the price in couple of countries is too match in steam

way i need to pay 28% more(in israel)(65$)(75 withut the discount) of the US pris ?

i would like someone to explain to me ?

The price is like 5.5x of Civilization 6. That's truly absurd. I think it's the highest price for the strategy game I've ever seen!

UPD: Just searched steam, it's #15 Highest price amongst all the strategy games on Steam (and that counting the -17%, w/o it it would be #8). And most of the "games" that have higher price tag are actually bundles of games, not separate titles.

the price is absurd way i or any other people (the price is 18% Higher than in US) need to pay more than other people

i'm disappointed from this company I thought SEGA /AMPLITUDE Studios would be different i guess i was wrong

I was thinking how many DLC will behave and how much cost of the total game will be.

I think I will wait for the big sale for getting this game

chenpugach wrote:

THE PRICE IS ABSURD

the price in couple of countries is too match in steam

way i need to pay 28% more(in israel)(65$)(75 withut the discount) of the US pris ?

i would like someone to explain to me ?

raychimera wrote:

The price is like 5.5x of Civilization 6. That's truly absurd. I think it's the highest price for the strategy game I've ever seen!

UPD: Just searched steam, it's #15 Highest price amongst all the strategy games on Steam (and that counting the -17%, w/o it it would be #8). And most of the "games" that have higher price tag are actually bundles of games, not separate titles.

chenpugach wrote:

the price is absurd way i or any other people (the price is 18% Higher than in US) need to pay more than other people

i'm disappointed from this company I thought SEGA /AMPLITUDE Studios would be different i guess i was wrong 

Here Humankind priced at 49,79€. That's listed as 17% off full price of 59,99€. That's for the Digital Deluxe Edition. That to me seems like the normal price for the largest Digital Deluxe version of a game. In fact cheaper considering it the Digital Deluxe Version.

I think I paid alot more for both Civ V and Civ VI largest editions when they were released. I think it was something like around 100€ for the largest version of Civ VI. And 59.99€ for the base game of Civ VI. That Civ Vi base game was not even a Digital Deluxe Edition, yet priced the same as Humankind Digital Deluxe Edition is priced now (when full price). Sure now when those Civ games are like 75% or 80% off in bundles and such they are cheaper. But yeah Civ V is 10 years old and Civ VI is 4 years old.

In fact Civ VI is still listed as 59,99€ for just the base game (not digital deluxe) at original full price, even if atm it is lowered 75% to 14,99€ (as it's on sale). I'm sure in 4 years Humankind will have sales that lowers it's price too. As I said Humankind is curretly at 17% off and at 49,79€ even if it's an upcoming brand new game not even out yet and a Digital Deluxe Edition. It's not until we see how many DLC's Humankind will come with and at what prices each will be that we can start being upset if it's too expensive.

That being said the conversion rate or regional pricing is what seems to be the problem here in this case. I don't think that is something Amplitude can be blamed for (not 100% sure of course who's to blame for that). I remember some issue in the past with this on other games and even remember YouTube videos being made about that topic and they seemed to at least indicate hat is all in the hands of Steam, as well as local taxes and rates and such. Not sure how it was resolved in the past, but I think some thing was addressed by steam and possibly mitigated the issue with those games.

Here I found the videos I was talking about. It was acctually about Civilization VI regional pricing, especially in Brazil. About Digital Deluxe version even being more expensive than the packs bought separately was at that time (or something like that). So it seems Steams scripts or algorithms is not 100% correct all the time on how the calculate these things and errors occur.

YouTube Link: Civilization VI ► Scam Prices for Civ 6 Digital Deluxe Edition? - [Sorry Brazil] 



That issue was acctually fixed. Customers were even refunded who had gotten the faulty higher prices. So it's possible to fix it and it seems to be on Steams side and the conversion rates, how their scripts make the math on various games, expansions packs, dlc's and bundles etc. Customers contacted Steam support to get it fixed. According to this video the same customer had even contacted 2K (the publisher of Civlization VI) and they had replied it was all on Steam. However if You watch the whole video and listen to the explanation it is still unclear who's the fault acctually was.

