BHVR are trying to pull the wool over consumer eyes with the price change (Math inside)

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Comments

  • OwlWithMustache
    OwlWithMustache Member Posts: 57
    edited August 2023

    This is the most "That's a you problem" I have ever seen in my life

  • Brokenbones
    Brokenbones Member Posts: 5,169

    If it really was the case that they just wanted to raise the price, then raise the price

    I don't see the need to do this "if you want the real price, use auric cells or pay more" methodology. Apparently other games are doing a similar tactic to this, in their F2P games.

    Also I put it on the forums because imo its the best place for it. Other people can contribute and discuss it, that's the whole point

  • lav3
    lav3 Member Posts: 767

    Just release 2 versions of DLC, one with exclusive/store skin (expensive), one w/o (cheap).

    I have no idea why people defend new DLC price policy and think it is a good trend.

  • ReikoMori
    ReikoMori Member Posts: 3,333
    edited August 2023

    I have bad news for you then.

    The chapter isn't even going to come close to failing because the majority of players are on console to start with.

    Also, even if we don't like the price increases without verbal communication the fact is boycott type responses have never worked in DBD. Ultimately, you need to pick another strategy to make your voice heard because they're not going to take hit financially because even if a plurality of the playerbase do skip the chapter the increased price makes up for a potential drop in sales unless you could galvanize most of the players across all platforms.

    That would have needed to happen before today though cause now the chapter is out and from a technical standpoint is a hit with decent perks, a beloved license, nice cosmetics, and good looking map. These are things that folks are willing to pay an increased cost for by default and I'm surprised this isn't a 15+ USD chapter because they could have gotten away with it easily.

  • Krazzik
    Krazzik Member Posts: 2,475

    It's a shame because for me, 2-character DLC usually costs £5.50, but they're making this one cost £10 due to the extra outfit. I can choose instead to just purchase the two characters with Auric Cells with this still costs £7.50, so I'm still paying more because buying characters with Auric Cells has always been less cost effective than DLCs in the past.

  • IlliterateGenocide
    IlliterateGenocide Member Posts: 6,025

    Well, every survivor actually but they were all just a slight variation on one piece not a whole outfit

  • CatnipLove
    CatnipLove Member Posts: 1,006

    But, you can buy Cage for 500 auric cells without the additional costume.

  • bearr_trap
    bearr_trap Member Posts: 124

    $ 5.93 (Survivor, Killer, no cosmetics, charm)

    $ 6.35 (Two Survivors, a single Killer, a cosmetic for Steve and Nancy )

    Purchased in 2021 (Two survivors, one Killer, no cosmetics, charm)

    $ 12.71 (Two Survivors, one Killer, charm)

    $7.41 (One Survivor, One Killer + Cosmetic for Gabe and Singularity)

    $10.59 (One Survivor + Cosmetic jacket + a whole plethora of voice lines)

    $12.71 (One survivor, one Killer, cosmetic for survivor and charm)


    I think my Silent Hill and Stranger Things chapters were purchased on sale but I'm still dropping it up there since I went through the trouble to gather the screenies.


    Notice how with these LICENSED DLCs come with either more than one survivor, a cosmetic or a charm or a simple mix and match. L-i-c-e-n-s-e-d DLC. Resident Evil and ALIEN are a big franchise, then you have Nicolas Cage who is a celebrity -- he is his own license.

    Non-licensed chapters seems to be cheaper, even with the added cosmetics -- such as for Gabe and Singularity.


    DLCs that didn't call to me, I purchased through Iri Shards - a good alternative to Auric Cells for content I'm not in a hurry to have or overly interested in.


    We also don't know how $$$ the deal, agreement or whatever term you want to use, BHVR and the licensed franchise ended up coming to terms on.

  • mizark3
    mizark3 Member Posts: 2,253

    If they were compensating with a cosmetic, we would get to choose which Alien cosmetic we would get, not be forced into the worst Ripley skin without even an alternative of a Xeno skin (ala Ripley themed chapter pack or Xeno themed chapter pack). We would get our choice of ANY of the release skins. There also isn't an opt-out option for just the Killer and Survivor like normal. This is extremely scummy and shady business practices.

    My pet theory is Disney (the current rights owner of Fox, therefore ALIEN) is too money grubby, and negotiated too high of a revenue split. BHVR would then have to artificially bump the price (forced cosmetic inclusion that nearly no one wants) to falsely justify the forced expenditure. To be fair though, the flaw in my theory is BHVR already did this with Nic Cage, so it (in my mind) is a coin toss as to which is at fault, BHVR or Disney. Alternatively it could be both egging each other on.

  • Nirgendwohin
    Nirgendwohin Member Posts: 1,251
    edited August 2023

    A small detail I want to add to this discussion: Since the Nicolas Cage DLC, BHVR no longer works with independent Steam Keyshops. There you could get the Steam Keys even cheaper.

