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Are There Just Some Games That Never Go On Sale? (and Games That Have Stopped Having Sales)

The7thINFANTRY

By The7thINFANTRY
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The7thINFANTRY Apprentice

The7thINFANTRY

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I've had a few games that I've had on my wishlist/saved for quite some time now that to this day have never gone on sale. We can usually see trends in sales of any game on PSN using PSPrices such as if a game is generally going down in price over time and its frequency of sales yet I've noticed some games have never had a discount.

 

For example, Eternal Ring has been out since early 2017 without a single sale. Fatal Twelve is another example, though that one is a bit more recent (2019).

 

Another anomaly I've noticed are games that have had frequent sales for a time yet have stopped having discounts altogether. Cosmic Star Heroine was released in 2017 and had some discounts into 2020 yet has stopped completely since then. It makes me wonder if I should just get the game now since it seems there won't be anymore.

 

I just wonder if there are specific reasons why certain games have never gone on sale and why some have stopped having sales (for years now)- I'm assuming it's up to the developers and/or publishers?

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10 minutes ago, jgm4789 said:

Summon night 6 in particular never went on sale once until one day it was delisted without warning(vita version is still available in the us for some reason). Its probably because gaijinworks went mia a few years after its release though.

 

Though that may have been a unique case given that it was Gaijinworks it makes me want to buy the games I have mentioned ASAP.

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ZitMeatloaf Experienced

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31 minutes ago, The7thINFANTRY said:

I just wonder if there are specific reasons why certain games have never gone on sale and why some have stopped having sales (for years now)- I'm assuming it's up to the developers and/or publishers?

That's definitely part of it, but I think publishers also need approval from Sony to offer their games on sale on the Playstation Store.

 

I seem to remember some information came out about this from a developer or publisher a few years ago during a controversy about the PlayStation store. I think the controversy had something to do with companies paying to have their games promoted on the store (which makes sense), but during the conversation a dev posted something on Reddit or Twitter that they'd like to offer some of their games on sale, but they need approval and/or an invitation from Sony to do that.

 

For context, I think this was around the same time that the Nintendo eShop was being flooded with garbage games that the publishers were only charging a couple of bucks at full price, but were constantly putting on sale for like 6 cents so the games would always be pushed to the top of the list when sorted by price. My guess is Sony is trying to avoid scenarios like that, and also doesn't want their storefront to be too well known for offering unlimited and frequent sales. They want customers to also be paying full price at times and not be completely conditioned to only buy games on sale.

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7 minutes ago, ZitMeatloaf said:

That's definitely part of it, but I think publishers also need approval from Sony to offer their games on sale on the Playstation Store.

 

I seem to remember some information came out about this from a developer or publisher a few years ago during a controversy about the PlayStation store. I think the controversy had something to do with companies paying to have their games promoted on the store (which makes sense), but during the conversation a dev posted something on Reddit or Twitter that they'd like to offer some of their games on sale, but they need approval and/or an invitation from Sony to do that.

 

For context, I think this was around the same time that the Nintendo eShop was being flooded with garbage games that the publishers were only charging a couple of bucks at full price, but were constantly putting on sale for like 6 cents so the games would always be pushed to the top of the list when sorted by price. My guess is Sony is trying to avoid scenarios like that, and also doesn't want their storefront to be too well known for offering unlimited and frequent sales. They want customers to also be paying full price at times and not be completely conditioned to only buy games on sale.

 

Do you have the link to the thread? Would like to read a bit more on it.

I can see the invitation from Sony being possibly to align with the "theme" of the sale maybe? For example, for the yearly Halloween sale Sony would want more "scary" or "survival"-esque games being put on sale rather than just any title however as we've seen most sales, including themed ones such as the Halloween one, there's always room for a bit of shovelware somehow.

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7 minutes ago, ChocoDoc1 said:

I noticed Samurai Jack and the Steven Universe games stopped having discounts wish they gave a sale again. Missed my chance before.

 

I've noticed some titles have significant gaps in between having sales as well. I recently got Rogue Trooper Redux and that had over a year gap at one point with no discounts. Ikaruga is another example with an almost three year gap in between sales. I wouldn't give up hope with those two you mentioned!

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1 hour ago, RedDevil757 said:

It's not even on the UK store :(

 

Possibly a legal publishing/licensing issue? It seems the original PS2 version released in the EU way back when.

