Shenmue 3 Permanent Price Drop

[spud1897]

Some interesting tweets from John Linneman at Digital Foundry on the subject of game pricing and the general discourse around it. Think it goes a lot further than simple revenue extraction and the profit motive, as the perception of overall value and the value (or lack of) placed on developer labour has gotten really fucked up in recent years.

I don't think that's helped by Gamerpass in some respects as it's value is crazy.

Also the emergence of free to play games with paid add-ons. People see the game as a freebie and might spend small amounts here and there and thus further warps things.

 

[tomboz]

I don't think that's helped by Gamerpass in some respects as it's value is crazy.

Also the emergence of free to play games with paid add-ons. People see the game as a freebie and might spend small amounts here and there and thus further warps things.

To be honest, I can kind of understand the mentality, even if I don’t agree with it. For those who only play f2p battle Royal games and the occasional games pass title, the idea of paying $60+ for a game is probably crazy.

 

[spud1897]

To be honest, I can kind of understand the mentality, even if I don’t agree with it. For those who only play f2p battle Royal games and the occasional games pass title, the idea of paying $60+ for a game is probably crazy.

Agreed but then the issue is as more people jump on that model you see more and more of this challenge to developers charging $60 for games.

It's already happening but gaming is going to split into that casual/Netflix model and then the ownership model for those more "hardcore" gamer types.

 

[tomboz]

Agreed but then the issue is as more people jump on that model you see more and more of this challenge to developers charging $60 for games.

It's already happening but gaming is going to split into that casual/Netflix model and then the ownership model for those more "hardcore" gamer types.

With companies like 2K trying to jack the price of games up to $70 while simultaneously loading their titles full of predatory microtransactions, would that really be such a bad thing?

I get that it would make life a little more difficult for smaller developers, but with the rise of crowdfunding, I actually think they’re pretty well covered. I really do like the idea of a system where players can effectively vote for whether or not a game deserves to be made by backing it beforehand and see this as the future of indie gaming, for the most part.

Large publishers, on the other hand, are making billions of dollars a year off of their titles, so were the price of games to drop to $40-$50, I really don’t think it would hurt them too much. With many people now switching to digital purchases, a lot of their overheads have been cut over the last few years and the price being paid by end-users is going up, not down. Besides, microtransactions probably make up way more of their revenue than game sales these days anyway.

Like it or not, the current situation can all be blamed on the gaming community as a whole. We sat back and did nothing while greedy developers and publishers filled our games with microtransactions, which in turn gave rise to the free to play market. Younger players undervaluing games is therefore just a direct consequence of the previous generation’s failings.

 

[bcdcdude]

I don't think i've ever spent any money on microtransactions (I won't count playable DLC as that's a different kettle of fish). The few mobile games i've played i've not spent a single penny on it either. Maybe my thoughts are out of touch, but i'd much rather pay for a game and it's *mine* rather than have something for free and pay in little doses.

It's very, very clever this whole subscription based thing. £10 a month is a lot less than £60 up front; who is going to miss £10 here and there? It doesn't sit well with me and on the other hand, I will never pay £70 for a game (crowdfunding/collector edition excepted), but I realise i'm in the minority. People think i'm crazy spending £60 on a blu-ray boxset, but refusing to subscribe to Netflix, but at the end of the day, at least my boxset is still mine and I can choose to sell or donate it down the line.

Going off topic slightly, but I find the concept of Game Pass too overwhelming for me; the paralysis of choice makes me feel light headed and woozy.

 

[spud1897]

With companies like 2K trying to jack the price of games up to $70 while simultaneously loading their titles full of predatory microtransactions, would that really be such a bad thing?

I get that it would make life a little more difficult for smaller developers, but with the rise of crowdfunding, I actually think they’re pretty well covered. I really do like the idea of a system where players can effectively vote for whether or not a game deserves to be made by backing it beforehand and see this as the future of indie gaming, for the most part.

Large publishers, on the other hand, are making billions of dollars a year off of their titles, so were the price of games to drop to $40-$50, I really don’t think it would hurt them too much. With many people now switching to digital purchases, a lot of their overheads have been cut over the last few years and the price being paid by end-users is going up, not down. Besides, microtransactions probably make up way more of their revenue than game sales these days anyway.

Like it or not, the current situation can all be blamed on the gaming community as a whole. We sat back and did nothing while greedy developers and publishers filled our games with microtransactions, which in turn gave rise to the free to play market. Younger players undervaluing games is therefore just a direct consequence of the previous generation’s failings.