YouTube Link: Civilization VI ► 2K & Steam Civ 6 Digital Deluxe Prices FIXED! - [Brazil go get refunds]  




Then here is another issue again with regional pricing on steam and in this case various EA Games. No idea if this was EA doing some sneaky price changes as the video title suggests, or something with Steam systems. It seems when this video was made EA had not provided any explanation to the issue. In any case I thoght it interesting and related to this topic.

YouTube Link: EA Sneakily Raises Regional Prices For Most Of Their PC Games, But Only On Steam



So again this is not something unique to Humankind and Amplitude/Sega and might not even be something they have control over. At least give Amplitude/Sega time to look into it and contact Steam before screaming "bloody murder". :P

Alternatively contact Steam Customer support Yourselves and let them explain all this, if they can.

Sublustris wrote:

kryton24 wrote:

All I can say is blame Steam currency conversions and understand this has nothing to do with Humankind / Amplitude Studios at all. Try to reach out to Steam / Valve if this is a concern for you.

Elaborate, what currency conversion has to do with what publisher set as a price manually (above 16% of what Steam recommends)?

One possible reason could be that maybe different countries and regions have different taxes/fees as well, so maybe a company needs to add those on top of the price, as they will have to pay said taxes and fees in those countries on each sale. I'm not saying this is the case, I'm saying it's possible. Probably a few other possibilities as well as to why prices are different.

For those affected by these bad conversions (or whatever they are), if it turns out it is acctually Amplitude/Segas fault and not corrected, then sure go ahead and be outraged at them. If it turns out to be Steams fault then be outraged at them. If it turns out there are taxes and whatnot in Your country/region that affect prices, then maybe be upset with Your governement (or maybe those higher taxes help fund free school system or free or heavily discounted healthcare system, roads without toll fees etc, just a thought). I think it's a bit too early to be outraged just yet, or even know who to be outraged at. :)

Sublustris wrote:

Publisher sets the price, not Steam, period. There can be errors with bundles and how their price is calculated, but that is usually on publisher too (Steam tries to report errors but can miss some). This is clearly not the case here, and who cares wether this is unique or not.

Lord_Funk wrote:

One possible reason could be that maybe different countries and regions have different taxes/fees as well, so maybe a company needs to add those on top of the price, as they will have to pay said taxes and fees in those countries on each sale. I'm not saying this is the case, I'm saying it's possible. Probably a few other possibilities as well as to why prices are different.

For those affected by these bad conversions (or whatever they are), if it turns out it is acctually Amplitude/Segas fault and not corrected, then sure go ahead and be outraged at them. If it turns out to be Steams fault then be outraged at them. If it turns out there are taxes and whatnot in Your country/region that affect prices, then maybe be upset with Your governement (or maybe those higher taxes help fund free school system or free healthcare, roads without a toll system etc, just a thought). I think it's a bit too early to be outraged just yet, or even know who to be outraged at. :)

Suddenly there are taxes/fees exclusively for HUMANKIND all around the world, yes, very credible explanation.

Since all You seem to want is to be outraged without even considering any explanation. Already decided that it's not steam and all on the publishers (as you wrote...period...). Even snapping at any other gamer in here (as well as in another thread) trying to reply without them trying to be rude or anything. Just as if anyone keeping a cool head and calm and waiting for more info and facts is Your enemy.

Have You even reached out and contacted Steam support and tried to bring their attention to it and ask them for an explantion and possibly a correction ??? Since You seem so 100% sure that it's not a fault at steams end, do You work for steam and have some inside knowledge or have Steam replied to You officially and said it's not their fault and all on the publisher ??? Have You even waited for an official reply here by Amplitude and see if they can sort this with Sega who will have to contact Steam and maybe see why this is, possibly correct it ???

