Electronic Arts pricing ( ...The Sims 4)

Morini

I want to buy Sims 4 (PC) and the 'Cats and Dogs' expansion for my daughter. Thats €80 full price, but €54 at checkout by the time they give a discount from whatever random price they decided to put on it in the first place.

They try to steer me to a subscription service called 'Origin' which would cost €25 per year, and I'd presumably then have to pay more for the expansion pack. I'm not big into subscriptions, and am unlikely to play any of their other (included) games.

But then I see that I can buy what I need on Amazon for €45 delivered, where I would have a physical box shipped to me (probably with a code inside, not even discs) from the UK. I'd then download from EA, I guess.

So thats €54 purely online, or €45 with empty-box shipping.

Am I missing something here, or is this a completely mad pricing policy?

TerrorFirmer

That's common on all platforms, it's usually cheaper to buy a boxed Xbox or PS4 game in Argos or Smyths then it is to download on Xbox Live or Playstation Network. It's why I personally dislike digital, costs more, despite there being no packaging or related distribution costs....and in the case of consoles, you cannot trade it back in towards another game, or swap, or whatever.

Anyway, Origin subscription may or may not give access to all of the DLC packs. You'd have to look into it.

Could also get both for about €25-28 off one of the code sites like Kinguin.

Retr0gamer

Welcome to the world of videogames where publishers have to keep bricks and mortar retailers happy by overcharging on digital content.

Still you get big discounts on goods in digital sales.

Whatever about the digital distribution vs. retailer pricing argument, the game has six ****ing expansion which also cost £34.99? That's the same price as the base game, jesus...

And I thought the H&M Expansion for The Sims 2 was bad all those years ago.

Funny story actually...

Not as good as the Ikea Expansion obviously

Oh, the expansions don't appear to be included in Origin Basic or Premier, you just get a 10% discount on the more expensive ones.

Shiminay

Y'see Sims players aren't the same as regular gamers. I don't mean that in any kind of disparaging way, it's just that Sims players tend to only play the Sims. Similarly with FIFA players, they usually don't play anything else and don't see how they're being fleeced and exploited by not having any relevant knowledge of the wider games marketplace.

This is why the stuff that used to be free community created content in the Sims 1 and 2 is now paid for DLC from a shower of sh1tes like EA who saw an opportunity to cash in on a market that simply doesn't know any better. For example, with the afore mentioned Origin service, every other EA game gets all of the expansions included in what you pay for - Sims players not knowing any better, don't seem to realise they're being fcked by this. And they keep buying all the content instead of refusing to buy it in protest to stop being shafted.

Long story short, if you want to play all of the Sims content, you're probably gonna have to pay hundreds of quid.

CD Keys selling base game for €11 and €14.99 for the cats and dogs thing. I've used them in the past without issue as have many here.

https://www.cdkeys.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=sims

Potential-Monke

Going by the Origin Store, this is what I've found:

Base Game: €39.99
DLC @ €39.99 x 6
DLC @ €19.99 x 4
DLC @ €9.99 x 4

Total Cost of DLC: €359.86
Total Cost including base game: €399.85

Quite surprised a game released in 2014 costs that much

Kirby

400 euro for a game that came out 5 years ago, even with a lot of DLC is absolutely insane. Crap like this is why people pirate. Bloody hell.

As Damon Hot Pension said you can get Sims 4 for less than 12 euro on key selling sites. I'd try my luck there.

Grumpypants

I bought a house, then a year later i wanted an extension so i asked the builders to build it for free cos i paid for the house, and they said no. Something about having to pay people for their work !! Complete rip off. No wonder people squat.

TerrorFirmer

Grumpypants wrote: »

I bought a house, then a year later i wanted an extension so i asked the builders to build it for free cos i paid for the house, and they said no. Something about having to pay people for their work !! Complete rip off. No wonder people squat.

Yeah, it would be, if you were charged 10 times for the cost of the house for a small extension.

Kirby

Grumpypants wrote: »

I bought a house, then a year later i wanted an extension so i asked the builders to build it for free cos i paid for the house, and they said no. Something about having to pay people for their work !! Complete rip off. No wonder people squat.

Your analogy would be more accurate if, after building your house the builders said they wanted more money or they wouldn't allow you into the Kitchen.

Now, you paid for a full house....they built the kitchen at the same time as the house.....it's already there and was completed before the house was done. But they want more money anyway. So you aren't paying for an extension. You are paying for something that was supposed to be included in the house and they just decided they could charge you more for it. The final kick in the teeth is that the price isn't even a reasonable one and they are asking for almost as much as the rest of the house.

It's a longer analogy.....but this one is actually accurate.

If people stopped making excuses for billion dollar companies, they wouldn't be able to get away with nonsense like this. White knighting these companies is why we are in the situation we are where they are marketting gambling to children and have been doing for years.

BeerWolf

It's an EA game. Pirate it!

Grumpypants

It doesnt work at all. It might work if you said you bought a house. Then went and bought an extra fancy kitchen. Had the builders come and spend an extra week installing it, connecting up a the services and then you turned around and said you weren't going to pay for it as a house should have a kitchen and the builders clearly built the kitchen before the house and then hid it to charge you more later.

The dlc is made after launch, it costs a lot to have a big building full of developers making content for years. That's why they charge for it.

EoinHef

Well,at least your consistent in your love for things other people loathe grumpy:P

Morini

Damon Hot Pension wrote: »

CD Keys selling base game for €11 and €14.99 for the cats and dogs thing. I've used them in the past without issue as have many here.

https://www.cdkeys.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=sims

Thanks very much for this tip - I bought from here, was straightforward and efficient. I'm happy.

Those fcuking reviews are hilarious gizmo, especially the H&M one, can't believe it got printed!