  • GentlemanFridge
    GentlemanFridge Member Posts: 5,677

    I have a sneaking suspicion this one isn’t on Disney, actually.

    We’ll have to wait for another original chapter to confirm, but I have a feeling this was a choice made by BHVR execs, not so much Disney.

  • mizark3
    mizark3 Member Posts: 2,253

    Yeah, I'm willing to give BHVR some benefit of the doubt (and probably am more than happy to lay the blame down on Disney), but I am under no illusions as to what may actually be happening. As long as there is enough pushback, hopefully this doesn't continue, or at least we are given our choice of forced skin. Personally I wouldn't be complaining if I could have had the Alien Queen or Grid Xeno skin instead. As it stands though, I don't like being given a mediocre skin (at best) and being forced to pay an extra 5 bucks to get the characters. There should always be the characters only option.

    Alternatively if perks weren't tied to DLC ownership, and simply entered the bloodweb (with Prestiging still giving them to all characters for free), I would also be fine with it. Heck, even if you only got 1 random unowned perk tier at L50 on a character that would be fine. That would take 9 prestiges per character you want to add all the new content on, so it would give plenty of playtime to fit a freemium model.

  • Alice_pbg
    Alice_pbg Member Posts: 6,556

    it's disney. they are both greedy and willing to ask for a price increase.

    did they? idk... but I can believe it

  • LittleBigSunset
    LittleBigSunset Member Posts: 252

    Reminds me of Call of Duty now where to get one specific thing you want you have to buy a more expensive bundle that has a load of stuff in it (usually filler nonsense to jack up the price) that you don't want. You can buy the characters separately with cells but you're still getting ripped off compared to previous chapters. Ugh.

  • Brokenbones
    Brokenbones Member Posts: 5,169

    Considering they did it for Nic Cage as well, I doubt disney had anything to do with it personally

  • DrDucky
    DrDucky Member Posts: 675

    Well welcome to life, prices are literally going up everywhere.

  • Brokenbones
    Brokenbones Member Posts: 5,169

    Again, if you feel like you're being ripped off and just put up with it - like I don't see why you should?

    Letting companies walk all over you is never something you should do

  • hailxsatanxeveryxday
    hailxsatanxeveryxday Member Posts: 913

    I mean, I spent $10 on the Rift, anyway. Alien and Ripley are free for me.

    If the Rift stops giving Auric Cells, I'll happily complain with you, but until then, I really don't care.

  • DrDucky
    DrDucky Member Posts: 675

    Then dont buy it, that is literally the only thing that will work. Complaining wont do anything

  • shalo
    shalo Member Posts: 1,528

    Thanks for that info, I was wondering about that, I used to always buy at Humble or GMG because of the extra discount I get but the last DLC available outside of Steam was Wesker, a year ago now.

  • Mr_K
    Mr_K Member Posts: 9,209

    Chapters are based around the killer. So lets bundle a survivor skin and raise the price.

  • crogers271
    crogers271 Member Posts: 1,785

    So in a very real way, BHVR does need our approval, it's only that approval is expressed in the form of purchasing.

    Everyone agrees on this. If you don't want it, don't buy it.

    They can raise their prices, and the consumer can reject the changes by abstaining from purchase, and by encouraging others to do so, if they feel they are unfair. This is how the market should work.

    It's the encouraging others to do so that is silly and waste of time. Everyone can see the numbers and make a decision on whether it is valuable to them or not.

    And make no mistake, while inflation is a thing, a whole lot of what we have seen over the past few years is more collective price gouging/collusion that natural inflation. We had a pandemic supply chain crisis that actually passed pretty quickly, but many unscrupulous companies decided hey could just keep on going with unjustified price increases.

    Is BHVR part of this or did you just want to go on a rant.

    People can just roll with these changes if that's their prerogative, but we shouldn't try to quiet/suppress those who want to point out problems with them.

    No one is suppressing anything, BHVR is allowing this discussion on their own forum, we're just pointing out that its a very silly discussion. Look at the price of the product, if its not worth the value to you, don't buy it.

  • flotaku
    flotaku Member Posts: 60

    What is wrong with you? No really.

    No on is saying that they are forced to buy the DLC, but it's important to have discourse around things like this. Idk why you want to tell others that they shouldn't share their opinion.

    If you are happy to pay more for the DLC that's cool. But don#t tell others "oh just don't buy it then". If a dev studio makes a consumer unfriendly decision, that should be called out.

    Are we entitled to a dev blog? Of course not. But we are entitled to state our opinion on changes to the game. And the BHVR could have circumvented this in different ways. Either by explaining that due to an increase in cost, the DLC will be more expensive, without doing something like only offering it bundled with a skin that a lot of people don't want.

    There simply is no good reason to defend this.

