In what’s turned out to be a fairly unpopular move, Sony has dropped the pricing details that it usually posts next to each title in its weekly update about all the new games coming to the PlayStation Store.
Eagle-eyed readers noticed immediately that the information was missing and were quick to jump in the comments to condemn the change, which will be permanent.
The main complaint for the ongoing omission of pricing is that without those details, users cannot make an informed decision on whether to buy a game or not without having to then head to the PlayStation Store to see its price.
PlayStation game pricing removed from official blog
Sony was quick to explain the reasons why pricing has been removed. PlayStation Blog manager, Fred Dutton said:
“As many of you have noticed, as of last week we are no longer quoting price information on our regular PlayStation Store updates. Instead, we’ve asked you to click on the hyperlink for each title to go to its listing on PlayStation Store and find the price in your region.
Obviously this is not as straightforward as just seeing the price listed in the blog post, and we understand the frustration many of you have expressed at the change. However, it’s a change we’ve made for a reason, and I want to offer you a bit more background on what that is.
Here at SCEE, we cater for a huge number of territories across Europe and beyond, many of which use different currencies. In fact, we cater for about 20 different currencies across more than 30 countries. We’re both legally and ethically obliged not to be misleading in our communications, and by only listing prices in, say, £ and €, we are potentially giving gamers in territories who do not use those currencies a false impression of the cost of an item.
So we’re left with two options: either publish every currency price for every item, or ask you to click through to PlayStation Store to see an accurate local price, which is generated automatically based on your ISP’s location.
If you were to take a typical PlayStation Store promotion featuring around 100 discounted items, the blog post would have to feature around 2,000 separate prices to be compliant. That would not only be impractical to create, but it would also make the blog post very difficult to read.
Duly, we’ve made the difficult decision to remove pricing information and ask you to click through to PlayStation Store.
So, I hope that gives you some background into why the change has been made. We’re always looking for ways to improve how we communicate with our readers and customers, and the topic of PlayStation Store pricing is certainly something that will remain in our crosshairs. Thanks for your understanding, and your valuable feedback.”
It sounds a reasonable explanation. After all, the groundwork in translating all prices into various currencies would be a huge undertaking.
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Nevertheless, some PlayStation Blog readers still aren’t happy, including DJ-Katy, who posted:
“After using a PS1/2/3/4/PSP/Vita fangirl since 1997 and having spent somewhere between 30.000 and 40.000 Norwegian crowns (£3-4k) on EU PSN since 2008, this week I bought the games I wanted from US PSN and Xbox Live, and this will be my modus operandi going forwards. The service from SCEE has been pushing me this way for quite a long time now, but removing the prices from the blog was the final straw.
There is NO other company in the world that behaves like this. You have been posting store prices on this blog for 7-8 years without suddenly being worried about compliance until last week. Compliance with what exactly? Can you show me a law that states when you list the price as ‘UK price’ and ‘Euro price’ that customers in Australia are being misled? The table header quite clearly states that it is not indicative of the price in Australia, for example.”
For many this isn’t going to be an issue. You simply log-onto the PlayStation Store and check the prices for your region, but many use the PlayStation Blog as a portal and information channel for their game purchases, so it’s understandable why some are frustrated with the current change.
What do you think? Does the lack of pricing on the PlayStation Blog concern you?