Trine PC Priced at $40?

[ZombiePancakes]

Poking around for more details, I noticed that some sites are listing a digital download of Trine PC for $39.99.

http://trine.gamesplanet.com/trine-game-nobilis.html

Is that the official price point? I can't imagine the forthcoming PSN and XBLA releases will be as costly.

[lowhonor]

this is a ridiculous price point. i was really looking forward to the game until i saw this. i will not be picking this game up for more that 14.99 on psn. this looked like it was going to fall under the 9.99 group, but 29.99 preorder on steam and the 39.99 it mentions after closing the pc demo is RIDICULOUS.

i want official news about the price and why they decided to price this way

[Ark]

7 - 9 hours of gameplay for $29.99 is very reasonable.

[SamWalter]

maby it allot bigger then we thought even so i would gladly pay the developer that kind of money even if it only 4 hours i really loved the demo it felt really refreshing to play like when i played flower it was pritty much pac man in design except in early level were there was nothing that could hurt but in design it were 3d with a very cool twist on it that how i felt when i played this atleast that feeling i got from flower that refreshing felling instead of playing call of duty were it feels like the same game over and over again with a new "cover" not cover like in gears of wars or uncharted but like the cover of a magazine
back to the cod thing the just re-do stuff to the better but it still feels the same after playing cod sense the original one was launched
so great job over at frozenbyte you guys are in finland right ? atleast the company is from finland that what it says on wikipedia if your in finland hello neighbour i'm from sweden anyway the demo was great keep bringing new titles like this

[FB_Lauri]

Hi everyone!

I'm sure the price will be something what will generate a lot of discussion. While guidelines are set by our publisher, in my opinion price around $/€ 30 is very reasonable for a game which production values are very close to a retail title. While we are labeled indie as developers, Trine is far from a game created by a solo hero developer (we have over 20 employees and Trine has contributions from a double amount of people). We are very confident that we can deliver a full retail experience with Trine (hence PC version is sold in retail also for approx 35 to 40 eur/usd!).

However, if players, sales and press show we are wrong we will definitely check the pricing. In the meantime, please check out the $/€ 0,00 demo, add a total of 15 levels and judge by yourself!

[FB_Lauri]

maby it allot bigger then we thought even so i would gladly pay the developer that kind of money even if it only 4 hours i really loved the demo it felt really refreshing to play like when i played flower it was pritty much pac man in design except in early level were there was nothing that could hurt but in design it were 3d with a very cool twist on it that how i felt when i played this atleast that feeling i got from flower that refreshing felling instead of playing call of duty were it feels like the same game over and over again with a new "cover" not cover like in gears of wars or uncharted but like the cover of a magazine
back to the cod thing the just re-do stuff to the better but it still feels the same after playing cod sense the original one was launched
so great job over at frozenbyte you guys are in finland right ? atleast the company is from finland that what it says on wikipedia if your in finland hello neighbour i'm from sweden anyway the demo was great keep bringing new titles like this

Thanks for the support

The gameplay time is double of that, and yes, we are from Finland

[chautemoc]

$30 might be a better price, but I don't think I'm going to feel ripped off or anything at $40. Anyway, you deserve it.

[tomnc]

I played the demo and it's nice -- but, my PC unfortunately is a bit old. Not sure it's a good example of what it will be like on PSN.

Not sure about $40, though. I've been following the game for awhile, and based on other games on PSN and just general familiarity with gaming, I figured it would pop up at $20. (We'll see, won't we? Not sure what the PSN price will be.) Maybe $30 max, but even so, it's more than any other game on PSN. I also think play time is only 1 of many metrics -- the game, features like online play, DLC, replayability, etc. (The replayability seems ok -- I don't know if I'm really going to go back and hunt for extras. When I think great replayability, I think of deathmatch or similar incentives to keep firing it up. Or DLC to keep the game fresh.)

Anyway, I'll reserve final judgment until I see it on PSN or a higher end machine In the meantime, I'd be likely to purchase at $20 day 1. Anything higher, I'd probably wait for a number of reviews and possibly a sale to pick up. Just my 2 cents.

[Kschreck]

So it looks like Steam has the game listed for preorder for $30 with Shadowgrounds for free. Seems like a fair enough price.