 

53 minutes ago, fenrir54565 said:

dragon quest heroes 1 and 2 stopped going on sale on psn and steam on September 2021. nights of azure stopped going on sale on February 2020 and started again on September 2023.

Nights of Azure PS4 — buy online and track price history — PS Deals New Zealand

 

That is a huge gap in between sales. That even beats Ikaruga!

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ChiefMichigan Experienced

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Sony disabled sales for PS3 and Vita games years ago, at least by 2019 IIRC. The only ones of those you can still get on sale sometimes on PSN have to be cross-buy with PS4. 

And yes, some game releases and DLC never go on sale.

Some also stop going on sale for years or more at a time. Stardew Valley just went on sale for at least the first time since November 2020. 

Despite how massive of a software store the PS Store is, I think they'd get a lot of pushback from publishers and less titles released if they outright mandated games to go on sale at least once. 

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Dry Veteran

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26 minutes ago, Dangisuckatgamin said:

The sales have gotten far worse overall.

Cannot believe games that are almost a year old are barely making it under $50.

Ridiculous. I don't even buy games much anymore because I don't think most are worth anything more than $30.

 

Agreed completely.

 

This has very much been the case with PS Studios titles for as long as (dare anyone mention him once more) Jim Ryan has been CEO of SIE. Considering how many millions these games have already sold you would think they've be discounted at a greater percentage than the %'s featured over the past three or so months?

 

Oh and yes I'm well aware Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Horizon: Forbidden West etc. are available to play through the PS Plus extra tier but I don't see how the greater demand for an active subscription needed to play the games on offer over actually purchasing them is the justification for the 20, 30 or 40 percent discounts on products within a couple years post launch.

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Xylobe Enthusiast

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Firewatch didn't go on sale once between May 2018 and August 2022-- almost the full period between God of War 2018 and Ragnarok.

 

Heaven's Vault has never been on sale since its launch in 2019, except for a 20% launch discount for PS+ members. Bizarrely it's had plenty of sales on Switch, on top of a lower base price.

 

20 minutes ago, Thedah said:

I've been waiting for Pier Solar and the Great Architects to go on sale for years now. I think it hasn't been on sale since 2016.

 

The last sale was in August of 2015, less than a year after its release. Feels safe to say that you'll be waiting a while.

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Pray_4_the_End Enthusiast

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4 minutes ago, Xylobe said:

Firewatch didn't go on sale once between May 2018 and August 2022

 

 

^^This^^ is the game I was gonna mention. Firewatch is awesome and a buddy of mine around that time kept suggesting it to me. I was always like I'll catch it when it goes on sale and it literally never did for years! Finally ended up picking it up last year for way cheaper, but it's still baffling that it took so long for it to drop in price in the first place. 

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l33sar54 Explorer

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7 minutes ago, Xylobe said:

Firewatch didn't go on sale once between May 2018 and August 2022-- almost the full period between God of War 2018 and Ragnarok.

 

Heaven's Vault has never been on sale since its launch in 2019, except for a 20% launch discount for PS+ members. Bizarrely it's had plenty of sales on Switch, on top of a lower base price.

 

 

The last sale was in August of 2015, less than a year after its release. Feels safe to say that you'll be waiting a while.

While it doesn't change the facts you posted, just a heads-up that Firewatch just went on sale today so for those who have been waiting, grab it.

 

I have one game I want to get but it has never gone on sale: CLANNAD. It's a visual novel with, ugh, let's say unique art style. I want to try it but paying full price for it is a bit too rich for my blood. Ah well, maybe someday.

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ZitMeatloaf Experienced

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@The7thINFANTRY did a bit of digging and while I'm not sure this is the exact thread, it does mention sales are by invite only and the store controversy sounds familiar from the time:

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/oayptn/sonys_psn_store_charges_devs_at_least_25000_for/

 

As one user puts it, "Sale discounts are invite only and some indie devs have to wait YEARS to get approval. There is nothing an indie dev can do to get an invite. This is different on other platforms where the publisher/developer gets to decide how they price their game." That exact language isn't used in the linked article, but as I mentioned before I remember Mystic talking about this as well, so it seems likely that multiple devs backed this up.

 

Anyway, all of this doesn't mean it's the only reason some games never go on sale, I just wanted to mention that it might be a contributing factor.

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