Survived: Russian publishers raise prices for video games

After the beginning of the depreciation of the ruble was only a matter of time, when all this will affect the gaming industry. And this day has come: the largest Russian publishers raise the retail price for some games.

There is nothing surprising. Games are most often purchased from European producers for euros, after which a customs duty of 12% of the cost is added to their price, another 3% is the hedging of foreign exchange markets. Next, the publisher's costs for logistics, localization (translation, dubbing, Russian-language printed manual and cover of the disc), marketing and other related costs should be added to the price list of the game. We should not forget about the wrap-up of retail chains, which also want to have their profits from selling games.

If we carry out an uncomplicated calculation, it turns out that we need to add 15% (12% + 3%) to the European price of the disk, which costs 59 euros, after which the cost will be 67.85 euros. At the rate of the European currency at the time of writing this material (just over 67 rubles for the euro), the price of the game for the publisher is around 4500 rubles. But in fact, more recently, at a rate of 44 rubles per euro, the game cost them only 2985 rubles.

Do you notice the difference between the amounts of 2985 rubles and 4500 rubles? It's very impressive, will not you agree? And further, apparently, the situation will only worsen. While publishers are selling the remains of their existing disks, which were purchased at old prices. But very soon the price tags will start to frighten even those who have seen kinds of gamers.

SoftKlab has already increased the prices for certain positions in its catalog of games. At the moment, the maximum price has reached the level of 3799 rubles per disk. Some games for the PlayStation 4 console can still be purchased at the old price of 2999 rubles (Alien: Isolation) or 3199 rubles (GTA V). So, if you wanted to please yourself with a new game for the new year - now is the time to do it.

Of course, Russian publishers are doing everything possible to curb the rise in prices for games, but to resist the collapse of the ruble under the current economic situation is almost unrealistic. While the increase in prices for video games is 10-15%, while the exchange rate against the ruble over the past few months was 35%.

Some developers began to increase the cost of in-game purchases in their projects. Users have already noticed this trend in the games of Nival and Gaijin Entertainment studios. In the party there will be no and popular game World of Tanks studio Wargaming, the official representatives of which said that they will also adjust the prices of virtual purchases with an eye to exchange rates.

Large foreign publishers, such as Nintendo and Sony, are still holding back price growth in the Russian market. In their own stores of these Japanese companies, prices remain at the same level, but how long it will last is still difficult to say. In any case, the trend is not the most rosy, and by the new year we can easily face the fact that the disc for our favorite game console will cost space 4500-5000 rubles.

Rise will be the prices for the gaming devices themselves. The consoles Xbox One, Nintendo Wii U and PlayStation 4 are still in the old way, but in the near future their price tags should grow significantly. It seems that now is the ideal time to purchase a new set-top box in your home collection. And what do you think, dear readers, about this?

The article is based on materials https://hi-news.ru/games/dozhili-rossijskie-izdateli-povyshayut-ceny-na-videoigry.html.