SI/Sega Greed on Australians.

Just saw the game on steam.

It's $90 US Dollars.

Price for US customers? $40.

A price hike of 55% just because we live in Australia.

It's the same game. Same megabytes. Same platform. Same game. Yet we get ripped off.

Its bad but isn't it the same with every game in Australia.

or OR you just may want to buy it through steam which should cost you the same as everyone else, it's not a physical copy but imo physical now a days are just a waste of space.

edit : sorry you say that's the price on steam for australians??? i thought it was about physical copies and distribution costs and what not, ye thats a rip off

Just saw the game on steam.

It's $90 US Dollars.

Price for US customers? $40.

There doesn't appear to be any regional pricing on SEGA's own site, it shows as $40 even if you come from an AU IP and attempt with an AU address. My attempt to pre-purchase from there didn't go through though, so maybe they're just silently rejecting Australian credit cards.

A price hike of 55% just because we live in Australia.

Actually it's a hike of 125%. (90 - 40) / 40 = 1.25

Its bad but isn't it the same with every game in Australia.

No, some publishers aren't stuck in the 90s* and have given up on regional pricing for digital goods. Even the ones that do regional pricing generally don't do something as outlandish as a 125% markup.

* Then again if I was SEGA I guess I'd want to be stuck in the 90s when my company wasn't just a hollowed out shell.

The prices were the same as the USA last year, so Sega has actually gone backwards.

Last year I pre-ordered FM12 on steam on day one.

Actually it's a hike of 125%. (90 - 40) / 40 = 1.25

I was just going off the steamprices site.

Blame Steam.

Blame Steam.

It has nothing to do with Steam. It is Sega/SI who set their game prices.

It has nothing to do with Steam. It is Sega/SI who set their game prices.

Steam work with the Publishers to set pricing.

http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/FAQ.php

3. Who sets the price for my game on Steam?

Pricing is very title specific, and we've got a lot of data and experience to help you decide on what the best price is for your title. We'll work with you to figure out pricing

This is a joke considering FM12 was AU$50 from day 1. Sega, at least give us an explanation as to why its suddenly $90! its a bloody farce!

Steam work with the Publishers to set pricing.

http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/FAQ.php

3. Who sets the price for my game on Steam?

Pricing is very title specific, and we've got a lot of data and experience to help you decide on what the best price is for your title. We'll work with you to figure out pricing

Steam don't set anything. They provide information and data that can help a publisher decide, but the publisher sets the prices when it comes down to it. This has nothing to do with Steam beyond the fact that SI and Sega are ripping Australian consumers off because it is the same game on the same steam platform yet we pay over double the price the US pays for no reason other than greed.

This is a joke considering FM12 was AU$50 from day 1. Sega, at least give us an explanation as to why its suddenly $90! its a bloody farce!

I thought it was less than that ie $40 and the same price.

Seems more than unfair to Australian users.

Be happy Australian football fans, Del Piero is coming... No need to worry about FM13 price

Just saw the game on steam.

It's $90 US Dollars.

Price for US customers? $40.

A price hike of 55% just because we live in Australia.

It's the same game. Same megabytes. Same platform. Same game. Yet we get ripped off.

There's a reason the government is having an inquiry into this... it's not just sega. So you should prolly yell at EA, and Acti, and everyone else too

http://www.mightyape.com.au/product/PC-Games/Football-Manager-2013/20870076/

mightyape regular $80, currently $65, if it goes any lower before release, you pay the lowest price.

SI have absolutely nothing to do with this price, so don't blame them for it.

As for Steam, a condition for them offering the game for sale will be that they don't sell it cheaper than the RRP in the customer's country, for a specified period anyway. There's not much new about this, it sucks and we all hope that it changes.

It has nothing to do with Steam. It is Sega/SI who set their game prices.

I suppose the code that detects which region you're in and displays pricing appropriately wrote itself.

