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[ArtHands]

If you were exporting a product to a poor country with a hyperinflating currency, would you accept being paid a pittance just because they are poor? You still have to provide the service and pay staff in your first world country, first world rates of pay to provide it.

If I am racking in multi-million record profit, yes while resolving the regional pricing abuse.

 

[{insert code here}]

If I were racking in multi-million record profit, yes while resolving the regional pricing abuse.

Are those record profits nominal or real?

 

[CuteFaceJay]

Now imagine how much it would cost for the 'Durable' and 'For her pleasure' packages would be like 800-900%

 

[Flutta]

Damn, Sony def got those MP addicts by the balls.


This is the right time to free yourself from greedy Sony.

 

[Tommi84]

Cloud saves? Using spare pendrive is too boomery to use novadays so you really have to pay for it or what?

You CANNOT copy PS5 saves to a USB drive. ONLY cloud

 

[ChoosableOne]

This situation was expected. People had already extended their PlayStation Plus subscriptions for 3-5 years because it was known to be very affordable (you might have heard of those who extended it for 30 years).

In our country, PlayStation and its games were considered expensive for years, with PS Plus remaining relatively cheaper. The recent price increase came as a shock since they hadn't raised prices in 2-3 years (you can search Google for the level of inflation in that time). It's still considered cheaper compared to other countries. I can say that these new prices seem reasonable in a place where a Big Mac menu costs 180 TL, a movie ticket is 120 TL, a full tank of gas is 1200 TL, and rent ranges from 5,000 to 10,000 TL(15-20000 in big cities). Additionally, the average salary is not 11,000, it's the minimum wage; however, according to statistics, nearly half of the country's population works for minimum wage.

It's becoming increasingly challenging to afford international products, but we can't always expect companies to keep doing us favors.

 

[Miles708]

Everyone still paying for this deserves it and deserves to be made fun of

 

[Thief1987]

Cloud saves? Using spare pendrive is too boomery to use novadays so you really have to pay for it or what?

Wow, why no one thought about that before?

 

[Kupfer]

This situation was expected. People had already extended their PlayStation Plus subscriptions for 3-5 years because it was known to be very affordable (you might have heard of those who extended it for 30 years).

In our country, PlayStation and its games were considered expensive for years, with PS Plus remaining relatively cheaper. The recent price increase came as a shock since they hadn't raised prices in 2-3 years (you can search Google for the level of inflation in that time). It's still considered cheaper compared to other countries. I can say that these new prices seem reasonable in a place where a Big Mac menu costs 180 TL, a movie ticket is 120 TL, a full tank of gas is 1200 TL, and rent ranges from 5,000 to 10,000 TL(15-20000 in big cities). Additionally, the average salary is not 11,000, it's the minimum wage; however, according to statistics, nearly half of the country's population works for minimum wage.

It's becoming increasingly challenging to afford international products, but we can't always expect companies to keep doing us favors.

If I take as an example a Turkish annual income of 144000TL and a German minimum wage annual income of 24960€ and set the two against each other, the German equivalent of the Turkish annual income, PS+ Essential would be a whopping 250€. ( For us it's old 60€ vs new 72€ )

Shit would hit the fan.

 

[Fbh]

PC market in third world countries:
Look the hardware is expensive but you'll have regional pricing to make games and services way more affordable.

Playstation in third world countries:

 

[ChoosableOne]

If I take as an example a Turkish annual income of 144000TL and a German minimum wage annual income of 24960€ and set the two against each other, the German equivalent of the Turkish annual income, PS+ Essential would be a whopping 250€. ( For us it's old 60€ vs new 72€ )

Shit would hit the fan.

According to those numbers, you should work 10 years to get a new car in Turkey, while you have to work maybe 4 months in Germany to achieve that same goal. It's not fair but that's how things work in this planet. There are other countries and people in even more difficult situations.

 

[Kupfer]

According to those numbers, you should work 10 years to get a new car in Turkey, while you have to work maybe 4 months in Germany to achieve that same goal. It's not fair but that's how things work in this planet. There are other countries and people in even more difficult situations.

Well, with that sentence you can of course talk everything down - there is always someone who has it worse than you.
But that's not what this is about, this is a multi-billion dollar company behaving like shit to its fans, the foundation of its profits, and there are people who shrug it off and accept it.
Legitimate attitude, of course, everyone can do what they want with their money, but I am convinced that we are heading in an unpleasant direction as far as our hobby is concerned.

