I recently played tacoma and started to wonder
how do game developers price their games?
When I played tacoma, it was extremely enjoyable but only for 2 hours
I could finish the game in 120 minutes and the cost of the game is over $20 and there was hardly no replayability (at least for me)
I got it from humble bundle so I have no complaints but almost all reviews were saying that it is overpriced.
I know tacoma is beautiful game, a lot of efforts are in there and I really appreciated it
but if it was cheaper say, around $10, i think a lot of people would have bought it.(well that maybe the purpose of steam sale)
There are lots of games like this, no replayability but obviously can be considered as some kind of masterpiece only for 2 hrs.
I'm just curious
How much would pay for the game that gives full enjoyment for only 2 hours with no replayability? (full price, no sale, no refund)
and want to hear some thoughts about how game developers price their games.

6 years ago

Comment has been collapsed.

How much would pay for the game that gives full enjoyment for only 2 hours with no replayability? (full price, no sale, no refund)

View Results
Under $3
$3~$5
$5~$10
$10~$15
$15~$20
over $20 (If the game gives me full enjoyment, I don't mind)

$5 sound about right. That's still less than one meal.

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

View attached image.
6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I think the better the quality, the more I am willing to pay for a game. I am honestly baffled how many people complain about game length and don't even take the actual quality into consideration, when it comes to titles like What Remains of Edit Finch. The game is 20 bucks and lasts 2 or 3 hours. That's pretty short, sure. But you get so much out of it. It is a very unique, highly emotional experience that no other game can offer. It may be over in a few hours, but you won't forget it for years. This game has so much more value to me than most AAA titles. It is easily worth the 20€, and I would even pay more for it. It makes me sad to see so many people ignore the game or even ridicule it, just because they are not able to consider anything but the length to cost ratio. Games like Edith Finch are easily worth their money. They offer a unique experience. They are something truly special. The length is not a weakness, it's a design choice. It's the length needed to tell the story. I mean, would you want to walk around in Tacoma's space station for 50 hours? I wish more people would see that and buy those games on release, so that they are successful and we get to see more of them. But of course most people will ignore every game that offers 2-3 hours for 20€. instead they buy a game like RE7 that offers 7 hours for 60€. ^^

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

The thing you said about tacoma is kinda funny because i was thinking that too. I think if we tried to make tacoma walking around little more with some spooky aliens, that would be alien:isolation.
I kinda still hope that devs make tacoma little longer though, it has so many details and potential to be spent more than 2 hrs. hope they make sequel or someting

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I can't say too much about Tacoma, sadly. Haven't played it yet. That's why I concentrated on Edith Finch for my points. I bought it (in the store, not with the bundle) and wanted to, but I have so many games yet to play. Just didn't get around to doing it. Right now the PSNow games are using up all my time. The Last Of US was just more interesting than Tacoma. ^^

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

you have lots.. and lots of games.. i'm in awe

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Under $3 is leading, but i think it's really too low, depending on the quality of the game itself. If the game is really well done i can go up to 10-15 euros, i don't really care if a game is long or short if it's enjoyable. People spend full 60 bucks for crappy short games anyway, so they can't really complain if something like Braid is only 3-4 hours long, as long as it's good. For the same reason, i think that extending playtime too much would require the developer extra effort (and money) to develop some new stuff to keep the game fun without resorting to heavy grinding, backtracking and other half assed methods to increase hours. Better short, but good than long, but weak, regardless of price.

Also remember that we used to play at arcade malls with a couple of quarters every five minutes of gameplay, it was expensive as fuck.
Or to put in another perspective, here i spend about 15-20 euros to have an evening out with friends (pricing may vary depending on your town/country). Or 10 euros for a movie at the theater - about one hour and half. So 10-15 euros for a two-hour game is fine for me (and still there are sales and trading if you really want to save some money).

6 years ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

well, consumers always try to make smart choices and obviously bundle& sale systems make people think games should be much cheaper than it should be maybe.

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

over $20 (If the game gives me full enjoyment, I don't mind)

I have already been paying more for going to the movies with family, which is also around 2 hours of enjoyment without "replayability".

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

you're the 5% congratulations

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Well ... 2h, then it would be in the range of a movie ticket.

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

$5~10 eh?

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

yes, well ... here it's about 5.5 - 10 € (depending on time and day). so about $6.5 - 12.5.

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

It's tough to say for me, I tend to buy a lot of stuff that looks interesting or like it can scratch an itch I get sometimes, but many I get distracted from/forget about/whatever. I don't think I've made many purchases I really regret, though.

But I don't usually look for too much of what you describe, I'll usually try them if they're in bundles and sound cool, but outside of bundles I usually only buy games I either really want/crave or think would be fun with friends. I don't have any income, though, so that's a big factor, lol.

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

right, if you start to get some income, that might be a whole different story..

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

No more than 2$. More if dependent on game. Be it cool soundtrack, cool story, multiplayer or whatever.

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

$2?! are there any good games under $2 without being on sale?

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Easy answer: It really depends.

How much are you ready to pay for a movie?
Games that have little replayability value are games for which story makes a huge difference.

Replayability value is also pretty subjective, depending from the game and the players.
Some people would play a game for the story and never play it again. e.g. Someone rushing through Assassins Creed
Some others would play it for the gameplay and love to do it again. e.g. Ocarina of Time fans
Some others can play a game that has a single, simple mechanic over and over again. e.g. Minesweeper, Arcade games, etc.

To give you an idea, I've played Scanner Sombre twice in the same day. I enjoyed both playthroughs. It's a game that has a very special mechanic and a well-established atmosphere and story. But the second run was just as enjoyable as the first.
Would I play it again today? I don't know. Maybe.

