Gamegeneral
Member
I agree with most people here that Killer Instinct had a pretty good model. There hasn't been a perfect model yet, though.
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Fighting game pricing seems flawed to me
- Thread starter DrArchon
- Start date
At 5 dollar a pop, you get 12 char to play around ( plus the freebies). That ought to be good for the most of time.
Kind of on the fence with thi...
...aaaand SOLD!
In all seriousness, a hybrid model seems like the best approach for something with a high barrier to entry like fighters. Make it F2P with individualized character pricing, but also give a release version pricing that includes all character at launch with the option to purchase individuals or season packages down the line. Also, take this a step further and launch with an always current version ie. you pay a single price up front and are guaranteed to receive any additional characters (also stages would be nice) at no additional charge no matter how much (or little) content is ultimately released. Its a bit of a gamble since you wont be sure how much content youll ultimately receive for the premium, but its a way to get those awaiting the definitive version off the fence.
And of course release a shit ton of cosmetics for the whales. I have no problem with devs charging for cosmetics if it extends the life of a game.
...aaaand SOLD!
In all seriousness, a hybrid model seems like the best approach for something with a high barrier to entry like fighters. Make it F2P with individualized character pricing, but also give a release version pricing that includes all character at launch with the option to purchase individuals or season packages down the line. Also, take this a step further and launch with an always current version ie. you pay a single price up front and are guaranteed to receive any additional characters (also stages would be nice) at no additional charge no matter how much (or little) content is ultimately released. Its a bit of a gamble since you wont be sure how much content youll ultimately receive for the premium, but its a way to get those awaiting the definitive version off the fence.
And of course release a shit ton of cosmetics for the whales. I have no problem with devs charging for cosmetics if it extends the life of a game.
Holy Order Sol
Member
further contributing to people viewing entire fighting games strictly through the lens of the character they play
fuck that it's bad enough already as is
fuck that it's bad enough already as is
Except the pricing of these characters is never reasonable. For $60, I get 30+ characters, 15+ stages, several costumes, story mode extra content, yet they want you to pay more than half that for 6 characters and some costumes in microtransactions. The same problem exists in DLC in general. The price they ask you to pay for a fraction of the content compared to the full game is completely absurd.
The option is always fine, but for it to interest me, characters would have to be $2 a piece in a game that gives you 30+ characters plus stages, costumes, story mode, survival etc for $60, only way it makes sense to me.
The option is always fine, but for it to interest me, characters would have to be $2 a piece in a game that gives you 30+ characters plus stages, costumes, story mode, survival etc for $60, only way it makes sense to me.
Glitter and Gold
Banned
Dota 2 has way of monetizing their game that others just can't reproduce. Ignoring it being backed as the current flagship product of one of the largest developers on a platform they own. They have a system in place that allows them to monetize SPECTATORS of their game.
lucebuce12
Member
As long as the game allows me to buy all the characters through one package, I don't really mind. Even though I rarely if ever venture out of the 2-3 characters I like playing with, I still want to own all the characters in every fighting game I play regardless of pricing model.
I imagine if Capcom really got their socks on right, they could easily get into tournament level monetisation as well. I doubt they ever will, but everyone loves a good fighting game tournament. I'd chip in for a curated experience, for sure.
Glitter and Gold
Banned
Capcom is copying league with their model lol
Without nearly as much invested in developing and marketing a steady stream of content, so it's not really working.
SFV is still my go to example for why fighting games shouldn't adopt Moba models.
JeTmAn81
Member
It does seem like it would be good if you could pay only for the content you actually care about. How does that work on the business end of things? It worked out for DoA, right? But if they're spending the budget to create a large cast of characters but not getting that full price from people who only buy one or two, does that really work out business-wise? Don't you have to enlarge your audience in order to continue to profit from lower revenues per customer?
That's a real shame. There's a lot of interesting ideas out there that are yet to be explored, maybe they need to course correct.