The option we have is to fight back with our wallets.

The other option would be that in the future no one should complain about single-player games requiring plus membership and are always online, or that there will only be plus exclusive content or entire games.

 

[dotnotbot]

I don't see a reason why the exact same service should be cheaper for poor countries.

 

[Elysium44]

Well, with that sentence you can of course talk everything down - there is always someone who has it worse than you.
But that's not what this is about, this is a multi-billion dollar company behaving like shit to its fans, the foundation of its profits, and there are people who shrug it off and accept it.
Legitimate attitude, of course, everyone can do what they want with their money, but I am convinced that we are heading in an unpleasant direction as far as our hobby is concerned.

The option we have is to fight back with our wallets.

The other option would be that in the future no one should complain about single-player games requiring plus membership and are always online, or that there will only be plus exclusive content or entire games.

For a long time, Sony subsidised Turkish gamers and allowed them to pay way less than most of the world, because of their relative poverty. Did you give them any credit for doing that? Eventually something had to give. The 600% figure looks bad but it is because Sony kept the price down for so long, and have suddenly raised it overnight all at once. If they'd done it more gradually I doubt there would be so much criticism.

In no other line of business would it be reasonable to expect to pay less for something because you are poorer.

 

[Ozriel]

Well, with that sentence you can of course talk everything down - there is always someone who has it worse than you.
But that's not what this is about, this is a multi-billion dollar company behaving like shit to its fans, the foundation of its profits, and there are people who shrug it off and accept it.
Legitimate attitude, of course, everyone can do what they want with their money, but I am convinced that we are heading in an unpleasant direction as far as our hobby is concerned.

The option we have is to fight back with our wallets.

The other option would be that in the future no one should complain about single-player games requiring plus membership and are always online, or that there will only be plus exclusive content or entire games.

I don’t see why you’re blaming Sony. From what I understand, They’ve been offering regional pricing there for years now, but it’s been abused for years by people living in richer countries

 

[Jibran#one]

Well the entire country of Pakistan and all gamestores here were using those Turkish memberships they were like 20 dollars for a year for the deluxe membership

 

[Kupfer]

For a long time, Sony subsidised Turkish gamers and allowed them to pay way less than most of the world, because of their relative poverty. Did you give them any credit for doing that?

Nope, in relation to income, the prices were reasonable. Now they are no longer.

Eventually something had to give. The 600% figure looks bad but it is because Sony kept the price down for so long, and have suddenly raised it overnight all at once. If they'd done it more gradually I doubt there would be so much criticism.

In no other line of business would it be reasonable to expect to pay less for something because you are poorer.

I suspect that an international housing company will not charge German-standard rents in Romania, even though the flat is equipped to the same standard.

 

[roxya]

Nope, in relation to income, the prices were reasonable.

Is that not exactly what Elysium44 said? The prices were reasonable because they were subsidised to match incomes.

 

[Fbh]

I don't see a reason why the exact same service should be cheaper for poor countries.

Generally the logic behind regional pricing is that pricing your product/service in a way that's more aligned with the incomes of the target country will get more people to pay, ultimately making more money.
It's better to have 4 people subscribed for $40 a year than 2 people subscribed for $60 a year.

Sadly, though VPN and digital credit cards some people from richer countries always end up taking advantage of these regional prices intended for another market. Ultimately pushing companies like Sony to just increase the price.

On PC regional prices have remained because the threat of piracy is always there. Companies would rather have you buy their games at half price than just pirate it.
On consoles with their closed ecosystem and (so far) lack of piracy, the pressure isn't the same

 

[NickFire]

Generally the logic behind regional pricing is that pricing your product/service in a way that's more aligned with the incomes of the target country will get more people to pay, ultimately making more money.
It's better to have 4 people subscribed for $40 a year than 2 people subscribed for $60 a year.

Sadly, though VPN and digital credit cards some people from richer countries always end up taking advantage of these regional prices intended for another market. Ultimately pushing companies like Sony to just increase the price.

On PC regional prices have remained because the threat of piracy is always there. Companies would rather have you buy their games at half price than just pirate it.
On consoles with their closed ecosystem and (so far) lack of piracy, the pressure isn't the same

I'm not someone who will ever take the time to set up a VPN for a different region like that. But I don't blame people at all for doing it. If the company can make enough profit to sell something cheaper in one place then it makes all the sense in the world for people to take advantage. It's the company taking advantage of people in higher cost of living areas, not the other way around.