Personally I would try all that if I was affected before throwing accusation around and get all outraged and worked up. I would want to have all the facts, if possible, before I make up my mind. That is why I was clear in my reply to say I was not 100% sure and use word as "possible" etc. I never said any of what I wrote were facts or 100% sure (I was clear on that). I even said there could be other possible explanations as well (that I or people in here don't know of), but at least i gave some sources of some of the info I posted, rather than just be all outraged and throw accusations around without anything to back it up.

I guess it's pointless as You have made up Your mind on who to blame already...period...(your own words). Not really having an open mind as to dig into it and get to the bottom and find out if it's just a simple mistake in algorithms, if it truly is someones (steams, segas) intentional fault, some hiden fees in various regions added etc that once they notice it will be corrected. And, yes different countries (or sometimes regions or unions) do have different taxes and fees even on digital purchases. Just as they have on physical imported goods. Some publishers might chose to swallow those extra taxes and fees and take that loss, others might not and add it to the price. Again I'm not saying that is the explanation, just one "possible" but it could be something completely different causing this as well. I keep an open mind until I hear an official explanation. It's the weekend now, so I won't expect one until earliest sometime next week.

You are of course entitled to get outraged right away and not even wait for any official reply and explanation. Know that I too am really sick and tired of seeing corporations like EA, 2K, Activision etc pull their cr@p alot of the time with games. Ruining the whole gaming hobby and industry. Turning games into nothing more than glorified casinos. It's truly depressing.

However now we are talking about Humankind, so I won't hold what those other corporations have done with their games against Amplitude. Knowing what others have done can sometimes put it in perspective though. At the end of the day I purely judge my opinion about Amplitude and their games over what Amplitude does.

I still chose to wait and try to get to know a bit more before I know who to blame for various things in life and if to get upset or not over it. I would feel a bit foolish if would get all outraged now and then this turns out to be nothing more than a mistake and be corrected, or have a valid explanation, but that's just my choice on how to approach things like this.

I mean, Humankind was announced as an AAA-title, so of course it's expensive. Why you need to pay more than people in the US, I can't explain.

An assumption of mine would be the exchange rate and that it's adjusted be Steam itself, but yeah... not sure.

Edit: I've just looked up the Steam page again and it says that the Pre-Purchase and Digital Deluxe versions are priced that high. The standard edition that becomes available with the release will be cheaper.

Lord_Funk wrote:

chenpugach wrote:

THE PRICE IS ABSURD

the price in couple of countries is too match in steam

way i need to pay 28% more(in israel)(65$)(75 withut the discount) of the US pris ?

i would like someone to explain to me ?

raychimera wrote:

The price is like 5.5x of Civilization 6. That's truly absurd. I think it's the highest price for the strategy game I've ever seen!

UPD: Just searched steam, it's #15 Highest price amongst all the strategy games on Steam (and that counting the -17%, w/o it it would be #8). And most of the "games" that have higher price tag are actually bundles of games, not separate titles.

chenpugach wrote:

the price is absurd way i or any other people (the price is 18% Higher than in US) need to pay more than other people

i'm disappointed from this company I thought SEGA /AMPLITUDE Studios would be different i guess i was wrong 

Here Humankind priced at 49,79€. That's listed as 17% off full price of 59,99€. That's for the Digital Deluxe Edition. That to me seems like the normal price for the largest Digital Deluxe version of a game. In fact cheaper considering it the Digital Deluxe Version.

I think I paid alot more for both Civ V and Civ VI largest editions when they were released. I think it was something like around 100€ for the largest version of Civ VI. And 59.99€ for the base game of Civ VI. That Civ Vi base game was not even a Digital Deluxe Edition, yet priced the same as Humankind Digital Deluxe Edition is priced now (when full price). Sure now when those Civ games are like 75% or 80% off in bundles and such they are cheaper. But yeah Civ V is 10 years old and Civ VI is 4 years old.

In fact Civ VI is still listed as 59,99€ for just the base game (not digital deluxe) at original full price, even if atm it is lowered 75% to 14,99€ (as it's on sale). I'm sure in 4 years Humankind will have sales that lowers it's price too. As I said Humankind is curretly at 17% off and at 49,79€ even if it's an upcoming brand new game not even out yet and a Digital Deluxe Edition. It's not until we see how many DLC's Humankind will come with and at what prices each will be that we can start being upset if it's too expensive.

