Tuesday 5 October 2010

The rise and fall of the Modern Warfare 2 Economy

Back in 2009, a game was released upon the market. It was the successor to one of the most popular gaming titles of all time, and the next in a long line of popular titles: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

The first game ended its magnificent singleplayer rather down, but was very replayable, and the multiplayer was magnificent.

Every single tidbit of news, every press release and trailer, promised us that the second was going to be amazing. It was going to take the world by force.

The game sold more games than any game before, before it was in stores. It's pre-order sales were the highest on record. When it was released, all other sales-records were broken. And the shops, realizing this game could earn them big money, started stocking up. And how they sold. But games aren't like bread, or clothes. You don't buy the same game later that year. When you've bought it, you have it.

By the time most stores realized they had a golden opportunity to earn thousands, the opportunity had passed. Everyone that wanted the game had bought it. And the stores, all of them, had huge piles of the games. Huge piles and one problem. The people who manufacture, print and sell the cd's to the stores, they only sell at one price. They don't give a damn about sales. So the stores couldn't sell the games any cheaper. They'd make a loss. And the market froze, and it's still frozen.

Modern Warfare 2 is a year old, and that's nearing middle-age by game standards, and it still goes at full price. Most game prices plummet after a year. If they're very good, they'll go at 75% to 50%. anything less, and the price sticks at 30%-50%. But not MW2.
Every store has that game, and they either can't afford it, or they're too thick, to sell it cheaper. Anyone who wanted to pay full price for it, has. Everyone who didn't is still waiting for the price to drop or they buy it off their mates. But like this, the stores are going to keep selling it at a higher price than games that are actually coming out NOW, and no-one is going to buy it. It's kinda sad, really.

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