  • Crowman
    Crowman Member Posts: 9,511

    If people are unhappy with the price of a dlc, don't buy it. Simple as that.

    You guys are taking something that has a really simple solution and making into a bigger deal than it is.

  • Brokenbones
    Brokenbones Member Posts: 5,169

    Ah yes the classic "vote with your wallet" argument

    It doesn't work lol

  • Crowman
    Crowman Member Posts: 9,511

    Companies historically keep selling products that people aren't buying

  • Brokenbones
    Brokenbones Member Posts: 5,169

    They also constantly push the boundries against consumers because people just let them do it

  • Crowman
    Crowman Member Posts: 9,511
    edited August 2023

    Because people keep buying. You can complain all you want about this but as long as people are buying the dlc then bvhr has no reason to stop doing it.

    Demanding that bhvr gets your approval or heads up won't change anything.

  • ChurchofPig
    ChurchofPig Member Posts: 2,766

    Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the change but so far it's just been licensed chapters that have had this change. Unless Chapter 31 in March follows this pattern, I'm not going to be too mad. I say 31 because we know 30 is licensed so I'm predicting it'll follow this pattern that Nic Cage and Alien have established.

  • Brokenbones
    Brokenbones Member Posts: 5,169

    I will, I'll keep speaking about it because it's ridiculous. Your arguments basically boil down to:

    "ur overreacting"

    "lol just don't buy it"

    I don't care lmao

    You have no concrete defense of their actions.

    Several people have already stated that if customers don't voice their dissatisfaction, nothing will ever happen or change.

  • HaunterofShadows
    HaunterofShadows Member Posts: 4,092

    I mean it's not like they're actions really need defense is the thing. They may be ######### and greedy, but that's pretty par for the course for any company.

    And while you may disagree with them, crowman is right about one thing. If people keep buying (which they are), bhvr will keep doing it

  • BlueRose
    BlueRose Member Posts: 658

    The whole "just don't buy it" doesnt work either tbh. Voting with your wallet alone is meaningless bc of the whales out there. Today gaming space has shown that companies doesnt have to care if they don't get a few dollars from a few hundred ppl as long as they have whales to feed them the $$$. Look at Gachas, look at Apex, OW2 or Valorant. All these games ppl complain about and don't spend money on but do these companies care to change? No bc they do not have to since they know there is some whale out there who has WAY to money that willing to spend it on overpriced BS.

    A lot of ppl on here are missing the point why ppl are mad about the bundle. They removed an opinion to get the characters at a discount without telling any of us they were going to. They just decided we just charge more for the bundle and throw a ######### skin in there to justify it(and yes both the nick cage and Ripley skins in their bundles are bad, at least imo). At the end of the day will our complaining do anything? No, most likely it won't but I will continue to act on my right to complain about a product that a greedy company is trying to sale me. That is my and your right as consumers.

  • Brokenbones
    Brokenbones Member Posts: 5,169

    Yeah I know people will keep buying, that's the reason why threads like this are kinda necessary in the first place imo. I even mentioned it somewhere that most people are indifferent. Which is fine there's nothing wrong with that necessarily but it doesn't mean if you DO have a problem, you should just shut up and take it. No

    If you don't like something, you talk about it.

  • BlueRose
    BlueRose Member Posts: 658
    edited August 2023

    Thank and same for you! Some of the ppl tho get under my skin. It's like they next complain about gas prices going up or something else. Everyone has the right to voice their opinions on things like prices going up on anything.

  • crogers271
    crogers271 Member Posts: 1,785

    No on is saying that they are forced to buy the DLC, but it's important to have discourse around things like this. Idk why you want to tell others that they shouldn't share their opinion.

    What discourse?

    That's my serious question after this whole thread.

    Companies want to make money. They do this by offering consumers a product for a price. As consumers we want the product, but don't want to pay. Eventually a company either finds a price that enough people are willing to pay that the company turns a profit, or the company goes out of business.

    This entire forum could be filled with posts complaining about the price, but it will mean nothing if its selling. Likewise, not a single person could being talking about the issue, but if the product isn't selling they have a problem.

    Maybe BHVR has additional costs, maybe its licensing fees, maybe they just want to make more money. It doesn't really matter.

    There simply is no good reason to defend this.

    Defend what? The right of a company to set their own prices and consumers to either pay it or not?

  • Brokenbones
    Brokenbones Member Posts: 5,169

    The issue isn't just the price being put up tho, hell I even said I would be okay if the overall price was put up

    The issue is their methodology. How they've raised the price.

    To quote an earlier post, it's not like they went "Here is the alien DLC, it's this price" It's "Here is the Alien Chapter bundle! It has the chapter and a cosmetic you may or may not want, which means we are charging more for it" and if you want to pay the 'cheaper' or 'original' price for the chapter, you MUST buy auric cells and in so doing - you are still paying more.

