At launch, the respective prices are the same – which is to be expected – but weeks or months afterwards, digital prices sometimes remain the same, while the physical versions go on to receive temporary or permanent discounts. The argument has been made before that digital games should be the cheaper option (as they don’t require discs, cases, or shelf space), and yet, we still see digital versions of games retaining their original pricing, or simply being more expensive. Why is that?

Such a question was posed to Ubisoft during a recent earnings call (via GameSpot), which led to CEO Yves Guillemot addressing the matter.

Guillemot’s explanation details the relationship between digital and in-store pricing, while also comparing how digital prices work on consoles and the PC. Needless to say, the PC side tends to have far more impressive deals than what Xbox Live and PSN offer.

Said the CEO:

Ubisoft CFO Alain Martinez followed up on Guillemot’s statement, explaining that the company doesn’t intend to sell digital games at lower prices than what can be found in stores. At least, not initially:

“We are actually more aggressive on the PC side where digital is very, very strong. We tend to be more conservative on the digital side for more console and more flexible on PC.”

Given a little more time, the PSN price is sure to permanently decrease, or get a discount that’s exclusive to PS Plus members, but it’s still surprising that, eight months out, FC4 is still being sold at full price. Even on Steam, the game still maintains the $59.99 price point, but expect that to change in the very next Steam sale.

Ubisoft said that it’s more “aggressive” with its deals on the PC, but perhaps they’ll bring that same enthusiasm to the Xbox One and PS4 one day. The company isn’t releasing any more of its big games to the last set of consoles, and it looks like their Xbox One games, specifically, could use some help.

How do you feel about different prices between digital and physical games, and how often the former get discounted?

Source: GameSpot