I'm so sick pf people pretending Valve are just innocent bystanders here. If Valve wanted to they could say "no regional pricing or GTFO". They don't because they get more money from a higher sale price too.

I'm so sick pf people pretending Valve are just innocent bystanders here. If Valve wanted to they could say "no regional pricing or GTFO". They don't because they get more money from a higher sale price too.

Indeed, how dare they make a business decision - in this case, to agree to a publisher's set price so that they're permitted to sell a specified product. They should boycott the game, that makes a lot of sense.

http://www.greenmangaming.com/s/au/en/pc/games/sports/football-manager-2013/ $39.99. A current voucher code brings it down %25. Steam code supplied on release.Pre order.

Highly recommended for all Australians. I bought FM12 from them last year.

I'm quite shocked by this, i thought after last years fair pricing through steam this issue had been overcome. But it would appear last years price was just a sweetener to get aussies to purchase the game through steam (as the boxed game was still $89 in JB and EB), then this year jack the price back up as we are all now familiar with the ease of the steam system.

Wasn't Steam touted as being neccessary to combat piracy? Look who the pirates are now.

Indeed, how dare they make a business decision - in this case, to agree to a publisher's set price so that they're permitted to sell a specified product. They should boycott the game, that makes a lot of sense.

Lets not pretend they don't have enough clout to enforce region free pricing. If they say no region pricing, the publishers wont be walking away from Steam. They dominate the digital distribution of PC games much like Apple did music when it forced the music publishers into no DRM.

As far as it being a business decision, so is the publisher's deciding to do regional pricing. If you're going to hate on the publishers for regional pricing, it's fair to hate on Steam for collecting the pound of flesh.

If these figures are true, they need to be looked in to, in my opinion. That's a scandal with digital distribution.

FM 2011 New Zealand Steam - 8 Oct 2010 $39.99 Purchase Football Manager 2011 (preorder ROW)

FM 2012 New Zealand Steam - 21 Oct 2011 $39.99 Purchase Football Manager 2012

FM 2013 New Zealand Steam - ? - $89.99...

What's Happening guys??? It's not fair

So buy it for $30 now instead of $90 later?

This is what drives game piracy.

In fairness I bought FM12 from Steam when it was released for $49.99 and I'm in Australia... almost 12 months later if anything the price should have gone down not up....Please Explain Steam

I've bought 4 copies of FM12 via steam, 3 of which I've given to friends as gifts to encourage them to play along. At $90, I won't even be buying one

thanks Neil Brock

Just wait till release date, I'm sure it will be the default $39.99USD. There is really no point in pre-ordering is there? No useless bonus features like some games offer.

Surprising it has been marked at that price though, that's like EB games pricing.

In fairness I bought FM12 from Steam when it was released for $49.99 and I'm in Australia... almost 12 months later if anything the price should have gone down not up....Please Explain Steam

They are talking about FM13 availability on steam, currently at $89.99USD.

FM12 is still $39.99USD as it has been since release.

Steam Australia figures.

I've always gotten it cheaper through Green Man Gaming ..

wow, I would not pay that much for a game, not even my beloved FM.

buy it at greenmangaming and you get a steam key

wow, I would not pay that much for a game, not even my beloved FM.

Nor will i, if the price stays the same i will buy it from England.......and i imagine a lot of other Australians will source the game from elsewhere too.

Aaaand this is why games are pirated.

$90 for a Football Sim? Ridiculous

I blame Qatar

Game is also 50 euro, which is over $60. SI/SEGA don't even drop the price of the game in Europe (excluding UK) on Steam, I mean FM 2012 is still 50 euro while it's $30/£20 in US/UK. SI/SEGA are no strangers to being greedy

It has nothing to do with Steam. It is Sega/SI who set their game prices.

You know $90AUD and $90US is roughly the same amount?

Didn't I hear something last year that Steam set their own prices independently of SI/SEGA? I think they do.