    All of this could've been avoided if they just gave steam users the option to buy it standalone

  • crogers271
    crogers271 Member Posts: 1,785

    "Here is the Alien Chapter bundle! It has the chapter and a cosmetic you may or may not want, which means we are charging more for it" and if you want to pay the 'cheaper' or 'original' price for the chapter, you MUST buy auric cells and in so doing - you are still paying more.

    Under this logic I should have the right to buy a killer or survivor without the package. That option, to the best of my knowledge, has never existed.

    They are packaging goods and charging for it. Nothing about it is secret, everything you get is disclosed as is the price. Maybe they felt that they had to raise the price for some reason outside their control (license/inflation) and thought throwing an additional product in with it would be a better deal. Maybe they just want to make more money.

    Maybe they went crazy and typed random numbers into the price.

    We all get back to the same issue:

    If its cost is not worth the value to you, don't buy it.

    If you don't like the model of how the game monetization works, don't play it. There are a plethora of alternatives.

  • Brokenbones
    Brokenbones Member Posts: 5,169

    Alright got a counter question for you.

    Why shouldn't people be vocal about not liking it? What is so wrong about it?

  • crogers271
    crogers271 Member Posts: 1,785

    1: your thread is about them pulling the wool over people's eyes. That's just silly.

    2: its kind of like announcements 'I'm leaving DbD forever!' it doesn't really accomplish anything. Stats are what matter.

    3: With extremely rare exceptions, no consumer wants to pay more for a product. You're stating the obvious.

    Don't make it sound like a conspiracy or a moral issue and its just kind of a personal view about whether you value the product or not. Which isn't much of a thread, but you can post it.

  • Brokenbones
    Brokenbones Member Posts: 5,169
    edited August 2023

    1) The title is how it looks with the methodolgy they're using, I'm sorry if you're not a fan of my choice of metaphor.

    2) "it doesn't accomplish anything" neither does you replying to it, then. So by your own logic, you're wasting your own time and should stop, surely. (Personally I don't think it's a waste of time, it's nice to discuss stuff)

    3) That's the thing tho, I wanna support the devs of DBD but I don't wanna support their greedy corporate overlords who are responsible for decison making like this and other recent ones

  • BlueRose
    BlueRose Member Posts: 658

    What I don't get is why so many of you ppl care so much that we are mad and want to voice our opinions. Why are you trying to keep us as consumers doing what is our right and that is complaining about the pricing of something that is trying to sold to us? I think none of us are dumb here, we know if we don't like the value of something we don't have to buy it. For me, I hate the bundle and don't think the skin that is in the bundle is worth the extra $2 since I am mostly a killer main who only plays Survivor an hour a day. The skin btw is awful and wish it was the Grid Xeno skin instead. Either way, I decided to just get the killer for $5 even tho I wanted Rapley but I'm not spending $10. That said it is still my right and others' right to complain about this sudden change of pricing logic even if doesnt do anything. How about this I throw your logic right back at you, If you don't like us complaining then stop looking at this thread. No one is forcing you to look at our complaints right? Like no one forcing us to buy the bundle.

    At the end of the day, we are just mad that an option a lot of us like to get two characters for a slightly lower price is gone now, and are forced to pay $10 for both characters (saving nothing) or pay a higher price for a bundle that has a skin we may not even want. The consumer-friendly way they could have done was simply add two versions of the bundle to the store(a 6.99 bundle with just the charas and an 11.99 bundle with the skin(even tho is ugly as sin))

  • crogers271
    crogers271 Member Posts: 1,785

    2: My chances of persuading people that posts like this are silly, while low, are much higher than forum posts being the thing that impacts BHVR business decisions.

    3: We're back to greedy corporate overlords. They want to make money, you don't want to pay it. Nothing wrong with that, but they aren't separate entities.

  • crogers271
    crogers271 Member Posts: 1,785

    What I don't get is why so many of you ppl care so much that we are mad and want to voice our opinions.

    Because its so silly. No one likes higher prices.

  • BlueRose
    BlueRose Member Posts: 658

    You may think it's silly but a lot of us don't. Once again if you think its silly then stop reading this thread. No one forcing you to be here.

  • DrDucky
    DrDucky Member Posts: 675

    I mean thats what everyone has to do, whales included. If everyone did that the devs would kiss everyone's feet.

  • MrMori
    MrMori Member Posts: 1,608
    edited August 2023

    Good take, me too. Nick is far too expensive for just a single surv, but I would've bought Alien if it was standard price. It's not even that I can't afford it. Just out of principle. Also I'm not that hype for this game right now tbh.

  • flotaku
    flotaku Member Posts: 60

    Idk why you have to be such a smartass about it.

    I won't buy it. But I also will voice my dissatisfaction with the decision to hopefully not see this practice continued in the future