Call of Duty Steam price doubles overnight

PC News | Go to the shops, save yourself the trouble.

With the strong Australian dollar, a lot of gamers are taking the opportunity to purchase games online and import them into the country at a reduced rate. If you can't be bothered waiting, then Steam has been a popular choice with titles like The Orange Box going for $49.95 US.

A similar deal was available for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare which was going for $49.95 US in Australia (so just over $50 Australian). According to Kotaku however, overnight the price has gone from US $49.95 to US $88.50.

According to Kotaku, a local Activision representative commented that the US $49.95 price for Australia was an error on Steam's part, not Activision's, and should never have been listed as it meant Steam was undercutting Australian retailers.

Australian distributors have long used the argument that the high price for games in Australia is due to importing and our niche market, but when the game is available via digital distribution, this argument is moot.

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18 Comments

mipac

4 years ago

It just wouldn't be a day on Planet Earth without Australia getting screwed in the gaming industry.

Newbie

4 years ago

We really get taken for a ride with game prices dont we.

Pr1cks!

JleeLink

4 years ago

More and more reasons why I want to move to the US. I really hope somebody does something about this whole price thing soon as its just gone on for too long.

Kurupt

4 years ago

JleeLink wrote

More and more reasons why I want to move to the US. I really hope somebody does something about this whole price thing soon as its just gone on for too long.

You want to move somewhere where getting shot is a regular occurrence, and you'll have to home school your kids otherwise they'll get shot up at school as well?

LeonJ

4 years ago

Hrmmm, that's terrible. That means it's cheaper on the console with JB's introductory price of $79 AU.

ittekimasu

4 years ago

Thats just stupid, there's no manuals or hard copy's so why the hell are we going to have to pay more for data which is going to suck our third rate broadband dry.

ObsoletE

4 years ago

Kurupt wrote

You want to move somewhere where getting shot is a regular occurrence, and you'll have to home school your kids otherwise they'll get shot up at school as well?

In Australia, every 28 seconds, a person is run over by a car.

and he's getting pretty p*ssed off about it.

Kurupt

4 years ago

ObsoletE wrote

Kurupt wrote

You want to move somewhere where getting shot is a regular occurrence, and you'll have to home school your kids otherwise they'll get shot up at school as well?

In Australia, every 28 seconds, a person is run over by a car.

and he's getting pretty p*ssed off about it.

Yeah, I'd rather be shot by some random junkie looking for the cash for his next hit then be hit by a car. The while impact and landing, or being squashed. Much rather be shot and bleed to death.

I'm being sarcastic as well before everyone decides to call me an idiot.

bradc1988

4 years ago

Quote

as it meant Steam was undercutting Australian retailers.

That's the point!

Quite disappointing, though hopefully this doesn't set a precedent as getting the Orange Box early and at $55 was awesome.

DeathFalcon

4 years ago

Kurupt wrote

I see this, but I’m still compelled to call you an idiot.

Activation doesn't seem to understand that this is only going to hurt themselves as the majority of people who buy from Digital distribution services are Hardcore gamers (who know value).

They just seem to be driving off sales for a market that is rapidly growing and generates more profit per an item sold.
Hopefully Activation and other publishers will learn from this mistake and realize that they need to present there product at a reasonable price if they want to sell it in this market.

Giggs

4 years ago

Well, then I guess steam will loose sales to retailers if they dont want to undercut them...seems silly however I think about it. 'Oh noes! We don't want to sell our product cheaper than our competitors, we want to share the customers around!'

If a company can successfully set up a distribution system such as Steam with low overheads such as shipping and packaging, why should they bother worrying about their brick and mortar competitors? Its just a weak excuse to squeeze more money out of the Australian economy while its doing so well against the US dollar.

Passa

4 years ago

Oh well, lets keep 'undercutting' them and pick up CoD4 on PC through Play-Asia

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-7s-77-2-49-en-15-call+of+duty+4-70-2cjz.html

Silly Activision.

Lord Haart

4 years ago

What a joke.

So what if steam undercuts stores - that's the ENTIRE POINT OF COMPETITION.

Luckily, I don't really want COD4 anyway.

But this is just stupid.

Huseyadaddie

4 years ago

I actually went to buy the game last night after seeing it their for $49 a couple of days ago. When i saw $88 i got confused, then banged my head on the table, then my head hurt, so i went to bed.

Kurupt: Bad Kurupt, Bad! *hits him over head with rolled up newspaper*

bozza

4 years ago

I really dont understand how they can justify trying to sell it for more than what its selling for in-stores, there's no manufacturing costs (dvd, case, manual's etc), it doesnt have to go through a number of supplies each taking their own cut and marking it up, there's no shipping costs, yet it costs more??

How stupid do they think people are, next they'll blame the price hike on pirates stealing their games. At least Valve had it the right way with Orange box.

4 years ago

Its just steam - its not worth much

Fetidchimp

4 years ago

God forbid that any corporate entity would ever want to be seen as sane.

thebigm

4 years ago

Was looking forward to picking it up shortly on PC through Steam, very disappointing to have the game rise in price though.

And Bioshock is 20% off till Monday (or Tuesday our time), according to Steam News update.

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Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Pre-order or buy:
PALGN recommends: www.Play-Asia.com

Australian Release Date:
  7/11/2007 (Confirmed)
Standard Retail Price:
  $99.95 AU
Publisher:
  Activision
Genre:
  Shooter
Year Made:
  2007

Read more...