Tekken tag 2- £40, loads of characters and loads of content, the end
If op doesnt like the way fighting games are priced and plays them for story then clearly this genre isnt for him
If you bothered to read my first post, you'd know it has nothing to do with story modes or any other single player modes (they've all been crap since SC2 anyway).
It has to do with the fact that I'm a player that's only really going to seriously learn one or two characters, so only buying one or two characters to play online with would be nice for my wallet.
Cool, thanks for the clarification.
Is Capcom (or other company) more concerned about number of players or revenue? I doubt F2P would generate more money than a $60 MSRP (especially as Capcom still requires MT for costumes, additional characters/stages, etc.).
I only pick a few cars, shouldn't I get Forza for $1?
I only pick one class/race, shouldn't I get Dragon Age for a couple bucks?
I only pick one a couple weapons, shouldn't I get DOOM for half off?
I only pick a few cars, shouldn't I get Forza for $1?
I only pick one class/race, shouldn't I get Dragon Age for a couple bucks?
I only pick one a couple weapons, shouldn't I get DOOM for half off?
I own various fighting games and do the same. Thing with fighters is the learning a character (even before balance changes come in) is where part of the value for money is.
But in a sense youre right because a lot of fighting games arent sold as the full package in varying degrees so maybe another model so be considered like f2p or even ttt2 where dlc was mostly music/movies
like mobas, a F2P rotation + a try mode (essentially practice)
thelurkinghorror
Member
Op, you need some Arms in your life.
Again, no one is suggesting that there wouldn't be a way to buy all of the characters for a reasonable price. This would just an option for people.
Difficult and risk is the roping people into buy full game. But isnt whole thing negated by constant sales and the 2nd hand market?
Online for life.
I miss arcades
Yeah, this would make it even more infuriating when you go to your friend's house, only to find out they don't have the character you main... or even your secondary. I prefer the current SFV model, which has a robust base roster and expands from that.
Not sure why you're placing the value of a fighting game on the total number of characters. The perceived value of a game should be based on how much time you put into it/enjoy it. If I buy SFV for example and I play it for 300 hours, isn't that worth the $60 even if I only use 2 characters?
Same goes with something like an online only shooter. People say it should be cheap because it doesn't have a single player component but at the same time, if people are putting hundreds of hours into it, is $60 really too expensive?
Like if I buy Overwatch and Uncharted 4, both for $60 each, and I finish Uncharted 4 in about 12 hours while I play Overwatch for a couple hours a day almost every day since launch, which game is "overpriced?" People seemed to be fine with Uncharted 4 being short and full priced while Overwatch got raked over the coals for the price point based on it being an online only MP shooter.
Same goes with something like an online only shooter. People say it should be cheap because it doesn't have a single player component but at the same time, if people are putting hundreds of hours into it, is $60 really too expensive?
Like if I buy Overwatch and Uncharted 4, both for $60 each, and I finish Uncharted 4 in about 12 hours while I play Overwatch for a couple hours a day almost every day since launch, which game is "overpriced?" People seemed to be fine with Uncharted 4 being short and full priced while Overwatch got raked over the coals for the price point based on it being an online only MP shooter.
CadetMahoney
Member
Not surprising, in addition to your post, fighting games have multiplayer as a big factor. Then you have online multiplayer behind a paywall. People don't want to take the risk and bet on the wrong horse and be left with a dead scene.
They charged full price for KOF14 on Steam and only got 20k sales for first month. Dead game year late port with fast diminishing representation in tournaments (faster than kof13). Even a major France tournament dropped that game in favor of Guilty Gear this year.
old
Member
I play the whole roster. I Get decent with all and very good with 3-4.
That way when Ive got friends over and one of them happens to beat me, I switch to another character and beat them with someone they dont know how to play against. They hate me for it.
I would never buy just 1-2 characters.