Possible reasoning: Steam would have to store the files on their Australian servers and that would cost them money/space to do this for a handful of people that would download the game from that region, compared to Europe or the US. So the space on the server costs more because of the amount of potential downloads, to justify the cost of using that space on the server.

I agree though - $90 for this game is way too much. Even the US is $90

This works out at about €75 and I buy the game here in Ireland for around €40 in the box set. I didn't buy on Steam last year because it was €50 there.

But I sorta understand, Steam has to charge for the space on their servers and the amount of people that will access it. The more that access the Steam store the more money they make with additional sales so they can charge less, less people that access the servers (like areas of Australia) for football mangager, they'd need to charge more for the game, because they're less likely to make much more money from the sale of the game, plus the cost of hosting/maintaining the game on the server for the comparibly few people in Australia that will use it.

So yeh - it's a bit of a windup.

You know $90AUD and $90US is roughly the same amount?

That's not the issue. This isn't about the exchange rate.

The issue is that Sega are selling the exact same game, using the exact same platform, by price gouging Australian and (apparently) NZ users.

Didn't I hear something last year that Steam set their own prices independently of SI/SEGA? I think they do.

Steam don't set any prices at all.

Sega are publishing the game and they tell Valve (who run Steam) what price to set for what regions.

Possible reasoning: Steam would have to store the files on their Australian servers and that would cost them money/space to do this for a handful of people that would download the game from that region, compared to Europe or the US. So the space on the server costs more because of the amount of potential downloads, to justify the cost of using that space on the server.

Steam don't host anything in Australia. Multiple Australian ISP's host all their content for them.

The cost of the game to Steam and to Sega is exactly the same no matter where the person is located. Europe, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Mexico.

It is pure greed from Sega and SI to be price-gouging Australian and NZ customers especially after they did the right thing last year and didn't gouge us.

Im pretty sure this will have nothing to do with SI, SEGA sell the game not SI.

Getting used to having to pay more in Norway (Euro) than the US (about 1,5 times the price atm), but that price in Australia is just beyond stupidity. I wouldn't even consider buying the game (off Steam) if I lived there. Hope this is just some mistake, and I'm guessing it probably is if it really was 50 AUD last year.

That's not the issue. This isn't about the exchange rate.

The issue is that Sega are selling the exact same game, using the exact same platform, by price gouging Australian and (apparently) NZ users.

How is it price gouging if it's the exact same price in the US? Perhaps it's an error on the Australian site for Steam? Perhaps someone mistakenly put the $90US instead of $50AUD?

Have you asked on the Steam Forums?

Steam don't set any prices at all.

Sega are publishing the game and they tell Valve (who run Steam) what price to set for what regions.

I don't think so - I really believe that Steam set their own prices independently of Sega/SI.

Steam don't host anything in Australia. Multiple Australian ISP's host all their content for them.

What? They have to have servers in Australia, or rent servers from someone. Either way, they are on servers somewhere in Australia.

The cost of the game to Steam and to Sega is exactly the same no matter where the person is located. Europe, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Mexico.

That's not true. It's €50 here in Ireland, and in America it's $90 which is €75 - so it's €25 more expensive in the States than it is here.

It is pure greed from Sega and SI to be price-gouging Australian and NZ customers especially after they did the right thing last year and didn't gouge us.

Again, I think it's Steam that set the price depending on Region.

I may be wrong about the last one there - but I read something like that last year when Steam was introduced.

Find it insulting that game companies still think we Australians are stupid and willing to pay whatever price they set.

At least with physical copy they can argue about shipping, but 125% for a digital copy?

How is it price gouging if it's the exact same price in the US? Perhaps it's an error on the Australian site for Steam? Perhaps someone mistakenly put the $90US instead of $50AUD?

It's not the same price.

It's $90 USD in Australia. In America it's $40 USD. Steam games in Australia are priced in USD. So when the USA has their price at $40 USD, and Australia has their price at $90 USD, we are getting ripped off.

