That they have this type of control over a developers game will lead to more anti consumer results like this. Sony can fully fuck off with this BS.
Yes, there's only so much room on the discount shelf...
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Sony denies yet another indie discount [UP: Sale has ended on other platforms] (see threadmarks)
- Thread starter NewDust
- Start date
Yes, there's only so much room on the discount shelf...
Sony not allowing creator of the game to put it on sale when he wants it is bad look no matter what. Valve has some rules but they will let you discount games for special occasions like this. And you have full control over your store page and you don't need to ask Valve to do anything.
There's also significantly less (if any) pre orders available on PSN for indies nowadays compared to the other platforms as well.
damn. i just assumed the dev was in charge of setting the price at any point in time.
Sony should have zero say in a decision by the publisher/devs if they want their game on sale
Yeah, I have been waiting for a sale and almost missed this one, I will get for Switch.
I think People would be surprised at how absolutely bizarre sales systems can be on different platforms and even different regions on the same platform.
I was wondering if they had some kind of cool down between sales, but Feb was a long time ago.
Just more fuel for the annoyance I have with Sony and their store right now. (Would it kill them just to throw up a ps3/vita sale, or lower the price on a few? $53 for a many years old digital vita game is asinine)
Just more fuel for the annoyance I have with Sony and their store right now. (Would it kill them just to throw up a ps3/vita sale, or lower the price on a few? $53 for a many years old digital vita game is asinine)
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There are several indie games that have released with no launch discount and no pre order, that have had both on switch and Steam (and presumably Xbox, I don't own one). I'm assuming the lack of pre order is because they would have a discount there too
Hotshot racing and inertial drift come to mind within the last month or so. When I realised this, I went looking on PSN and noticed it was a trend. No pre orders for indies that had pre orders and discounts on switch and Steam.
Edit: they didn't even have store pages until the day of release.
Other devs with PSN issues
that explains why I never saw it on sale after years of patiently waiting... maybe I should bite the bullet and get it on Switch, even though I suspect any 3D game to look at least a little bit better on PS4 (and also I'm perpetually out of drive space on my Switch)
There was also the case of Drawful 2 being free on iOS, Steam Xbox and 99% off for Switch, but nothing for Playstation
Are all of you under the impression that video game publishers can call Walmart and Target or Amazon and tell them to put their games on sale? Or that Sony Santa Monica can call up Amazon and tell them digital codes for God of War have to go half off this week?
Because if you are I have some bad news for you.
I just meant maybe they had a batch of games they decided to discount and have future batches all grouped for different events, maybe Obran Dinn is something they're planning to discount in a future sale and have already allocated it for that event.
Or yes maybe Sony are anti-consumer and just don't want people buying games because reasons, sure.
Why should Playstation Store be modelled after Walmart and not Steam or the Apple App Store?
Sony's communication with indies has really suffered and it's been showing for quite some time now.
It's probably more due to the fact of limited staff due to covid to apply the discount.
I'm stating that this is a weird take that "Sony shouldn't get to control sales on their platform" when it's literally that way like....almost everywhere? Even Steam doesn't just let you put your game on sale whenever you want.
So what was the reason for it? There are tons of possible explanations.
Did the developer miss a window to submit it?
Did the developer not want to be part of the standard sale because they didn't like the sale terms?
Does Sony limit the number of non-event sales each month to make Plus more attractive?
Did the developer not agree to allow a Plus discount?
Did the developer have a recent sale that prevents a subsequent sale within x number of months?
Is there a pre-existing contract requirement for the game to be at a certain price for a certain number of days/weeks?
It could be almost anything, but I expect they have a clear policy for why it happens and not simply because they don't feel like it that month or a developer needs to be big to get attention.
Did the developer miss a window to submit it?
Did the developer not want to be part of the standard sale because they didn't like the sale terms?
Does Sony limit the number of non-event sales each month to make Plus more attractive?
Did the developer not agree to allow a Plus discount?
Did the developer have a recent sale that prevents a subsequent sale within x number of months?
Is there a pre-existing contract requirement for the game to be at a certain price for a certain number of days/weeks?
It could be almost anything, but I expect they have a clear policy for why it happens and not simply because they don't feel like it that month or a developer needs to be big to get attention.
I mean thats how their Days Of Play works? Sony has enough weight to get retailers to discount their games. Same with EA, Ubi, SE, etc.
My understanding is that you can indeed put your game on sale whenever you want on Steam, as long as you only do it several times a year.
Would be great if we could get some detailed backstory behind some of these instances. Even looking at all the twitter posts it's still too vague, IMO.
I know they don't want to risk pissing off Sony, but maybe even post some redacted email screenshots or something? Explain out in a reddit post what the process is like for publishing a game on the store, requesting it's price, sale price, release date, etc. so that we have a reference for how it works, as well as how it works on other stores.
I know they don't want to risk pissing off Sony, but maybe even post some redacted email screenshots or something? Explain out in a reddit post what the process is like for publishing a game on the store, requesting it's price, sale price, release date, etc. so that we have a reference for how it works, as well as how it works on other stores.
I don't think a single example of a cross-retail sale is proof positive that Sony or any other publisher can force retail stores to discount games whenever they want man.
So you can't put your game on sale whenever want. Exactly. Every platform has control rules for sales. Just because one is less restrictive than the other doesn't mean a whole lot.
Also as I've pointed out, many retail stores sell digital codes on their store pages, and no one has rights to change those prices whenever they want either.
So is this you piling on Sony in particular or do you want to change how all sales work on every platform?
Yup. Spelunky 2 wasn't up until the day it released, I couldn't search it in the store until then either.
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I'll admit that this is probably policy related. Still, it seems their policies are more strict/less malleable than other platform holders. That is their right. But as someone with only a PS4 (and that wants Obra Dinn) I'll express my discontent.
I do not have a weird grudge against PlayStation, as some like to suggest, I feel that they have lost their "indie-love' from the start of the generation. I want them to be better about that again. Here's hoping Shuhei Yoshida can rekindle that flame and that it extends beyond just their indie-program.
There are tons of games on sale now tho. Also too busy to put a game on sale? What does that even mean? Son are just being dumb.
As far as I know, Sony always does batch sales, so they probably let developers/publishers know when it will be possible to put their games on sale, not the other way around. I bet Sony wants to have the full list of games that will go on sale before it starts, so If a game doesn't enter in a current sale in time, it may have to wait for the next one.
Except how restrictive PSN is vs Steam makes a massive difference, with PSN's unnecessary restrictions being against the interest of developers and players alike.
I think this falls under being a business to business issue rather than a consumer issue. I think you are right though in that for some reason they allocate a certain amount of games during a given period of time for sales. And that if your request is put in when the list is full then you will be denied.
There have been like nonstops sales with tons of games the last few months but they're somehow too busy to add one more to the list? Not to even mention that indie devs have been complaining about this for years apparently.
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They have no issues putting their own game on an individual, short sale.
