Indian gamers got a bit of shock when EA added Battlefield 4 preorders to its Origin store. Rather than the 999rs that’s been the standard launch price in the region for years, the publishers was selling the game at 3499rs (aprox. £40).
The move has sparked a wave of complaints.
EA say the reason is to clamp down on people accessing the region’s lower prices through VPNs (IP masking services that allow you to trick websites into thinking you’re accessing them from a country of your choosing). Considering the previous launch price of 999rs is close to £10 you can see the incentive of bypassing the EA store’s region lock.
EA’s not the only company to be raising prices, though other publishers have been less exuberant in doing so: Ubisoft’s raised its prices 1499rs across the board for new releases.
A number of the complaints on Twitter say that the price hike will mean a rise in piracy.
Well this price hike from EA means the seeders for EA PC games will be 100 times more now #EAPCIndia
— ambar_hitman (@ambar_hitman) July 6, 2013
Though, with a game now costing as much as rent, it’s not surprising:
I hve 2 option now. To play PC Games worth 3999INR or pay my PG Rent 4000INR. @EA @EAIndia r u listening? #EAPCIndia
— Rahul Singh (@toongamerz) July 6, 2013