Now I agree some companies, like 2k will money grab at each and every turn. Is there a justification for loading a $70 with micro-transactions? I'd say not but it seems to have worked hence the issue you describe.

What I can see happening is this split where the more mainstream type stuff goes to GP and then the other, will feed the more hardcore gamer who may play a wider range of titles, that I could see working.

I can't say I'm a fan of the crowdfunding model in general and I wonder how many people it would out off but then I would back something of note if I liked the idea but I wouldn't want this being my primary source of more varied games if you like.

Again I agree, there was no push back on this DLC/Micro-Transaction idea back on the PS3/360 days and they ran away with it. What irks me is some Twitter clown, who has zero idea about development or the industry as a whole say a game is lazy ass and deserves to be a mobile game. They can do one quite frankly. It must be damn difficult to make a game, for better or for worse, & comments like that are born out of plain stupidity or attention seeking.

 

[tomboz]

It's very, very clever this whole subscription based thing. £10 a month is a lot less than £60 up front; who is going to miss £10 here and there?

It becomes an even better value proposition when you consider that most console players are already paying £3-£4 for their online services. Paying an extra £6 a month for access to hundreds of games (some of which are brand new) is pretty much a no-brainer.

What irks me is some Twitter clown, who has zero idea about development or the industry as a whole say a game is lazy ass and deserves to be a mobile game. They can do one quite frankly. It must be damn difficult to make a game, for better or for worse, & comments like that are born out of plain stupidity or attention seeking.

While I don’t much agree with the given example, I do think there’s some substance to the argument that a game’s development costs should perhaps factor into how much publishers charge for it. To be fair though, Nintendo aside, the current system does at least account for this to some degree, with a game’s “value” to gamers typically dictating its cost in the months following its release.

 

[thepeaguy83]

If it means that there will be more newcomers to the franchise I helped to support financially, then I'm happy.

 

[orient]

When games don't drop in price it puts me off big time. Not because I don't think they're worth full price, but because if I've waited 6+ months, I've waited for a reason -- and I'm not made of money

I bet most of S3's lifetime sales will come from discounted purchases. Most people don't want to take a $50 risk on a game with mixed reviews, but will happily try it out at $20 or whatever.

That's why it kinda sucks S3 won't end up on Xbox, and then Gamepass. But you can't have everything, I guess.

 

[Vivi-gamer]

Shenmue 3's Digital Deluxe Edition is now going for £6.99!

 

[tomboz]

Shenmue 3's Digital Deluxe Edition is now going for £6.99!
View attachment 12380

Wow. I’m surprised DS aren’t promoting this more. I think a lot of casual gamers would bite at this price even in spite of some of the negative reviews.

 

[spud1897]

Wow. I’m surprised DS aren’t promoting this more. I think a lot of casual gamers would bite at this price even in spite of some of the negative reviews.

It's crazy.

Also with Shenmue 1 and 2 on sale until the end of today you can grab all 3 games for £13... insane

 

[Vivi-gamer]

It really is! I own (many ) physical copies of the games but seeing them this low I pounced on the chance to get them all today! Especially surprising Shenmue 3's deal includes the Season Pass content.

 

[tomboz]

Last month’s PSN sale seems to have had a pretty big impact on sales. PSN profiles jumped from 5,618 to 6,023 (+7%) and PSN Trophy Leaders rose from 6,399 to 6,715 (+5%).

I’m still wondering whether the bundle and huge reductions are a precursor to the game being given away as a free monthly game to PS+ subscribers. The price has dropped so low now that any further reductions would be as good as giving it away anyway, so it seems like the most logical next step.

 

[tomboz]

Stumbled across a player tracker site today while doing some research for a project I’m working on and decided to have a gander at their stats for Shenmue 3. If this site is to be believed, the game has now sold over 600,000 copies on Steam alone.

Shenmue III stats by Playtracker Insight

All the stats for Shenmue III on steam - owners, active players, playtime, achievements and more!

playtracker.net

This seems like an awful lot, but their figures do generally seem to be in line with official sales figures from what I can see and the game was being sold for very little a while back, so part of me wonders whether this could be at least within the right ball park.

 

[Spaghetti]

Stumbled across a player tracker site today while doing some research for a project I’m working on and decided to have a gander at their stats for Shenmue 3. If this site is to be believed, the game has now sold over 600,000 copies on Steam alone.