[bibi]

come on, how could you honestly have expected anything less than $30? the game is simply beautiful, has physics engine, professional voice actors, nice drawings, soundtrack etc.

the game is $30 and €30, although i'd prefer the price in $ for obvious reasons, i dont have a single problem paying €30 for a game of this quality (assuming the rest of the game keeps the beauty and artistry of the demo). and as stated u even get shadowgrounds for free. so i just preordered! heheheh

[Kordesh]

After playing the demo, I have no doubt the game is worth the $30. Aside from being fun in general, the visuals are just so damn detailed and fluid. Hopefully I can put aside enough to get it at some point ;;. Generally I'd be ready to put out for something like this immidiately, but the economy has kicked me in the teeth pretty bad. I'd go with the boxed version since I get a discount on it, but I'd much rather get it off Steam and not have to deal with whatever DRM the boxed copy ends up getting bogged down with. Time to start counting pennies.

[ZombiePancakes]

I'd have no problems shelling out $40 for Trine, especially after the demo. But I sincerely doubt it'll be $30 or $40 on PSN and Xbox Live Arcade--original games on those services are generally no more than $20.

If consoles get the same game at a significantly reduced price, I'm going to feel a bit ...raw.

[pkt-zer0]

While guidelines are set by our publisher, in my opinion price around $/€ 30 is very reasonable for a game which production values are very close to a retail title. While we are labeled indie as developers, Trine is far from a game created by a solo hero developer (we have over 20 employees and Trine has contributions from a double amount of people). We are very confident that we can deliver a full retail experience with Trine (hence PC version is sold in retail also for approx 35 to 40 eur/usd!).

Let's have some price comparisons then, shall we?

30% more expensive than the Orange Box (HL2+EP1+EP2+TF2+Portal), 100% more expensive than Team Fortress 2. 100% more than Zeno Clash (best selling indie game on Steam), 100% more expensive than World of Goo (compared to 2DBoy's price, not that of Steam), in fact, it's the single most expensive indie game on Steam.

I'm not some sort of marketing genius, but I don't think this'll work out too well. Is there even any game on PSN that's anywhere near 40$?

[FB_Lauri]

Let's have some price comparisons then, shall we?

30% more expensive than the Orange Box (HL2+EP1+EP2+TF2+Portal), 100% more expensive than Team Fortress 2. 100% more than Zeno Clash (best selling indie game on Steam), 100% more expensive than World of Goo (compared to 2DBoy's price, not that of Steam), in fact, it's the single most expensive indie game on Steam.

I'm not some sort of marketing genius, but I don't think this'll work out too well. Is there even any game on PSN that's anywhere near 40$?

As there are so many better and cheaper games this should really be a no-brainer, my honest suggestion for you is to skip Trine.

More generally on topic, it seems that labeling us under "indie" seems to give some people totally wrong image about us doing "cheap", "not real" games, as Trine is not done with anything near indie budget, nor with indie team or anything what includes indie except big heart . We have a publisher and Trine is also published as a retail version, and on a console platform. To be honest, I'm a bit hurt when people think we are a mod team.

Maybe if the reviews also suggest Trine is a bit better than normal indie 7x, then we can maybe keep our pricepoint

Also, I don't understand why the price is a problem, as most games usually get a discount price after a while. The wait is easy when the saved $10 can be spent on cheaper game which can be played until the expensive game gets discount.

As for the PSN price, our publisher and Sony sets it.

[Viking]

Personally I don't have a problem with the pricing. £20 on steam with free SG is a damn fine price point.
But I prefer to have a boxed version, so I'm going to be ordering the retail version from Play which is £25. And I still don't have a complaint with that.

[pkt-zer0]

More generally on topic, it seems that labeling us under "indie" seems to give some people totally wrong image about us doing "cheap", "not real" games, as Trine is not done with anything near indie budget, nor with indie team or anything what includes indie except big heart .

That's not helping your case, though. Quite the contrary. Trine, while a nice game, isn't anywhere near something like ARMA 2 in terms of scale and ambition. I really don't see how that's not obvious.

Maybe if the reviews also suggest Trine is a bit better than normal indie 7x, then we can maybe keep our pricepoint

Braid is the 8th best rated X360 game on Metacritic, on par with the likes of Halo 3 or Gears of War, and it still goes for less than half of Trine's price.

Also, I don't understand why the price is a problem, as most games usually get a discount price after a while. The wait is easy when the saved $10 can be spent on cheaper game which can be played until the expensive game gets discount.

It's not much of a problem for gamers, but it can be a problem for the developers. Not everyone who wanted to buy the game now will care about it a couple months down the road.

But you will probably have access to the sales figures anyway, so you'll see whether I was wrong or not.

[decoy]

Hahahaha i already posted in the other thread why i am not satisfied, many things go without saying but maybe i have to point it out directly


Any small incentive(price in this case) you give to customer, he will likely to pirate it, specially on PC.

