Harmonix denies 'making a killing' on EU Rock Band

VP Greg LoPiccolo defends European price of rhythm game and instruments--which cost twice the US price tag combined--on official forums.

This week, Electronic Arts finally announced a European release date for the rhythm game Rock Band: May 23. The title will be a timed Xbox 360 exclusive in the region, with other formats being released sometime in the summer. The game won't come cheap, despite the delay--a full set of instrument peripherals and a copy of the game will cost £180 ($355) or €240 ($380). In the US, the game plus the instruments has a recommended retail price of $169.99 (£86).

European gamers were less than pleased, with many pointing out that they could buy an Xbox 360 console for less, given the recent price cuts in the region. Now, in response to posts on the official Rock Band site's forums, Greg LoPiccolo, vice president of product development at Harmonix, has offered an explanation.

LoPiccolo says, "We're not making a killing on Rock Band in Europe. We are incredibly sensitive to pricing issues. We are painfully aware that the higher the price we charge, the less copies we'll sell. The fact of the matter is the costs of releasing in Europe are far higher than in the US."

He goes on to justify the price by pointing out a number of things, including the fact that shipping costs for the peripherals are "really high," and the UK price includes the 17.5 percent value-added tax (VAT). He also points out European retailers are free to choose to discount the price themselves, whereas those in the US are not.

LoPiccolo concludes by saying, "We're not gouging you primarily because doing so doesn't serve our interests. We can only build our franchise if you buy our games. You may conclude that Rock Band isn't worth the price charged, and that is your prerogative. But it's not magically going to get cheaper because you wish it to be so."

He insists that Rock Band is worth the sticker price. He finishes by saying, "We've sold a ton of these in the US at a far higher price point than people are used to paying for a video game because it really is a new and different experience that you have to experience to believe. Once you get a crack at it, you'll know whether or not it's worth the money. We think you might decide that it is. OK, I'm going back to work. Thanks for listening."

185 Comments

  • hannify

    Posted May 23, 2008 5:52 am PT

    DO NOT BUY THE DAMN GAME IF YOU THINK ITS EXPENSIVE!!!!!!!!

  • Viper_1989

    Posted May 7, 2008 8:56 am PT

    wrong attitude UnDeAdEvil! if people see the pricing and say "oh well, i'll get it anyway" then nothing will change and we still get ripped off. what people need to do is refuse to buy it, then when sales are low ea will have to lower the price. then maybe we'll get it at the £85 we deserve. I'm trying to gather support for not buying the game to lower the price join my bebo group: http://www.bebo.com/do-not-buy-rock-band. SPREAD THE WORD

  • UnDeAdEviL

    Posted Apr 20, 2008 1:00 pm PT

    Ok i might sound like an idiot but i'm still getting even though it's SO expensive because i've been waiting for this since it's came out so i'm not missing out on playing it

  • KingSigy

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 6:29 am PT

    I didn't actually read this article, I just assumed Rock Band was $200 in Europe. Holy mother of God, $355. That's the price of a good guitar and amp. The hell with this game in Europe. Do something better with your time.

  • littlevicky93

    Posted Apr 14, 2008 9:18 pm PT

    Man I've waited so long for Rock Band, and this is what we get? Double the price-tag. It seems to me that EA see it like this: "They really want this game, because we have had them on hold for about six months. So lets DOUBLE THE PRICE-TAG!"

    F*cker

  • canuter

    Posted Apr 14, 2008 7:50 am PT

    (Ironic mode on)
    Pure logic, shipping costs China-Europe are much more expensive than China-US. Not to mention € is weaker than ever.

  • mikefoy

    Posted Apr 14, 2008 6:48 am PT

    I have just pre-ordered it from play.com, I have given in to these a-holes because I have been looking forward to it so much that I know how gutted I would be come launch day.

    Don't think bad of me just because I am weak but if it turns out to be rubbish I will sell my xbox and take up knitting.

  • Hitman2500

    Posted Apr 14, 2008 6:26 am PT

    harsh

  • Allicrombie Site moderator

    Posted Apr 14, 2008 6:19 am PT

    thats harsh

  • cypher787

    Posted Apr 14, 2008 6:17 am PT

    wow i feel bad for you guys in europe i got this game when it first came out and i think i spent like 240 on it 350 or more ouch

  • juggalo

    Posted Apr 14, 2008 5:40 am PT

    I don't suppose it will make any difference but after months of saving for Rock Band.....I've given up and bought my gf a Wii instead.

    That kind of pricing is insulting and beyond ridiculous. Cheers guys....been buying your games since Amplitude and Frequency. No more.

