#EAPCIndia RT @GriddleOctopus: EA's games in India have gone from 999 rs up to 3499. RT@Manpuncher: My rent is 9,000 rs, for comparison— Sameer Desai (@HundredProofSam) July 5, 2013
Dramatic price hikes on EA games in India will see titles like Battlefield 4 cost more than double the launch price of their predecessors.
It was revealed earlier this week that new titles in some of EA’s most popular franchises would see dramatic price increases in India. The forthcoming Battlefield 4 and Need for Speed: Rivals, for instance, are listing for Rs3499 ($58) on PC, compared to launch prices of Rs999 for their predecessors Battlefield 3 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted; the PC version of FIFA 14 will see its price increased by 66 percent over FIFA 13, from Rs999 to Rs2499. Non-EA games are going up as well but not nearly dramatically: The PC versions of Watch Dogs, Assassin’s Creed IV and Splinter Cell: Blacklist are all being listed for preorder at Rs1499.
Rs999 has apparently been the “standard” price for new PC releases in India for some time, and although console prices are going up as well, the increase isn’t nearly as dramatic. The PS3 edition of FIFA 14 is going up to Rs3499 from Rs2999 for the 2013 release, a far-more-palatable jump of 16 percent, while Battlefield 4 and Need for Speed: Rivals are going up the same amount. EA Regional Director Chris Gatherer said in June that the goal is to bring PC game prices in India in line with the rest of the world in order to clamp down on gamers who have been accessing Origin India via VPN to take advantage of the region’s lower pricing.
As you can imagine, this has not gone over well with Indian gamers, who have taken to Twitter to express their anger with the #EAPCIndia hashtag. One compared the Rs3499 price point to his rent, which is Rs9000, and many others have noted that the move will likely result in even higher levels of piracy in the region.
Source: MCV India
