In a weird turn of events, platform puzzler Trine will costs twice as much on PC as it will on PSN, costing $40 instead of $20. Bizarrely, developer Frozenbyte had no clue about the price difference, yet is still defending the decision to price one version considerably more than the other.
"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)," explains one dev on the company's forums. "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!).
"As for the PSN price, our publisher and Sony sets it. Heck, even I don't know it ... I just don't find it fair to compare us to games which have started at similar or higher pricepoints. It's very obvious Trine will eventually cost less, so I guess I just wanted to say that if the price hurts more than waiting, then that's the option."
As well as the $40 retail version, Trine is currently available for pre-order on Steam for $30. The boxed copy is due to ship some time this Summer, while the downloadable version should be available between July 3 and July 10. Somehow I can't see this move proving popular with PC gamers.
[Update: Southpeak sent us an email to say that the official price point for the PC version of Trine is $29.99. The publisher hasn't said much about the game since it was named as a publisher, but that is their official stance on the story.]
Contest:
3:20 PM on 06.29.2009
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Uh, then don't price your game as high as them!
I'll pass until that eventual price drop. So in 2 years? If I can be 'arsed' to remember?
I will be buying it on PSN for the price though, does anyone know if the co-op is local??
Anyway still looks intriguing :]
Is there a PS3 demo?
Frostbyte/Southpeak say there will be one but it will be in an update 2-3 weeks after the game's release.
If you can though download the PC demo and set it on low (if your PC isn't great). You should be able to get an idea of how it plays.
Who said anything about a price hike? Quite a few PSN games have sold for $20, so it's only a pain if your getting it for PC.
That's just too much.
It's fun, and I loved the demo, but it's not the kind of game I'd pay near-retail price for, especailly considering the full game is "only" 15 levels in length.
15 levels is a good amount, but Portal was a respectable $20 and Trine looks to be around the same length/replay value as portal was.
I'll only be picking this up if they have a 50% off special (which Steam does often) sometime down the line.