That being said the conversion rate or regional pricing is what seems to be the problem here in this case. I don't think that is something Amplitude can be blamed for (not 100% sure of course who's to blame for that). I remember some issue in the past with this on other games and even remember YouTube videos being made about that topic and they seemed to at least indicate hat is all in the hands of Steam, as well as local taxes and rates and such. Not sure how it was resolved in the past, but I think some thing was addressed by steam and possibly mitigated the issue with those games.

Here I found the videos I was talking about. It was acctually about Civilization VI regional pricing, especially in Brazil. About Digital Deluxe version even being more expensive than the packs bought separately was at that time (or something like that). So it seems Steams scripts or algorithms is not 100% correct all the time on how the calculate these things and errors occur.

YouTube Link: Civilization VI ► Scam Prices for Civ 6 Digital Deluxe Edition? - [Sorry Brazil]



That issue was acctually fixed. Customers were even refunded who had gotten the faulty higher prices. So it's possible to fix it and it seems to be on Steams side and the conversion rates, how their scripts make the math on various games, expansions packs, dlc's and bundles etc. Customers contacted Steam support to get it fixed. According to this video the same customer had even contacted 2K (the publisher of Civlization VI) and they had replied it was all on Steam. However if You watch the whole video and listen to the explanation it is still unclear who's the fault acctually was.

YouTube Link: Civilization VI ► 2K & Steam Civ 6 Digital Deluxe Prices FIXED! - [Brazil go get refunds]




Then here is another issue again with regional pricing on steam and in this case various EA Games. No idea if this was EA doing some sneaky price changes as the video title suggests, or something with Steam systems. It seems when this video was made EA had not provided any explanation to the issue. In any case I thoght it interesting and related to this topic.

YouTube Link: EA Sneakily Raises Regional Prices For Most Of Their PC Games, But Only On Steam



So again this is not something unique to Humankind and Amplitude/Sega and might not even be something they have control over. At least give Amplitude/Sega time to look into it and contact Steam before screaming "bloody murder". :P

Alternatively contact Steam Customer support Yourselves and let them explain all this, if they can.

Sublustris wrote:

kryton24 wrote:

All I can say is blame Steam currency conversions and understand this has nothing to do with Humankind / Amplitude Studios at all. Try to reach out to Steam / Valve if this is a concern for you.

Elaborate, what currency conversion has to do with what publisher set as a price manually (above 16% of what Steam recommends)?

One possible reason could be that maybe different countries and regions have different taxes/fees as well, so maybe a company needs to add those on top of the price, as they will have to pay said taxes and fees in those countries on each sale. I'm not saying this is the case, I'm saying it's possible. Probably a few other possibilities as well as to why prices are different.

For those affected by these bad conversions (or whatever they are), if it turns out it is acctually Amplitude/Segas fault and not corrected, then sure go ahead and be outraged at them. If it turns out to be Steams fault then be outraged at them. If it turns out there are taxes and whatnot in Your country/region that affect prices, then maybe be upset with Your governement (or maybe those higher taxes help fund free school system or free or heavily discounted healthcare system, roads without toll fees etc, just a thought). I think it's a bit too early to be 

outraged just yet, or even know who to be outraged at. :)

thanks for the super riplays when i checked their wasn't clarification thet was the Deluxe addition i see they fixed it now

as far as i know there no tax in my country on digital product

i hope  steam would fix the Price if it's not intent to being higher than US

chenpugach wrote:

thanks for the super riplays when i checked their wasn't clarification thet was the Deluxe addition i see they fixed it now

as far as i know there no tax in my country on digital product

No problems. You are very welcome !!! :)