THey will always compare it to other games and will make decisions subjectively.

Why i am bothered because even i will buy as a fan of 2D and artstyle, others won't.
There would be fewer no. of gamers like me.


Game is high priced definitely, Look at flower , it rivals everyother AAA game on market, even in graphics and tech, not to mention genre breaking nature. ITs only 10$ for 2 hrs game, which i have played more than 10 hrs .
I play it monthly. Its very relaxing but point is its very cheap even though indie.

Trine on other hand will be compared to flower and fatprincess, crashcommando(later ones provide weeks of fun because they are multiplayer ONLINE), it has more comptetion there, however i think if its in the hands of sony and your publisher, it would not exceed 20$. Even punisher is super cheap only 10$ and they have even added singleplayer story mode now with digital comic art panels which wasn't there at the first place.

[Heisem]

Hahahaha i already posted in the other thread why i am not satisfied, many things go without saying but maybe i have to point it out directly


Any small incentive(price in this case) you give to customer, he will likely to pirate it, specially on PC.

THey will always compare it to other games and will make decisions subjectively.

Why i am bothered because even i will buy as a fan of 2D and artstyle, others won't.
There would be fewer no. of gamers like me.


Game is high priced definitely, Look at flower , it rivals everyother AAA game on market, even in graphics and tech, not to mention genre breaking nature. ITs only 10$ for 2 hrs game, which i have played more than 10 hrs .
I play it monthly. Its very relaxing but point is its very cheap even though indie.

Trine on other hand will be compared to flower and fatprincess, crashcommando(later ones provide weeks of fun because they are multiplayer ONLINE), it has more comptetion there, however i think if its in the hands of sony and your publisher, it would not exceed 20$. Even punisher is super cheap only 10$ and they have even added singleplayer story mode now with digital comic art panels which wasn't there at the first place.

you are totally right...as much as i love Trine and i will buy the game for sure. the price will hurt the sales, as you said flower and punisher are setted for $9.99 and flower offers 5++ hours gameplay (i have flower and took me way more of 5h to beat the game and get all the trophies) plus the big competence of Trine is Fatprinces which to my knowledge will cost at around $9.99-$14.99 and that's what i call cheap...

PD: if Fatprincess comes at cost of $9.99 that will smash all the upcoming PSN titles

[tjm07090]

I understand that some of you are ripped cause your allowance is tight, but you don't know more about price setting than a publisher (Niether do I). Although it's easy for me to justify it's price tag. If you compare Trine to COMPARABLE games you would understand that their price range is great. pkt-zer0 You do realize that prices do depreciate over time, correct? You must also realize that you are comparing the current price tag of all these games, correct? Well it's pretty obvious to me that your comparisons are a little flawd (also I understand your trying to make a point, but your kind of coming off as an ahole... not helping your case). Orange box was a collection of some old games and some new games and it came out at $50 (it was one of the best valued game packs ever, also not the best idea to compare against the best). Trine is a new game plus an old game starting at $30. Seems right on so far.

As for the PSN game prices comparison, first off, Flower, Fat Princess, and Crash Comando don't seem like they're on the same production level as Trine (although on that point I dont have much footing cause its more of a purely subjective argument), but Fatal Ineria is $29.99 on the PSN right now and it doesn't look nearly as original or fun as Trine. Hell they even have an add on pack for burnout paradise thats $30 and it doesnt even include the game. Even the ancient GT 5 is $29.99. My point is there are tons of games around the same price as Trine that aren't half as good. I think the thing that is confusing people the most is the fact that this game is downloadable, but there's a reason it's always refered to as "what could be the best downloadable game" on consoles, because it's not like the average downloadable game... Its WAY better

I'm 100% behind Frozenbyte on this one. To me it's all about how much fun I have playing a game and the demo was awesome! You guys made a hell of a game and I wish you the best success. I cant wait for the psn verison!

[Mr. ShadowStealer]

I think you can find UT3 on Steam for 9,99€/$. Now call that some serious competition.

UT3 excels Trine in all the aspects of a game except the depth of it and the story telling. Even the price/graphics-whatever-you-get-with-your-money ratio is hugely leaning in favor of UT3.

But however these two games aren't even close to each other so I think at least UT3 won't offer significant threat to the sales of Trine. Other one is fast paced brainless FPS with limsy story and other one is story book like 3D 2D platformer with more depth.

Anyway, just saying that even I thought the price would have been a bit lower than that but however you do need to get your money somewhere to live and there's a big group of people behind Trine so they all need their money to live up their lives.