  • jackanderson

    Posted Apr 14, 2008 3:37 am PT

    So Harmonix are basically saying "Don't blame us. Blame everything else!" Yeah, it ain't working.

  • Irve

    Posted Apr 14, 2008 2:06 am PT

    what a load of bull , considering that GH3 retails for £70 and all your getting for the extra £110 is the drum kit this just reeks of rip off pricing !

  • capedbear

    Posted Apr 14, 2008 12:05 am PT

    I wish it could not be so Greg but since you're taking Europeans for brainless consumers, I will be too dumb to buy this game.

  • ObiKKa

    Posted Apr 13, 2008 10:46 am PT

    Very disconcerting & unfair - this is clearly EA wanting to rip the people off, even if this is the Harmonix guy struggling (hopelessly) to explain the reasons.. F*ck them EA.

    You should boycott them, and just buy the Activision's Guitar Hero franchise games, or just wait for something else to come along from another competitor. I read that there's a little-known, probably indie guitar music game in the works where you can electronically connect the cable from an ACTUAL guitar of your choice into some sort of audio port on the computer and then play the game with it!

  • Me2NiK

    Posted Apr 13, 2008 10:41 am PT

    They're not going to convince too many people, particularly those who do the math. Regarldess of whether or not anyone believes them, the game's still going to sell like crap in Europe. If they wanted to do something about it, they could, but the gaming industry considers it far more profitable to simply ignore Europe.

  • AegisAtreyu

    Posted Apr 13, 2008 10:28 am PT

    After waiting so long for this I don't see why we have to pay more than double. If it was £110 - £115 I could understand the comment about import Tax but 180 quid is taking the pis. "We've sold a ton of these in the US at a far higher price point than people are used to paying for a video game because it really is a new and different experience that you have to experience to believe"

    Yeah but it wasn't alone worth the price of an Xbox360 in the US! Unless they're talking about Ebay sales or something.

  • ctg867

    Posted Apr 13, 2008 8:15 am PT

    Ouch, I feel bad for the guys in Europe, this really sucks. Bull **** explanation or not, this is pretty pathetic on EA's part.

  • brittoss

    Posted Apr 13, 2008 7:26 am PT

    "But it's not magically going to get cheaper because you wish it to be so."
    No, but the we are not going to pay that much for a game attitude will.

  • fantasyfacade

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 9:34 pm PT

    Well that sucks. And I can for one say that shipping costs and VAT should not make that big a dent in the price that I see they are giving. It should have only increased by 50% at most not 120%.

    They are in fact trying to milk money from us. And If Europe is 240€ then it's going to be around 260€ here in Ireland. I'd rather put that into my PS3 fund, then blow it on one game.

  • pigsybum

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 8:01 pm PT

    a Europe launch? who will believe? If it's a europe release they wouldn't even require shipping charges.
    You may be better off shipping in a US set

  • snoz_dawg

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 5:44 pm PT

    if i want to get it that bad ill just buy a cheap american PS2 and a copy of rock band from ebay and save a buttload of cash

  • converse

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 1:59 pm PT

    OK, I don't have £180 to spank on a game and some plastic toys - period. But join me on an imaginary shopping spree with my £180 if you will. I can get Guitar Hero 3 + WIRELESS GUITAR / Buzz TV Quiz + 4 BUZZERS / and Time Crisis 4 + GUN, all for the same amount that E.A. want me to spend on ONE game that to fully enjoy I'd need my mates to live with me permanently, and no offence guys but my lady won't have that anytime soon. Or I could just shrug, keep on playing my Guitar hero games and look forward to the £180 I'm putting toward a cheap holiday to Amsterdam. Oh and by the way, did anyone notice how many peripherals I managed to get in my spending spree? Quite a few wasn't it! E.A. suck my balls... also I think that Abba's pop track 'money money money' may well be on the E.A. Head Office's Rock Band track list at the moment. Grrrrr.

  • converse

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 1:59 pm PT

    OK, I don't have £180 to spank on a game and some plastic toys - period. But join me on an imaginary shopping spree with my £180 if you will. I can get Guitar Hero 3 + WIRELESS GUITAR / Buzz TV Quiz + 4 BUZZERS / and Time Crisis 4 + GUN, all for the same amount that E.A. want me to spend on one Game that to fully enjoy I'd need my mates to live with me permanently, and no offence guys but my lady won't have that anytime soon. Or I could just shrug, keep on playing my Guitar hero games and look forward to the £180 I'm putting toward a cheap holiday to Amsterdam. Oh and by the way, did anyone notice how many peripherals I managed to get in my spending spree? Quite a few wasn't it! E.A. suck my balls.