We forget stories over time, just like we forget movies.
And we're willing to pay a bunch just to see a movie once, why not the same for video games? The same amount of effort goes into both.
We've all reinstalled an old game just to play it again, even though it seemingly held no replayability value the last time we played it.

Our decision of a product's worth is influenced by how much effort we think went behind it.
Steam sales has changed our view of pricing. Imagine if every once in a while, most things at the grocery store were 75% to 90% off.
How much would that change your view of how much bread is worth? Vegetables? Pasta?
You would know think that it's not worth that much if they're willing to let the prices drop that much.

The thing is, video games is a digital medium. It's not comparable to experiences (watching a movie, bungee jumping) or physical products (DVD, food). Simply because video games can be copied with zero cost. If you have one tomato, you can't magically get another one for free. Same for a DVD disk. But if you have the rights (DRM-free) to a game, then you can have 2, 3, infinite copies of it.
And thus, a video game manufacturer knows that they can make an extra buck by lowering drastically their prices to reach audiences that would not have bought their product in the first place.
If you saw this box of cookies at 90% rebate, wouldn't you buy it even though you usually don't?
Does it mean those cookies are worth less? Not necessarily. If they stayed on the shelves for this long, it's because other people were buying them full price. Same goes for video games.

The Free-To-Play market emerged as a consequence to this devaluation of games. Publishers know that people don't want to pay much for games anymore and expect more and more content for less and less money. And therefore, they leave the entry free, and rather charge for in-game experiences just like a fair would charge you for the individual rides you take.

People think that the publishers and developers are in control, and that they are the reason the game industry is slowly devolving into an all-you-can-buy buffet of minimal-effort products. But the fact is, these people follow the trends to accommodate the needs of their playerbase, which is the only way their can truly succeed. We are at fault here.

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

so... what's your final answer? so it all depends?

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Well if it's full enjoyment, and I mean FULL enjoyment, then I wouldn't mind paying a thousand bucks for it.
That's why it all depends.
If you have fun for two hours playing Mario Kart, is it the same fun as having fun for two hours playing Call of Duty? Or a Visual Novel?
It's a case-by-case scenario.

What is the game worth in terms of effort?
What does it bring me during these two hours? After these two hours?
Will I look back at those two hours fondly?
Where does the game rate - for me - on a scale from boring to immensely thrilling?

If all of these were non-subjective, then and then only I could be able to measure how much I'd pay for this hypothetical game.

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

alright if you insist.. but I don't think you would spend a thousand dollar just to play LIMBO for 2 hrs..

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I usually look at 50 hours for 25$ as top price so that would be 50 cents per hour. If game offers more and costs less then ist even better. I might be also willing to spend 10% of my overall budget for entertainment so if I had money to burn Id spend 100$ out of 1000$ every month just on steam games. My current budget on steam is around 15$ a month and thats only because I farm and sell items, otherwise Id have 0

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

so the budget is the most important factor

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I always compare it with the price of a movie ticket... Here in my country a movie ticket goes for like 5 o 6 dollars an thats for 2 hours of fun.
That's the price for a game 3 dollars per hour should be around right.

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

logical

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 5 years ago.

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

great bargain

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Once upon a time, I used to gauge the rate for "good entertainment" to seeing a movie. Ten dollars for two hours. Then the price of a movie went way up and I had to reset my gauge, so I used arcade videogames, instead. Twenty dollars for three hours. Then the arcades started putting out "quarter-eater" games while the gaming console market was getting off the ground. I finally switched to using computer game prices as a gauge, and those prices have been pretty consistent.

Generally speaking, I am willing to pay $60 for a solid twenty hours of entertainment. That works out to about 3$/hr. I could therefore be convinced to part with $10 for a two-hour game with no replay value, but it would have to be a very good game. More often than not, however, I focus on buying games I can replay and/or purchase at a considerable discount. (Bundles FTW)

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

$10 is generous enough considering the poll result..

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

The most I've ever spent for a single game was about $14. The two games in which I've probably spent more time (in each, by itself) than all other games combined--other than that other game, of course--are Civilization 3 Complete and Railroad Tycoon 2. Both now sell for dirt cheap on sale ($1.24 at time of writing). I played literally thousands of hours back when those games were new (long before steam was even a thing, at least for me), and still enjoy them today.

In part because of the enjoyment level that I have gotten and still receive from those two titles and a few other cheap-ish titles with tons of replayability, I have extremely high expectations for what my money ought to purchase, and will not touch (at anywhere near full price) a game as short as you stated Tacoma is @bravoforfree.

And if anyone is interested, the PC games in which I have the most hours & enjoyment are In alphabetical order: Arma 3, Civilization, Civilization 3, Euro Truck Simulator 2, Railroad Tycoon 2

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

it seems like you play game from the nostalgia.

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

not so much nostalgia per se, as a few games have hooked me, and they have been ones with incredibly high relayability. they also set a standard that other games have to follow as to what i hope to get out of the money i spend on games. plus i dont have a lot of money to spare, and $20 for any game is not justifiable with my budget. also I hate needlessly spending my money. all told, i'm very choosy when it comes to which games i buy--requiring a loong storyline, or replayability--for me to really be interested in them to the point where i'm willing to get them.

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

ah, wise consumer.

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

The response here is very skewed to the lower end I am sure. The people I hang out with would say 25+ euro.

If it was such a great experience why focus on how long it was?

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

people you hang out with must be pretty rich..

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Dang. Lots of cheapskates in here.

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

yeah.. but this site is for free games so I was kinda expecting it.

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

A Game With Only 2 Hours of gametime would be about 3-5 €(if you can play it more than once in your life) If you can Play it a couple of times in a Year than it would be about 8€
BUT if it has just 2H Playtime and its not good enough to play it someday again its worth max 1€

6 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Sign in through Steam to add a comment.