Do you think that Digital Copies Should be cheaper?

[Mormolyce]

Of course digital copies should be cheaper. They get to skip entire chapter of production.

And distribution is a shitload cheaper.

[frequency]

...What? Stop, go back, think about this some more. Your customer base doesn't evaporate just because you stop sending CDs to store.

If warcraft was not in stores it would lose the sales of grandmothers who pick it up for their grandson b/c they needed a christmas gift.
It would lose the free advertising of people walking by and being able to pick up the box and look into the game.
It would lose the impulse buys of people wanting to give a new game a try.

[Bakis]

If digital copies are cheaper then very few people would buy boxed copies.
If people aren't buying boxed copies, stores aren't going to carry the product.
If stores don't carry your product your audience shrinks.
If your audience shrinks you no longer produce any products.
If you no longer produce products there is no need for a digital copy.

Bolded part is untrue when speaking of BLZ which the topic is about.
A new WoW expansion wont need this step.

I'm more than sure that BLZ actually lose a tiny ammount of money from store copies but since the majority of the consumers due to technical reasons cant or are unwilling to download BLZ has to keep store copies simply cos overall they would lose a ton of money for not having it.

Edit:
In the future we will see the store marketing overtaken by the deluxe/gold whatever editions with shiny info sings about the regular version being purchable online.
Less logistics and cheaper for BLZ but still able to get the product carried in the store.

[frequency]

Bolded part is untrue when speaking of BLZ which the topic is about.
A new WoW expansion wont need this step.

I'm more than sure that BLZ actually lose a tiny ammount of money from store copies but since the majority of the consumers due to technical reasons cant or are unwilling to download BLZ has to keep store copies simply cos overall they would lose a ton of money for not having it.

The box art may draw someone to an expansion that has never played wow before, and with the catchup level 90 even more so now.
Those are missed sales if brick and mortar do not carry your product.

And you are making my point for me, blizz will also lose the customers who for various tech reasons cannot download a game.
So in turn your audience shrinks

[Bakis]

The box art may draw someone to an expansion that has never played wow before, and with the catchup level 90 even more so now.
Those are missed sales if brick and mortar do not carry your product.

And you are making my point for me, blizz will also lose the customers who for various tech reasons cannot download a game.
So in turn your audience shrinks

Edited my post cos I forgot something important but yes you are right but I was unclear (wrote a couple of posts already).
I'm speaking of the long run cos we will end up at a downloaded norm in just a few years, we are just not there yet.
In the future it will be deluxe & marketing in stores only, while 90% or whatever of the consumers buy and download it online

Audience wont shrink if we speak of products such as WoW. WoW dont need store marketing. The media hype at a new xpac, gaming forums, communities, online promotions, regular commercials will do the job.

[The Riddler]

I made a comic about this very subject. Hopefully good content trumps bad art.

[Deleted]

Of course.

[Masark]

Yes, but keep in mind that the physical product is a relatively small part of the cost.

For example, with books, the cost of printing, shipping, etc. the physical books is only about 11% of the sale price. All the rest goes to editors, proofreaders, typesetters, advertizing, company profit, and of course, the author(s) and those costs don't change any with ebooks.

[Bakis]

I made a comic about this very subject. Hopefully good content trumps bad art.

Haha nice one
We never had ownership of the most imporant aspect of our purchase though. Stupid BLZ and the lease of a character.
Didnt stop me from making a ton of money from my original warlock though

[Splatter]

Because of the exchange rate digital copies are always cheaper here. By the time the stores get them and put their markup on them its often twice the price of a digital copy. Maybe that means the stores are just ripping us off (exchange rate changed, game prices did not). Games mostly cost $90.00-$100.00 USD here, most online versions are around $60-80USD. Either way a digital copy is always my go to purchase.

[Nathiest]

MoP digital copy only cost $29.99 when it first came out.

[Deleted]

MoP digital copy only cost $29.99 when it first came out.

And you could probably get a physical copy for 25 on Amazon.