I'm happy that is at least fixed now and made clearer. I did not see the early announcement so if it was not clear it was a Digital Deluxe edition priced at 49.75€ (or 59,99€ ) then it's good that has been fixed. As I said that is acctually cheaper than most such Deluxe editions of such a game. Usually only the base game cost as much. Of course one can then also argue what is included in the version and such. Like the much more expensive Civ VI Large Edition I bought upon release had like 4 upcoming DLC's included or something like that. I don't see Humankind Deluxe have any such upcoming DLC's included, so I guess it's fair price for a base game although it does have som extra content. Like "Notre-Dame Wonder ", "Victor Hugo Avatar Set" etc. On top of that some pre-order bonuses like "Boudicca Avatar Set", "Player Profile Pre-Purchase Decoration " and "Player Profile Symbol Set". So to me at least having the cost of a normal base game 59,99€ even discounted to 49.75€ sounds fair.

One should not forget that that price for games has not raised near as much as other things in society over the last 10-20 years. I remember buying new games for my son and even my former step-son at about the same price long ago. At the same time the rent for our home has gone up way more, as well as food prices and such. Not to mention what I gave for a fishing rod back in the days compared to what one costs now (another hobby I have is fishing, it's why I have seen how that has become alot more expensive).

Yes, I know that game companies now use other tactics like paid DLC's and such that will earn them extra revenues. Even often strip down the base game to be able to sell those DLC's to us later instead of including them from the start. Personally I would rather have the base price raised a bit and then have all content included and not sold in bits and pieces, but thats just my opinion. Some prefer a cheaper entry price and then pick which DLC's to buy after. Each to ones own. As long as we don't start seeing Lootboxes and Casino mechanics, or a ton of cosmetic packs sold in these types of games (like there are in mmo rpg's nowdays) I'm happy.

Buy the original game fully playable. Then buy a few expansions is how it has always been. Even before all this DLC thing. Like even Hereoes of Might and Magic III came with a few expansions You bought after a while. If those expansions are shopped into smaller DLC's but the end price is still roughly the same for it all, then it is what it is and no need to get upset. On the other hand if we get a gazillion DLC's that cost over $10+ or 10+€ each (like with sims 4, as I learned when my son still played that) then I'll too be upset, or will just stop buying them. When looking at Sims 4, now that is a clear rip-off. They even strip out seasons and sell that as DLC. I will not support such clearly greedy practices. But hey that's EA and not Amplitude.

Lord_Funk wrote:

chenpugach wrote:

thanks for the super riplays when i checked their wasn't clarification thet was the Deluxe addition i see they fixed it now

No problems. You are very welcome !!! :)

I'm happy that is at least fixed now and made clearer. I did not see the early announcement so if it was not clear it was a Digital Deluxe edition priced at 49.75€ (or 59,99€ ) then it's good that has been fixed. As I said that is acctually cheaper than most such Deluxe editions of such a game. Usually only the base game cost as much. Of course one can then also argue what is included in the version and such. Like the much more expensive Civ VI Large Edition I bought upon release had like 4 upcoming DLC's included or something like that. I don't see Humankind Deluxe have any such upcoming DLC's included, so I guess it's fair price for a base game although it does have som extra content. Like "Notre-Dame Wonder ", "Victor Hugo Avatar Set" etc. On top of that some pre-order bonuses like "Boudicca Avatar Set", "Player Profile Pre-Purchase Decoration " and "Player Profile Symbol Set". So to me at least having the cost of a normal base game 59,99€ even discounted to 49.75€ sounds fair.

One should not forget that that price for games has not raised near as much as other things in society over the last 10-20 years. I remember buying new games for my son and even my former step-son at about the same price long ago. At the same time the rent for our home has gone up way more, as well as food prices and such. Not to mention what I gave for a fishing rod back in the days compared to what one costs now (another hobby I have is fishing, it's why I have seen how that has become alot more expensive).

