Game Price

dead tree sales? what does that mean?

anyway, I don't get what you mean either. its probably something complicated that has to do with the exchange rates between the US Dollar and the Canadian Dollar and a whole bunch of market related stuff. basically theres a whole lot of factors.

and direct download is usually more expensive I think anyway. and its probably that since you are buying directly from Stardock, it costs a little more than it would if it was bought at the store.

You'd think it was the opposite, as from Stardock there's no shipping or printing cost AND there's no retailer or publisher getting a cut.

"Dead tree sales" = boxes. As in paper/cardboard is made from trees.

That said, I've heard (though not substantiated) that it's illegal (anti-competitive) for a manufacturer to charge less than MSRP. While the retailers are free to do that, if the manufacturer is selling the game directly, there would be no reason for other retailers to try to sell it since the manufacturer can always sell it for cheaper, since there are no "middleman" costs.

Maybe it's not illegal, don't hold me to that. But it makes sense. Why would someone go to a retail store to buy it if they can get it for cheaper directly from the people who wrote it?

The reason I purchased it online, even though I could have gotten it for $5 cheaper at a retailer was because I knew that Stardock would get a larger percentage from the online sale than they would from a retailer. And I wanted to reward them for such a great game!

You'd think it was the opposite, as from Stardock there's no shipping or printing cost AND there's no retailer or publisher getting a cut.

Stardock is the developer and publisher for GalCiv II.

I don't think it is illegal for Stardock to sell below MSRP but to do so would anger the retailers. It is hard for an independent game developer to get into the retail outlets and retail sales so far I think have accounted for 7/8 of all GalCiv II sales, so Stardock is not going to do anything to anger the retailers. The MSRP is US$44.95 but most US retailers are selling it for around US$40 and I think FutureShop in Canada is selling it for around CAN$40 ~ US$36.

When the game was released in late February, people had a hard time finding it at the retailers whereas those that choose the direct download (like me) were able to download most of the game in the days before the release and the final few megabytes on release day. Actually, I purchased my direct download copy in early Dec. 2005, so I got to play the Beta before the general release.

There is a long discussion thread I started about the price here Link

They do sell the collectors edition online versus the regular edition.

You can get the collectors edition easily for $29US if you get lucky, I just consider the extra 15 bucks an "effort tariff" - that 15 bucks is worth not having to get off my butt and drive for 45 minutes each way, go into the store, buy the boxed game, take it home, open everything up, etc. etc.

Well, don't forget that Stardock policy doesn't support second hand copy: if you want to be able to patch the game to the latest version, you need an UNUSED serial id, that means a serial id that hasn't been already registred to someone else.

Just to support what others have said - while a certain line of logic says "of course Stardock could sell for less, they don't have to pay somebody else a cut," it's super-bad business to undercut the stores that you want to have carrying your product. It's actually pretty common, if you check any publisher that sells their own product they almost never undercut MSRP.

A prefect example of this is Magic: the Gathering. When Wizards of the Coast had retail stores, those stores were never allowed to sell packs below MSRP even though industry standard was that NOBODY in the hobby channel sold at that price. (You'll notice WotC stores no longer exist - when you can't sell your core products competitively, trouble ensues.)

~ Me (can't remember what nick I'm using here )

To confirm what others have said: Yes, we could sell the game cheaper ourselves, but it's a catch-22: if we do that, then fewer people buy it retail, and then the retail channel re-orders fewer boxes, and so even fewer people buy it at retail, and thus fewer people actually get to play the game because it's not available at stores and they either don't know about its availability online or don't want to buy online. And then next time none of the retail stores order GalCiv III because they think their sales will suck because we'll undercut them.

This sucks in many ways (mostly the way in which we only actually end up getting about 1/4 of the retail price), but it's how the system works. Until we get to the point where sales are completely online - and I am sure that day will arrive at some point - we have to live with it.

I agree with drawfour (#3)! Being a student, I do not have a lot of money. I was thinking about it for a while, but decided NOT to get it from BestBuy, but to purchase it directly from Stardock. I spent $5.- or so more, but I know it goes to the right people. Kinda like a 'tip' I guess, and one very much earned
Keep up the great work! I love this game.