I don't think so - I really believe that Steam set their own prices independently of Sega/SI.

You are completely wrong. They do not set the prices. It is the publisher and game studios who set prices. Steam has the ability to influence, suggest or provide information but they cannot set the prices for any game that isn't a Valve studios game.

What? They have to have servers in Australia, or rent servers from someone. Either way, they are on servers somewhere in Australia.

They don't have servers in Australia. They have ISP's who host their content for free. The cost for Steam of doing business in Australia is the same as it is across the world.

Again, I think it's Steam that set the price depending on Region.

Steam doesn't set prices. The publishers and studios do.

This is surely just an error by Steam. There's no way SI or Steam would be able to charge a markup that large without attracting a notorious amount of ridicule from the public.

If it's not an error, they clearly haven't been playing attention to either the exchange rate or the public, media, and government's opinion of companies that try to justify exorbitant markups on digital goods in Australia.

I understand that SEGA no longer have a branch in Australia as of a few months ago and are instead operating through a distributor model via 'Five Star Games'. They would be in charge of the pricing locally rather than Sega or S.I.

davidbowie - I don't know how you know how Steam operates in Australia - but I'll take your word for it. Very strange they can operate such high volumes of data for free? I don't think that information is correct.

Here's the Steam USA Store

Here's the Steam Australia Store

Here's the exchange rate

I don't know what else to say. I don't really know what your argument is.

It's definitely cheaper in Europe though.

But it would appear last years price was just a sweetener to get aussies to purchase the game through steam (as the boxed game was still $89 in JB and EB)

EB will have to jack up their price as well, as it appears that they were selling it at a 25% discount last year.....compared to their normal pricing. ;-)

I guess I'm buying it from Greenman this year.

I think I'm getting a better understanding of the issue here. I think I missed the point - but I'm still unclear.

Here's a situation I'm constantly faced with. I buy Adobe software regularly. But in the US it's much cheaper.

When I questioned Adobe on their pricing policy in Europe their response was it was due to taxes and other legislation which prohibited them selling at the same price in the US and Europe, these are trading laws across continents.

It could be something similar is happening here, that SI have to have the price this high due to trading laws and taxation legislation between continents etc.

Hi there,

Long time Australian customer here and religious FM gamer (although my post count leaves something to be desired). I have a few questions.

Firstly, I simply refuse to pay the $90 steam advertises. so I'm looking at other retail avenues.

I noticed the link to Green Man Gaming, I'm wondering if anyone can vouch as to whether purchasing the game form there will work for us aussies with steam accounts?

I also see that the official footballmanager.com website has the pre-order priced at $40 and if I purchase the game from that outlet, would the steam code be valid for aussie steam accounts?

Thanks in advance.

Vent time: I have been looking forward to FM13 for quite some time and I am appalled at the price being touted for Australians on steam. I refuse to accept any other reason apart from currency exchange to have any affect on digital pricing, no matter where you live. I hate the argument that a distributor can set its own prices as it sees fit as that is effectively a monopoly and is illegal. I have no doubt that the SI and/or Sega are responsible for the pricing, because if it were my product I'd very much like to price it myself too rather than give a distributor carte blanche and have them make a killing off my product while i only gain a small profit margin for what I sell it to the distributor.

Pricing in Australia for digital content has been out of whack for way too long and is now pathetically embarrassing. They can claim tariffs all they want, but my research finds that our tariffs and taxes are equivalent to or better than other western nations (our GST is a flat 10%, whereas VAT in the UK is the same and in Germany is 20% if i remember correctly).

I really hope the pricing issue for Australians (and other nations being flagrantly ripped off) is sorted quickly and before launch of the game as I shouldn't have to scour the internet looking for a deal that is equal to another person in a different geographical location.

I would hate to get to the point where I feel forced to go down "Last Resort Lane".

End Rant.