  • bgranli

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 1:45 pm PT

    "But it's not magically going to get cheaper because you wish it to be so."

    Well, we're not magically going to believe this BS just because you wish it to be so.

  • bgranli

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 1:45 pm PT

    "But it's not magically going to get cheaper because you wish it to be so."

    Way to go LoPiccolo, I bet that comment will blow away all the criticism.

  • dark_phoenix21

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 1:43 pm PT

    Im not saying £180 is reasonable price (hence why its offered in play.com for £140) but if you actually read LoPiccolo's forum post (which you can get into by clicking 'offered an explanation') he makes some good business points (having done a business degree I know what I'm talking about) and there are problems in selling to a massive multi-lingual, multi-governmental continent. especially since this game offers the most peripherals ever offered for a game (flame me if im wrong lol)

    Also, in the forum post he says its his own 'unauthorized' view of the price decision (believe that if you want) but taking it as face value its probably not the sole reasons, but some fair ones (in terms of logistics and tax issues)

    Finally, £180 is the recommended retail price (RRP) which in most retailers never sells for that, so each individual retailer will be vieing for the cheapest package (unless you go to Game uk lol). So I wouldnt be surprised if it starts to be sold nearer £120 in the few weeks after launch.

    If you havent read his post, then I'd say go and have a read because it seems that some people are just picking up on gamespots 'select' phrases from the post and going to town on them. But as I say, Im not sticking up for the decision, no way am I going to pay £180 (or even £140 since i've just got a mortgage lol) but at least read the thing and think about the thinking behind the decision before reacting immediately.

    *raises flame shield*

  • hello871

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 11:34 am PT

    NO SALE!!!

    WTF are these guys thinking... why should Europeans pay double the money and get the game 4 months late???!!!

  • jimmymad

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 9:41 am PT

    Ok, this has to be a joke, right? Not only the Wii version won't get any online capability and they have the nerve to double the price for a game that seems unable to expand?

    Watch out guys, this sounds like Goebbels propaganda to me. You know what he did back then? He was saying "the price of meet (just a fictional example) will go from 10 to 50" and everybody was going berserk. Then he was setting the price to 30 and everybody was saying "We fought and won", although 30 was the price that was planned anyway!

    So, if you see a small drop of the price before release, don't think they listened to us. It's just another Nazi tactic. No matter how long I was expecting this one, I WILL NOT buy if the price doesn't come as close as possible to the American one.

  • jimmymad

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 9:41 am PT

    Ok, this has to be a joke, right? Not only the Wii version won't get any online capability and they have the nerve to double the price for a game that seems unable to expand?

    Watch out guys, this sounds like Goebbels propaganda to me. You know what he did back then? He was saying "the price of meet (just a fictional example) will go from 10 to 50" and everybody was going berserk. Then he was setting the price to 30 and everybody was saying "We fought and won", although 30 was the price that was planned anyway!

    So, if you say a small drop of the price before release, don't think they listened to us. It's just another Nazi tactic. No matter how long I was expecting this one, I WILL NOT buy if the price doesn't come as close as possible to the American one.

  • mikefoy

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 8:44 am PT

    I will probably just buy the guitar so that I can smash it over LoPiccolo's head.

  • rikjuh

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 7:48 am PT

    Oh well, i kinda got used to everything being waaaay more expencive here. Thats why i import everything that i can import cause even with shipping costs its still cheaper to import my DS/PSP/PC games then to buy em here.

  • ColdRush88

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 6:46 am PT

    £180 quid is such a stupid price to charge. You could buy a real instrument for that much, learn and join a real band.

  • smo_doggy

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 6:02 am PT

    Im not sure whats worse, the stupid price point or LoPiccolos' poor defence, "it's not magically going to get cheaper because you wish it to be so." Come on mate, if your going to screw us over, you could at least be nice about it.

  • zeldawrocks

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 4:20 am PT

    Not getting it. Simple as. Make it £120 for both and I would consider it, but not for £180. Thats ridiculous. The worse thing is that people will buy it anyway, because there is no alternative. Importing would cost very similar, if not more.
    Darnit!

  • ShadowClaw48

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 4:14 am PT

    Prime example of a company shooting themselves in the foot. Pissing off an entire customer base is not a smart move!! "Its not magically going to get cheaper because you wish it to be so"
    No m8, its not magic, its called Supply and Demand. If there's no demand for Rock Band (which judging by this forum, is looking likely), then you will have a lot of surplus supply which isnt being turned into cash. What do u do? Sell Rock Band cheaper, just to shift units, or be arrogant and lose a lot of money (£180 per unit...)
    I know what I'd do.
    If u want sales in the UK and EU, SELL IT CHEAPER! Idiots...

