Age of Empires IV is overpriced for Switzerland residents. Let’s assume this is just a mistake with the exchange rate, and they will fix it soon…
But in case they don’t fix this price, who is responsible for it ?
I tried to contact Xbox Games Studios that sent me to Microsoft who finally said me that this price is due to “the price that developpers fixed to publish this game”. So is it Relic or Xbox Games Studio ?
Kill not the goose that lays the golden egg ! (What ? : The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs - Wikipedia)
Do they realize that even with a price fixed on the US $ with let’s say +1% on the current exchange rate, they will still make more profit for each sold license in Switzerland, than in EU in most of the cases :
Source : European Union value added tax - Wikipedia
- Low sales taxes (I don’t even know if they pay sales taxes, they are maybe exempt from taxes ?)
- Usually no local customers support to set up
- Not additional language support to set up
- Special taxation for big compagnies
There is a reason why “physical box” games have always been cheaper in Switzerland for years than in most of the EU in the past, and compagnies were still making more profit there than in EU…
And guess what : the current company (digital game reseller platform) taking the most market shares on the Swiss market since a couple of years applies prices fixed on the original price (usually US dollar) and the current exchange rate, it’s just a coincidence…