Why are expansion packs so expensive?

I did some research this days, it seems The Witcher 3 expansions are cheaper and come with a lot more content, right? It's a AAA game, modern and super realistic graphics, tons of content and depth, the game is so good it won't even run on my pc. And yet the expansions are cheaper or almost the same price (I forgot) as smaller Sims 4 expansions, that is a game from 2014. I really don't play anything else so I can't compare, but yeah The Sims are quite greedy/more expensive than usual from what I've seen. But what can we do, right (except don't buy it hehe). This game is lacking some competition for sure, I wish some other company would give a try at the "life simulator" genre, if nothing else just to make EA step up their game instead of releasing anything at any price expecting that consumers will take it.

I usually do find them overpriced, but at the end of the day it's a price they will sell for and as long as that's the case, it won't change. I'm not all too bothered by it. If I think the EP is worth it, I will pay it, if I don't, I will wait until it's on sale (since if I don't think it's worth the price, I doubt I would really miss the content for another few months). So far I've only bought one EP for the actual price and that was C&D. I got all the others for half the price during sales.

Yeah I definitely think the expansion packs are way too expensive for the content you get. I agree with those who said that usually even more impressive and detailed games, such as The Witcher, didn't have such high prices, especially for their expansion packs. TS4 prices are really surprising, especially considering most of the new gameplay added in the packs for TS4 doesn't even require new animations or anything, they just use another label for the same animation in a different context (except for Cats and dogs obviously, which required a lot of new animations). The mechanics and the gameplay added are not even that developped usually, I mean, one expansion added the ability to do tasks for a job, the other the ability to create a group... Even game packs added more gameplay than that.
I think the reason why the price is so high is to play with the attraction of sales. The packs' price is twice what they are worth, but since there is an Origin sale every two weeks, it boosts sales by making customers think it is a good deal, when actually they pay the price the game actually is worth.

The 40 dollar price tag has been the same pretty much since Sims 2 came out if I remember correctly. We have to remember that games, since the 80s, have not changed much in price for a new one. We always come down harshly on companies for game prices but with inflation this is a product that the price tag has stayed the same for almost 30 years! These companies know gamers won't want to pay much more so they have to keep it at that price and come up with other revenue avenues and that is where DLC comes in. Just food for thought when we are looking at the price of the games we enjoy so much!

"TheDarkRose;d-931361" wrote:
Right, here's something that may cause some screaming. I'm just wondering why the hell the expansions cost so much. £35 for one expansion on top of the base game and whatever ones you already have. It just seems way too much for an expansion, especially when I look at other games that I've played. One has a free base game and expansions are £25. Another is £50 for the whole game and it updates weekly. I'm a hairdresser and I spend around £30 on hair products for the salon every week. With this in mind, £35 for one expansion just seems unreasonable. Is it just me?

Cost of Living? Employees demanding bigger salaries than ten years ago? CEOs or Managers and producers demanding wage increases in the last ten years? Payroll more expensive than it used to be? You know normal stuff like having to pay out more for workers, their perks and benefits and the cost of living to meet those everyday necessities more than they can with ten year old salary caps. Talent cost money.

Whether it's worth it is up to you. They started selling this base game at $60 so yes, since they set the base game to a lower price of $40 they must have forgotten they should lower the EP price to $30 since it shouldn't cost as much as the base. But go figure, they didn't.

"alan650111;c-16210486" wrote:
The 40 dollar price tag has been the same pretty much since Sims 2 came out if I remember correctly. We have to remember that games, since the 80s, have not changed much in price for a new one. We always come down harshly on companies for game prices but with inflation this is a product that the price tag has stayed the same for almost 30 years! These companies know gamers won't want to pay much more so they have to keep it at that price and come up with other revenue avenues and that is where DLC comes in. Just food for thought when we are looking at the price of the games we enjoy so much!

A sims 2 EP was cheaper than a sims 4 EP. At least in my country. I never paid close to £30 for a sims 2 EP. But if I want a sims 4 expansion it’s 34.99

"MidnightAura;c-16211203" wrote:

"alan650111;c-16210486" wrote:
The 40 dollar price tag has been the same pretty much since Sims 2 came out if I remember correctly. We have to remember that games, since the 80s, have not changed much in price for a new one. We always come down harshly on companies for game prices but with inflation this is a product that the price tag has stayed the same for almost 30 years! These companies know gamers won't want to pay much more so they have to keep it at that price and come up with other revenue avenues and that is where DLC comes in. Just food for thought when we are looking at the price of the games we enjoy so much!

A sims 2 EP was cheaper than a sims 4 EP. At least in my country. I never paid close to £30 for a sims 2 EP. But if I want a sims 4 expansion it’s 34.99

It's the US pricing that's been constant. Changing currency valuations will have meant that some other places will have seen changes as a result to compensate. (One of these days, I'm sure, we'll see one in Canada - I was surprised we didn't this time around.)

"HausOfSuper;c-16211253" wrote:
I understand you. It's worst in my country. They doubled the Cats and Dogs EP for no reason, making it more expensive than the base game (!) I'm not buying it till they fix it.

Contrary to popular opinion, EA doesn't have control of other countries' exchange rates or taxation practices. Even though it's digitally delivered, some countries charge import fees for imported products, and that includes video games. If you're upset, contact your government's legislature or taxation bureau to complain.

"stilljustme2;c-16291678" wrote:

"HausOfSuper;c-16211253" wrote:
I understand you. It's worst in my country. They doubled the Cats and Dogs EP for no reason, making it more expensive than the base game (!) I'm not buying it till they fix it.

Contrary to popular opinion, EA doesn't have control of other countries' exchange rates or taxation practices. Even though it's digitally delivered, some countries charge import fees for imported products, and that includes video games. If you're upset, contact your government's legislature or taxation bureau to complain.

Exactly. EA gets the same price they always did for Sims 4, but players countries and stores get everything over that. I cannot understand how anyone can buy anything and not know this. Even when a store has a sale - EA does not get more or less money- they get so much per game - equal for everyone in US dollars - charges over EA's fee for everyone goes to the store and country in which each of us lives. (The store gets the money - they send EA their cost, they send their countries their cost and export fees, and then the store gets the rest.)

To be honest I agree, it is definitely extortionate when we don't get as much content in the Expansions as we did in Sims 3 and previous games' Expansions.

Sims 3 Pets had horses and unicorns that you could ride around the open world, and take to riding school to compete in competitions, as well as small pets and wild animals.

Sims 4 seems to think that they can charge the same price just because they've added a vet clinic, when all we get are cats and dogs that Sims don't even interact with autonomously...

Something doesn't seem right here.