Shenmue III stats by Playtracker Insight

All the stats for Shenmue III on steam - owners, active players, playtime, achievements and more!

playtracker.net

This seems like an awful lot, but their figures do generally seem to be in line with official sales figures from what I can see and the game was being sold for very little a while back, so part of me wonders whether this could be at least within the right ball park.

Interesting. The numbers might actually be legit considering the amount of times Shenmue III has been on seriously deep discount or given away with the likes of Humble Bundle. Obviously quite low revenue per copy, but looks like ownership could have tripled from 2020 to 2021 judging by the achievement stats.

 

[ShenSun]

Stumbled across a player tracker site today while doing some research for a project I’m working on and decided to have a gander at their stats for Shenmue 3. If this site is to be believed, the game has now sold over 600,000 copies on Steam alone.

Shenmue III stats by Playtracker Insight

All the stats for Shenmue III on steam - owners, active players, playtime, achievements and more!

playtracker.net

This seems like an awful lot, but their figures do generally seem to be in line with official sales figures from what I can see and the game was being sold for very little a while back, so part of me wonders whether this could be at least within the right ball park.

We need to dive deeper into that. I don't think its correct, even though im praying it is. Any other resources or deep dives you could do to get some more clarification?

It has Shenmue HD at 2.3 million players?

Shenmue I & II stats by Playtracker Insight

All the stats for Shenmue I & II on steam - owners, active players, playtime, achievements and more!

playtracker.net

If it had those numbers, i reckon a sequel would be greenlit in a heartbeat. I don't think we can trust that site unfortunately

Steamspy for whatever its worth has Shenmue 3 owners down in the range of 0 - 20,000

Shenmue III -

Steam Spy automatically gathers data from Steam user profiles, analyzes it and presents in simple, yet beautiful, manner. Steam Spy is designed to be helpful for indie developers, journalists, students and all parties interested in PC gaming and its current state of affairs.

steamspy.com

It also has Shenmue 1 and 2 owners at 50,000 - 100,000

Shenmue I & II -

Steam Spy automatically gathers data from Steam user profiles, analyzes it and presents in simple, yet beautiful, manner. Steam Spy is designed to be helpful for indie developers, journalists, students and all parties interested in PC gaming and its current state of affairs.

steamspy.com

For what its worth, VGchartz has Shenmue HD PS4 down for 270,000

Shenmue I & II for PlayStation 4 - Sales, Wiki, Release Dates, Review, Cheats, Walkthrough

VGChartz - extensive game chart coverage, including sales data, news, reviews, forums, & game database for PS5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch & PC

www.vgchartz.com

And Shenmue HD Xbox 70,000

Shenmue I & II for Xbox One - Sales, Wiki, Release Dates, Review, Cheats, Walkthrough

VGChartz - extensive game chart coverage, including sales data, news, reviews, forums, & game database for PS5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch & PC

www.vgchartz.com

Although VGcharts only tracked a couple of months after HD's release, so god knows what that number is now

 

[Spaghetti]

If it had those numbers, i reckon a sequel would be greenlit in a heartbeat.

Not necessarily. If it did those numbers at full price in the first 3 months of being available? Then yes, a sequel would probably be a cert.

But both Shenmue I & II and Shenmue III have been available for years now and been on deep discount countless times each. They're probably both considered as doing fine for evergreen sales on legacy titles, but they're not bringing in the immediate revenue that publishers want when a game is new.

 

[ShenSun]

Not necessarily. If it did those numbers at full price in the first 3 months of being available? Then yes, a sequel would probably be a cert.

But both Shenmue I & II and Shenmue III have been available for years now and been on deep discount countless times each. They're probably both considered as doing fine for evergreen sales on legacy titles, but they're not bringing in the immediate revenue that publishers want when a game is new.

i hope so. I have noticed it sold out a few times on amazon. No doubt the anime will boost its sales as well.

 

[Spaghetti]

i hope so. I have noticed it sold out a few times on amazon. No doubt the anime will boost its sales as well.

Well at the very least it's inconclusive. VGChartz has been considered spotty in the past, and SteamSpy hasn't been as accurate as it was historically in years. The growth shown on the Playtracker site at least matches up with the fact Shenmue III has been heavily discounted throughout the year.

But no point getting bogged down in that. Shenmue is very much an "alive" franchise because of these releases, the continued merch sales, and the anime. It's just about convincing a publisher to take on the financial risk of a future game, which wraps round to the point I made a couple posts up about revenue. They'll want a worthwhile return on the investment and they want it faster than 2-3 years. I expect that's probably what is making Shenmue IV a difficult prospect, provided it isn't already in development behind the curtain.