That way when Ive got friends over and one of them happens to beat me, I switch to another character and beat them with someone they dont know how to play against. They hate me for it.
I would never buy just 1-2 characters.
I'm sure the devs of other F2P games are incredibly insulted by all of their cheapskate customers. Imagine how furious Riot must be that all of the LoL players aren't paying $60. Tecmo must be so ashamed that DOA5 only got downloaded a mere 10 million times and didn't make nearly as much money as SFV or Marvel Infinite.
Futaleufu
Member
12 chars was good enough in 1992. Not anymore.
France, the mecca of fighting games.
Baron Von Beans
Member
I can't say I agree. I've been playing FG's since I was a wee lad, but still. Just because YOU only play a few characters, lots and lots of others can and do play multiple characters at a given time. The amount of gameplay and mastery involved in modern fighting games takes hundreds of hours to become a true export at (I'm not saying I am), but the value is definitely there.
Would you want to charge less for OverWatch because people main one character?
Would you want to charge less for OverWatch because people main one character?
CadetMahoney
Member
for KOF that's a big deal.
Yea the economics don't work out. It feels like some gaas, money-hook type thing they go with nowadays. Doesn't help when they have DLC already done before release. So it's like that mona-lisa meme.
I want to charge less for Overwatch because they locked all of the cosmetics behind fucking loot boxes, but that's a topic for another thread.
Also, why are options a bad thing? If you want all of the characters, buy the founder's pack + the season pass or whatever. EVERY F2P game with individually purchasable characters lets you do that.
Arc Christelle
Member
There are fighting games that allow your investment to be flexible with their f2p models. However in the cases of most fighting games, (and even SFV to an extent) the $60 is worth it because the entirety of the investment is there and those games LAST. However it is up to you to make the most of that $60 fighting game you paid for. It's definitely fitting for the returns you get if willing to invest in these games. Also if you choose to limit yourself.... That's your fault fam.
Not even on some simple "git guud" semantics, but there's a lot to gain if you're willing to take the time to invest in expanding your ability. But still that's your choice.
Not even on some simple "git guud" semantics, but there's a lot to gain if you're willing to take the time to invest in expanding your ability. But still that's your choice.
Baron Von Beans
Member
D'oh. I am a moron, nearing 5pm at work on a Friday. My brain is fried. And I didn't think about multiple types of types available for a game. Like a founders pack, or the bare bones one.
In that case, hell yes, I'm all in. That would likely be huge for the FG community.
CadetMahoney
Member
I feel sorry for local offline struggle tournaments. . . they only way I imagine they juggle all the DLC characters is they beg fellow staff or friends to bring their account or something?
But what happens when they can't cover all the machines with all the DLC characters entrants might want to use?
Hope there's an "arcade mode" released in time I guess.
Patterbits
Member
Ive got so many Steam games I havent even touched. I feel like they should have been free.
Many of them were actually lol
The model in Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown seemed great to me. Fully functional game for 20, all cosmetics available in 2 giant packs (half of the characters in each pack) that were 20 each, hundreds of clothes/items total. I played very little but still bought the extra packs and it felt fair.
I would not mind a dripfeed of cosmetics and loot boxes either, like Overwatch (note that that game also launched at an affordable 40 price point).
Or charging for some single player modes like Hearthstone used to charge for adventures. They could sweeten the deal with cosmetics you can only get from those modes. Training mode and some kind of vs AI have to be in the base game though.
New characters should never cost extra so everyone who owns the game is on even footing, and your original investment in the game is safe. A big reason I don't want to buy a game like SFV is that buying the base game kind of forces you to buy any future seasons/characters if you don't want to be at a disadvantage. I might not have bought Overwatch either if there was a prospect of being forced to buy future characters.
I would not mind a dripfeed of cosmetics and loot boxes either, like Overwatch (note that that game also launched at an affordable 40 price point).