Yes, I know that game companies now use other tactics like paid DLC's and such that will earn them extra revenues. Even often strip down the base game to be able to sell those DLC's to us later instead of including them from the start. Personally I would rather have the base price raised a bit and then have all content included and not sold in bits and pieces, but thats just my opinion. Some prefer a cheaper entry price and then pick which DLC's to buy after. Each to ones own. As long as we don't start seeing Lootboxes and Casino mechanics, or a ton of cosmetic packs sold in these types of games (like there are in mmo rpg's nowdays) I'm happy.

Buy the original game fully playable. Then buy a few expansions is how it has always been. Even before all this DLC thing. Like even Hereoes of Might and Magic III came with a few expansions You bought after a while. If those expansions are shopped into smaller DLC's but the end price is still roughly the same for it all, then it is what it is and no need to get upset. On the other hand if we get a gazillion DLC's that cost over $10+ or 10+€  each (like with sims 4, as I learned when my son still played that) then I'll too be upset, or will just stop buying them. When looking at Sims 4, now that is a clear rip-off. They even strip out seasons and sell that as DLC. I will not support such clearly greedy practices. But hey that's EA and not Amplitude.

i know how it was in the 1990s i'm not a child it's just annoying that i need to pay extra 28%$ to support my favorite game developer

and to tell you the truth i miss those times when you would buy full game and expenses that would normally be like full game

chenpugach wrote:

i know how it was in the 1990s i'm not a child it's just annoying that i need to pay extra 28%$ to support my favorite game developer

and to tell you the truth i miss those times when you would buy full game and expenses that would normally be like full game

I totally agree. I miss those times too. It was like that even in the early 2000's. The whole Heroes of Might and Magic IV series of expansions released in 2002 was still like that.

Buy the original game then 2-3 Expansions (expansions being a bit cheaper than the original game). Those expansions added alot to the game and that was all You ever needed to buy. Meaning the game felt fresh after each expansion. I'm not a fan myself of the small DLC's just adding a Civilization or some wonder. I detest the term Season pack. However it seems some prefer that. They can buy the base game and then pick and chose smaller DLC's for cheaper prices and not have to buy a full blow expansion. Personally I'm like You and would prefer full blow expansions and not a gazillion small DLC's. Not sure if we are in a minority and most customers acctually prefer smaller DLC's ???

chenpugach wrote:

as far as i know there no tax in my country on digital product

As for the tax or VAT. Meaning Value-Added Tax. Usually You get a invoice mailed to You that will break down and say how much is taxes (vat) and such when You buy anything online from any serious official registered business. It's usually included and baked into the price listed on for example steam (but sometimes added after).

In some countries there are even fees and taxes/custom tax on prizes from a competition You won. It's why many YouTubers say that their competition might only be available in certain countries or regions. In some cases they say that the winner will have to take responsibility and pay such fees or taxes themselves in their country. For example, You could end up winning a car and then have to pay a pretty high fee to even be allowed to recieve it as a prize. Same with digital winnings. The higher the value of the prize or product the higher amount You will have to pay as the VAT / Value-Added Tax is of course based on percent. It varies from country to country, or region to region etc. It's possible that some countries don't have taxes on digital products or services, but many countries do have that.

In fact I found a link to a document listing various tax information related to Steam.

If You scroll down you will also see the section for "VAT and Sales Tax"

Link: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/finance/taxfaq

It even has a list at the bottom with various countries VAT and Sales Tax in %.

Like United Arab Emirates only have 5% Tax on sales, Japan 10%, while Hungary has as much as 27% Tax. So that may very well affect prices on even digital products. I don't see Israel listed there, so that could mean Israel don't have a sales tax or VAT on digital products. Not sure.

I quote: "Steam currently collects the below taxes. Taxes may be inclusive, meaning that they are included in the price; or additive, meaning that they are added at checkout.

In addition to the taxes in this table, we collect sales tax in some US jurisdictions. These US sales taxes are always additive."

chenpugach wrote:

i hope  steam would fix the Price if it's not intent to being higher than US

I agree that if it is some mistake, then Steam or whoever is responsible should fix it ASAP. At the very least come with some form of explanation as to why the price is higher in Your country. If it due to some hidden fee or tax, just come out and explain that so that people know and can understand.