999 on both platforms. So I thought I'd ask, why do certain publishers do such bad conversion of our Rand In SA while others don't specifically on steam?

Steam pricing can be entered regionally or one price for all, think some publishers are just lazy?

 

[YoungSandwich]

Steam pricing can be entered regionally or one price for all, think some publishers are just lazy?

Basically this.

Also, I think PSN and Xbox stores do a straight dollar to rand conversion. I have no idea how Steam does it, but some dude there must work like a million dog years talking to publishers with what the correct price should be for each region.

 

[animal531]

Even most new PC games are still a lot cheaper than on console. Nevermind sales etc.
Basically count how many console games you're going to buy over its lifetime vs on PC.

Also factor in the types of games that you most enjoy playing as well as exclusives.

 

[Fulcrum29]

Steam regional pricing is an auto-calc. They provide a recommended price IIRC, but the publishers can input their own conversion. Epic also does this, and SA is a region, but the Rand isn’t a listed currency.

Not all publishers treat all regions or areas equally. For many it comes down to their sales numbers. It is given, not a privilege. There are people in other countries which earns less which needs to pay more.

 

[AlphaJohn]

Even most new PC games are still a lot cheaper than on console. Nevermind sales etc.
Basically count how many console games you're going to buy over its lifetime vs on PC.

Also factor in the types of games that you most enjoy playing as well as exclusives.

This is why personally I bought 3 years of Gamepass Ultimate (For R1900 using the promotion) + Series S not planning on buying any games on console So will play what is on Gamepass and What I get free every month in the games for Gold selection.

Planning on sticking to PC cause of prices. Don't suffer from FOMO and can wait for deals or GOTY editions

 

[YoungSandwich]

This is why personally I bought 3 years of Gamepass Ultimate (For R1900 using the promotion) + Series S not planning on buying any games on console So will play what is on Gamepass and What I get free every month in the games for Gold selection.

Planning on sticking to PC cause of prices. Don't suffer from FOMO and can wait for deals or GOTY editions

SHHHHHH! You'll attract a wild Splinter here!

 

[Nemoneiros]

So I'm in the process of deciding if I'm gonna go with a PS5 for next gen or upgrade my gaming pc and for the most part I am leaning towards the PS5 due to Sony's exclusive which I personally love, but I really just can't ignore certain games pricing on steam vs PS4/PS5, one such example is dirt 5 Amplified Edition which is R439 on steam, R1449 on PS5 and R1512 on xbox series S/X.

Now this is a massive difference in price but not all games are like this such as the new Yakuza like a dragon which is R999 on both platforms. So I thought I'd ask, why do certain publishers do such bad conversion of our Rand In SA while others don't specifically on steam?

Just xbox game pass it

 

[Savy561]

Just xbox game pass it

Wish it was a better option for me but the main selling point of the PS5 for me is spider-man, ratchet and clank, sackboy-boy and horizon zero dawn, all of which are Sony exclusives and each will cost an arm and a leg on release date lol. The only xbox exclusives I've enjoyed are ori and the will of the wisps and forza horizon 4, both of which are on pc.

So for me it's either PC with a mixture of xbox and sony exclusives with all the backwards compatibility and 60fps in all previous gen games or PS5 with it's full line of exclusives, better line-up of games not available on pc, much faster ssd than my pc and better optimised games in the future. I'm having quite a hard time choosing and in general just being indecisive haha.

 

[AlphaJohn]

Wish it was a better option for me but the main selling point of the PS5 for me is spider-man, ratchet and clank, sackboy-boy and horizon zero dawn, all of which are Sony exclusives and each will cost an arm and a leg on release date lol. The only xbox exclusives I've enjoyed are ori and the will of the wisps and forza horizon 4, both of which are on pc.

So for me it's either PC with a mixture of xbox and sony exclusives with all the backwards compatibility and 60fps in all previous gen games or PS5 with it's full line of exclusives, better line-up of games not available on pc, much faster ssd than my pc and better optimised games in the future. I'm having quite a hard time choosing and in general just being indecisive haha.

PS Now is also a thing (So Ive been told)

Unless you wanna play PS5 Games day one you can just wait for em to migrate to PS Now as well?

 

[Savy561]

PS Now is also a thing (So Ive been told)

Unless you wanna play PS5 Games day one you can just wait for em to migrate to PS Now as well?

PS now isn't available locally and I'm not that desperate to set up a vpn over my network to get it working on my ps4. PS plus has had some decent game's over the years but it takes like 4+ years for any first party games to even have a chance of being free on PS plus, better to just buy it on special after a year.

I really wish Sony would be more user friendly as they are the most expensive platform to sustain in the long run but for me personally they have the BEST exclusives as I just enjoy those types of games such as jak and daxter, ratchet and clank and platformers in general.

PC has the best pricing and mix of games all around but not everything and even certain games like crash team racing which doesn't seem to be coming to PC ever is kinda putting me off the platform.

The clear winner would be to have a PS5 and PC as a secondary but the price is just insane and I am pretty stubborn with my platforms as I love to 100% game's with all trophies/achievements which is annoying when your game's are split across devices, kinda like how some people prefer to wait for epic games store exclusives to come to steam rather than having games on multiple account's.

 

[AlphaJohn]

Totally understand... and also respect your selection.

For me personally, I stopped chasing games into their exclusive holes.... Some might say I am hard ass about it.

I only spend my money where it works for me, if you want to lock me into your expensive ecosystem just to play a game, then forget about my money. There are loads of other games out there I can play. In fact I am so "Hard ass" that I stopped buying/playing EA games the day they removed their content from Steam to promote their Origin store (years back). Don't have an Epic account either so I waited for Borderlands 3 to come to Steam before I even looked at it.

Skipping Spiderman "Mike Borealis" wont kill me, sure it might be a good game but its not odd R12 000 + R2000 good. I rather spend that cash for me and the Mrs on a weekend by the coast than 16-20 hour of gameplay. Back in the day, sure, cause there was only so many games out not the case anymore, cant even get to all the games I have now...

I basically vote with my wallet, my wallet don't like what PS is doing so F them (My PS3 rocked till the removed Other OS).... My wallet also did not like Xbox One's direction so I didn't have one either. This round: My wallet loooves GP cause I can "preview" full games without breaking the bank so lets see....

 

[Savy561]

Totally understand... and also respect your selection.

For me personally, I stopped chasing games into their exclusive holes.... Some might say I am hard ass about it.

I only spend my money where it works for me, if you want to lock me into your expensive ecosystem just to play a game, then forget about my money. There are loads of other games out there I can play. In fact I am so "Hard ass" that I stopped buying/playing EA games the day they removed their content from Steam to promote their Origin store (years back). Don't have an Epic account either so I waited for Borderlands 3 to come to Steam before I even looked at it.

Skipping Spiderman "Mike Borealis" wont kill me, sure it might be a good game but its not odd R12 000 + R2000 good. I rather spend that cash for me and the Mrs on a weekend by the coast than 16-20 hour of gameplay. Back in the day, sure, cause there was only so many games out not the case anymore, cant even get to all the games I have now...

I basically vote with my wallet, my wallet don't like what PS is doing so F them (My PS3 rocked till the removed Other OS).... My wallet also did not like Xbox One's direction so I didn't have one either. This round: My wallet loooves GP cause I can "preview" full games without breaking the bank so lets see....

Very well put. I went from ps2 - xbox 360 - xbox one - PC to somewhat ps4 currently (still on the fence). Who knows, maybe Sony will come to the party with the current gaming industry, or maybe they won't. It's probably best I wait a year or 2 before I fully commit to an upgrade path to see how everything pans out.