I was just surprised how high the price finally ended up when there were rumors on the forum that it would cost between 20-30. Even it is still a lot cheaper than any big budget games which normally cost 50€ on PC and 60€ on consoles and look not much better than Trine.

[fb_joel]

All I want to say on the situation is that there are many factors that go into pricing (and the same applies to other business things like platforms and release dates). It might be easier for games that have been developed by one-man teams ("just" find the sweet spot that gives maximum revenue, usually that is a price that gamers are happy with) - but when the game is bigger and there's retail and other partners involved (from the beginning), it's not that simple. That's all from me, carry on.

Oh and I don't think we mind being compared to the best in a sense - we do want to create damn great games, so our aim is high. Maybe we won't try to compete with e.g. Valve in the first person shooter genre, but we have enough unique ideas to try to provide game experiences that are equally great, and we will continue to do so in the future.

[Mr. ShadowStealer]

Yay. \o/ The right way to go and that's creating original and unique games with original gameplay which will provide many hours of fun moments.

Games aren't about graphics, sounds, controls or the coolness factor. They are about the idea of a game and how that game plays and how original it is.

[Ark]

UT3 is shallow in every aspect. It's also been out awhile now and there's a reason the price got dropped, nobody played it. Why? Becuase it's a shadow of it's former self.

I wish people would stop bitching about the price.
Frozenbyte have created a unique game with great gameplay and amazing art direction. They deserve every penny.

Still suprises me how people will be crap, run of the mill, generic games that cost twice as much for 4 - 5 hours of gameplay, but won't shell out for quality game's like Trine.

[Syrijon]

I think you should actually be flattered that you are considered an indie developer, as that "label" usually also includes having a certain passion for making fun and interesting games. That's quite different to how large development studios whose number of developers exceeds 100 or 200 are usually perceived I'm not sure if that's true, large development studios lacking passion that is, but anyway, it at least appears to be quite unquestionable that Frozenbyte is "indie" in that way

I think the misconception is rather that "indie" means, as you said, "small", "cheap", etc. At least in my eyes Trine is a very indie game, if only for the creative, unusual, and "modern oldschool" design

Also, I very much liked what the demo offered. In fact, I played through the demo about 5 times now, and I'm still having fun with it for a few reasons. I don't want to go into detail now, but you quite certainly made a wonderful game. If the kind of experience I had is the same in the full version, or even gets better due to more skills, puzzles, etc., I have no doubt that this will be a more worthy purchase than many or most "typical" high-profile big-budget games.

The comparison of Trine's price with that of older games isn't useful, anyway. Trine will also be very cheap in several years, maybe more, maybe less, and none of those older games were as cheap as they are now when they were initially released. Compare Trine's price to that of other newly released games, and you'll find that it's actually a bit cheaper in comparison.



As a side note, while I haven't finished them so far, I loved playing The Lost Vikings 1 & 2, and I was rather disappointed that there wasn't a similar modern game. Not until now, anyway At the very least the warrior's shield actually made me quite sure that you had The Lost Vikings in mind when creating this game

[tomnc]

As there are so many better and cheaper games this should really be a no-brainer, my honest suggestion for you is to skip Trine.

Someone suggesting the price is too high doesn't necessarily mean they won't buy it. Personally, I have a pretty good discretionary income so it might not matter to me if the game is $20 or $50. If I really like it, I'll buy it. But that doesn't mean I think it's a good value.

A few comments though:

1. Even if I'm willing to spend money for it, the higher it is, the fewer will buy it (obviously). Less sales = less community = less chance of future innovation (DLC, online, etc.). The PC is a bit more of a "free market" than PSN, but the predominant price is $10 (USD), while $20 is for premium titles. (I realize you said you didn't control price on PSN.)

2. I need to reserve judgment for the final version, but still think the price is too high without online, DLC, level editing, or other value add features. Just as an example, you can typically find LittleBigPlanet < $50 (I preorded it for around $55 when it was released) ... that game is also a puzzle platformer, local multiplayer, online multiplayer, level editor, extensive DLC, etc. Media Molecule is fairly small, too. Just pointing this out for sake of comparison and not for a "who's better" competition. Indie or not, sold in retail or not, do you think you're close to offering a LBP experience?

3. I'm a bit surprised you'd advise someone to skip Trine. If I responded to a customer and said, "if you can't afford it, buy something else" I wouldn't last long in my profession. There's a flippancy, if you will, in making a comment like that. Personally, I'd just recommend you stay humble and thank people for their opinion. The market will decide, anyway.

Just some random thoughts. Remember that most, if not all, people on this forum want Trine to succeed.