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Trine Project “A Big Mess,” Says Developer
Shadowgrounds developer Frozenbyte has admitted that the cross-platform launch of Trine, marred by a controversial gap between PC and PS3 price points, is “not really the optimal way to do a game launch.”
In an interview with Eurogamer, studio spokesperson Joel Kinnunen describes the project as “a big mess,” but insists that the game, available for PC on July 10, is “the part that really matters.”
Trine is a collaborative side-scrolling puzzler in which three characters - a Wizard, a Thief and a Warrior – use distinctive powers to deal with enemies and obstacles. Available now in the US, the PC version retails for USD$30 (£18), which has raised eyebrows when compared to the price of the unreleased PS3 version: USD$20 (£13). The disparity has been condemned by some of the developer’s forum users, though many consider both prices reasonable.
Nevertheless, the Finnish studio is apologetic, describing multiplatform pricing as “unbelievably complex when there’s so many partners involved,” comparing it to the general gap between US and European retail prices. “We never had the same problems in this scale with our Shadowgrounds games so this whole situation caught us by surprise,” adds Kinnunen. “We’ll be better prepared in the future.”
The release date for the PSN version of Trine remains unknown, the game currently subject to lengthy QA. The developer won’t be drawn on an XBLA version, meanwhile, despite persistent rumours and its ‘confirmation’ by US publisher Atlus at E3. International prices for the PSN version are a further mystery, though an announcement is expected soon.
Update: Frozenbyte has advised Edge that the online price for Trine on PC is now a uniform USD$30 (£18). "We got that mess sorted out with our publisher Nobilis," says Kinnunen, "and we're really happy that it's now consistent across the board." International PSN prices should fall in line with the US release, he adds, though the release date remains unknown. The game's North American retail version, meanwhile, published by SouthPeak Games, is priced at USD$29.99.
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Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court 30 Monmouth Street Bath, UK BA1 2BW
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
Frozenbyte's publishers committed a deadly sin: treating internet users unequal.
The PC game will cost $30 in the U.S. and on Steam. If you want to buy it in Europe though, Steam will charge you 30€, which currently is $55. So the Steam version is purely a rip-off for Europeans. The PSN version's 20€ tag is far closer to the reality of $30. Of course if Europeans decide to buy it on the U.S. PSN store (which is easy as pie), they will only pay 15€.
One might get away with such crazy prizing, if customers did not know each other, but this is the global village. Everybody is just one picket fence away from taking a dump on your lawn.