Or charging for some single player modes like Hearthstone used to charge for adventures. They could sweeten the deal with cosmetics you can only get from those modes. Training mode and some kind of vs AI have to be in the base game though.
New characters should never cost extra so everyone who owns the game is on even footing, and your original investment in the game is safe. A big reason I don't want to buy a game like SFV is that buying the base game kind of forces you to buy any future seasons/characters if you don't want to be at a disadvantage. I might not have bought Overwatch either if there was a prospect of being forced to buy future characters.
zenspider
Member
$1.99 day pass. Easy.
Was against it at first, but when thinking about it, i got ggxrd rev 2 recently, tried it online like twice and there is barely any people online, then i came to think about the real issue.
Fighing games online locked behind paywall, and then you dont only need to pay for that, but also characters (if you want to be up to date) as dlc
, it is already a kinda niche genre and even though online is possible, the paywall seems to limit the games selling well to get a good userbase. I know tournament level is basicly only local play, and the reasoning behind that im totally for, but still I think this limits the long term success for these companies.
That said, I would say most fgs definitly have the value in them.
Fighing games online locked behind paywall, and then you dont only need to pay for that, but also characters (if you want to be up to date) as dlc
even though gg seems to make expansion packs compared to other fgs
That said, I would say most fgs definitly have the value in them.
Dark Ninja
Member
I think Fighting games are starting to get more honest since publishers can't get away with versions of games anymore with games using the service model and haven't started using lootboxes in a gameplay changing way yet. Killer Instinct, DOA5, and SFV have the best business models at the moment. Fuck off Arcsys with your $60 same game revisions and 90's Capcom.
DOA5 has a version issue though where you don't know what to buy to get what you have to look for it. There is a version that gives you free characters, a version that is only the female fighters, a version with everything? then you can buy the characters individually its too much clutter especially on the PS store where its mixed in with the costume DLC. There is so many versions of a game its difficult for someone randomly wanting to buy a game to know this is the game I want/need to get everything
I like having a base roster that way you can slip in some of the freaks/"ugly" characters in there and take more of a chance. Just look at the difference of reaction with Abigail and Menat in SFV.
DOA5 has a version issue though where you don't know what to buy to get what you have to look for it. There is a version that gives you free characters, a version that is only the female fighters, a version with everything? then you can buy the characters individually its too much clutter especially on the PS store where its mixed in with the costume DLC. There is so many versions of a game its difficult for someone randomly wanting to buy a game to know this is the game I want/need to get everything
I like having a base roster that way you can slip in some of the freaks/"ugly" characters in there and take more of a chance. Just look at the difference of reaction with Abigail and Menat in SFV.
Oh, that's actually a really good idea. I can count the number of times that friends will come over to play any given fighting game on 1 hand. Paying $2 for having all the characters for a day would be great for that.
katsubento
Member
DOA is the game for you this gen.
Or maybe fighters aren't for you.
I buy racing games and don't use all the cars, but I don't feel like I'm being bamboozled. It's my choice not to use them.
With fighters, friends that play use characters I don't.
Maybe you should just wait to buy fighters when they are cheap...
Or maybe fighters aren't for you.
I buy racing games and don't use all the cars, but I don't feel like I'm being bamboozled. It's my choice not to use them.
With fighters, friends that play use characters I don't.
Maybe you should just wait to buy fighters when they are cheap...
Always an option, but not a great one for fighters, because it seems like 9 times out of 10 you'll end up with either:
- a game that's basically dead;
or
- a game where all of the players of low skill level have moved on to something else meaning you're just going to get paired against killers over and over again in ranked.
I get more out of the 60$ I pay for fighting games that I love than any other types of games I play, even if I do only end up using a character or two.
I understand that the pricing may not be for everyone though, but I have absolutely no issue happily paying 60$ bucks for these games. Well worth it.
I understand that the pricing may not be for everyone though, but I have absolutely no issue happily paying 60$ bucks for these games. Well worth it.