  • fishnpeas1

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 2:43 am PT

    My wife and I were really excited about this game, but now we have seen the price, we decided that:

    GTA IV - £39.99 Mario Kart Wii - £34.99 God of War PSP - £29.99
    Time Crisis 4 - £39.99 The World Ends With You - £24.99 Is better value for money AND with that you get a Steering Wheel and a Lightgun - see, pheripherals don't need to be that expensive...

  • iuns

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 2:26 am PT

    UK > EA

  • ZacMad

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 12:50 am PT

    not getting it now
    would have paid £120 max
    no f'ing way

    jes - i thought the sh*t song-packs for GH2 and GH3 were overpriced and dont have the songs you want, and force you to buy 4 songs when you only want 1, very bad,
    but this is horrendous

  • ZacMad

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 12:50 am PT

    not getting it now
    would have paid £120 max
    no f'ing way

    jes - i thought the sh*t song-packs for GH2 and GH3 were bad (and they are) butn this is horrendous

  • KhanhAgE

    Posted Apr 11, 2008 10:23 pm PT

    That last paragraph was pure bull****. I bet if Harmonics had released Rock Band in the US for $355 buck (which is how much they are going to charge the PAL region), the game would have been a COMPLETE flop.

    Also how much more could it possibly cost to ship from China to Europe, instead of from China to the US?

  • Merc1319

    Posted Apr 11, 2008 9:52 pm PT

    WELL WHY THE F*&K DOES AUSTRALIA HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL SEPTEMBER!!!?!?!?!?!

    EA's shipping program must be atrocious if we're getting it almost a whole year after the US. either that or they're so USA-ego-centric that they believe that america is the only place in the world that deseves this game. I play real electric guitar and absolutely love it, so i mainly want this game for parties and stuff, coz it looks like great fun with a whole group, but if Australia is going to be charged this price (or probably higher) i think ill just give EA a bouncing cheque.

    and all this bulls**t about added shipping costs is just an excuse to charge more. they probably pay the chinese a pittance to make the peripherals, so shipping costs to AUS eand europe should still keep the profit margin in the black. this is why big corporations suck. they forget about the consumers and think only of bigger profits.

  • Pete5506

    Posted Apr 11, 2008 6:45 pm PT

    Man what a rip off, dang I would never pay that much

  • bashmentkid

    Posted Apr 11, 2008 6:40 pm PT

    yeah well we can test the BS now cant we? if no one buys it AT ALL then watch the price magically plummet.

  • MatthewNintendo

    Posted Apr 11, 2008 4:18 pm PT

    This guy just made a fool of himself. I think he would have been better off not saying anything. I doubt there's a single person who will believe that load of rubbish.

  • Sharrky

    Posted Apr 11, 2008 4:04 pm PT

    This is absolutely clear to me now that the European game market is not only being neglected (as has been the main experience previously) to now being abused. They are effectively seeing the price that 'they can get away with' whilst still selling a few copies.

    I hope they are ashamed of themselves.

  • jazilla

    Posted Apr 11, 2008 2:55 pm PT

    Let's do some role playing:
    LoPiccolo: We don't care that we are charging you as much( for our virtual music game) as it costs to buy a real, and really good guitar. Deal with it.
    You: OK I will learn to play the real thing then because no one gets a girl playing Rock Band anyway, but people who play for real, get girls all the time.
    That's basically what homeboy is telling all of you in Europe to do, so I offer a suggestion: Do what the man says and learn to play the real thing. There's more in it for you if you do!

  • Calverz

    Posted Apr 11, 2008 2:34 pm PT

    Fair enough it wasnt $1000 but it was probably around $750 but doesnt change the fact it was £500 here!

  • Chiyou

    Posted Apr 11, 2008 2:12 pm PT

    Calverz... the greenback was worth more then the Euro back then... so it wasn't $1000... i'm pretty sure it was! at any rate it wasn't $1000

  • Chiyou

    Posted Apr 11, 2008 2:10 pm PT

    so what are they manufacturing them in teh US then shipping them to Europe? is that why they're so expensive... i'm happy with my 170 price tag... not sure if i'd pay 350 for it... acually i wouldn't :S thats ridiculous... makes ence tho if they have to ship the boxes over there.;. they are quite big! but i don't imagine it would be that hard to manufacture them in Europe....

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