After almost three years since its initial launch, Overwatch will soon make its way to the Nintendo Switch. Unfortunately, it’s safe to assume many potential players won't be willing to pay for the game at its current price tag of $40. In the long run, Blizzard Entertainment stands to benefit from selling the game at cheaper price.
A Strong Beginning
Game developer Blizzard released Overwatch on May 24, 2016, for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Overwatch was Blizzard's first official multiplayer FPS and was an instant success, amassing a player base of 7 million after only one week. The game continued to grow in popularity, and by May of 2018, Blizzard reported that Overwatch had more than 40 million active players and had amassed over one billion dollars in revenue. Several major esports events emerged shortly after the game's launch. Eventually, Blizzard founded the Overwatch League, an organized esports league that required respective teams to pay between 30 and 60 million to join.
Back in 2016, most game publishers still released physical copies of their games. However, around this time, many publishers began offering digital-only sales for PC via Steam, as well as on platforms such as PS4 and Xbox One.
In fact, when Blizzard released Overwatch on the PC, it only came with a digital code voucher, requiring users to input the CD key and download the game through Blizzard's client.
In 2019, most titles are now digital-only, though a select few have physical collectors' editions. This is due in large part to the high costs of physical distribution, but it also stems from consumers wanting to be able to easily switch from one game to another without having to retrieve a physical disc to do so. Even so, many consumers still prefer physical copies of games and are willing to pay higher prices for them.
Releasing Overwatch For $40 Is A Terrible Idea
It's already hard enough to try to convince consumers to spend $60 on a brand new game, especially given numerous flops in recent memory. As such, a $40 asking price for a game that's already three years old seems like a bad idea.
There are a ton of fairly new Switch games that go for $30 and below. Not only is Overwatch easy to port, but Blizzard has already made back the money that it invested in creating the game, plus a whole lot more. The company doesn't need to make money hand over fist when it comes to the Switch. Because of Overwatch League, many consumers are aware how much Blizzard has already profited from the game.
Since it appears Switch purchasers will only get digital copies of Overwatch, it's hard to imagine that anyone would be willing to pay $40 — especially those who already own the game on another platform.
A Lower Price Tag Will Bring Both Veterans and Newcomers
Often, people pass up games because they aren't willing to pay the full retail price. If Blizzard had priced Overwatch for $25 or less, it would not only have garnered new players' attention, but would entice people who own the game on other platforms to repurchase it for Switch. After all, there's an element of the unknown when it comes to Overwatch's Switch performance. If the game has too high a price tag, consumers may pass it up out of fear of spending money for a game that ends up struggling on the platform.
While producing a game can be expensive, a lower price point is sometimes better as it causes more consumers to purchase the game at its outset. In the days of physical copies, it was hard to predict sales and therefore games reflected the costs of production. But, with digital copies, most storefronts handle the server space for the publisher, significantly lowering sales risks.
If Overwatch started at a lower price point, new players would flood Switch. It's likely that a good percentage of those players would spend money on in-game loot boxes. As a result, Blizzard would make far more money than it will ever make at the game's current launch price of $40.
If the game doesn't sell well in the first few weeks, it could very well drop to the price that it should have been to start with.