Beware of deceptive tactics I've witnessed from Playstation/Sony store.

[marvelvscapcom2]

Hello everyone.

I just wanted to share my experience with a new tactic ive seen playstation partaking in. So others wont get duped like I did. Now im not sure if this is a industry wide issue that effects Nintendo and Xbox. But this has happened to me not once but three times now. And it's borderline predatory. (Also illegal if its a physical retail outlet. Lucky for them they may be safe digitally) but this has been studied before with black friday price manipulation. You can research.


So what Sony does is they advertise a big "end of year" sale. They are sure to remind the customers that this salenl is temporary and ends on _______ random date.   They do this to make you think theirs an imaginary shotclock. Get the sale or else.


It causes users to panic buy thinking this will be the only chance to get the game at that price.


Well guess what? 


Remember the black friday deals on ps store? They never went away.  They just became holiday deals for christmas month. Then what happened? They rebranded the same exact deals as "end of year deals" and guess what? A 4th time as new year deals for January. But its all the same games.  Hogwarts Legacy for 20. God of war ragnarok for 30. It's been so long I can recite these fake deals.


So these were never expiring fleeting deals. They simply changed the price but instead of just saying "new price" they made you believe this was a limited time thing and made you believe it was a fleeting sale to push you to buy quick anticipiating an ending of the sale that never comes.

But heres where it gets worse.... a shady tactic that has scamned at least one other user here and me. It goes deeper.


After sopping up all the cash they can from panic buyers and gamers hoping to get a limited deal. You know what they go and do?  Less than 2 weeks later? They make the game literally FREE. For millions of people.


Anyone here buy god of war ragnarok for 30 bucks last month during the sale?  Well guess what Playstation thinks of your finanical loyalty?  They made the game free lol. So that 30 dollars for a digital token is basically like lighting money on fire.  They do this because you thought it was gonna go up. But not only didnt the sale ever end. They had every intent to make the game free. So why demand 30 from you? Thats a savage marketing scheme.


So they

1. Announce a "limited sale"
2. Limited means forever
3. Once they sop up panic sale buys
4. They make it free to double profits from paid subscription services.

So now

1. Anyone who pays for both subscription and the deal game get screwed.

2. Anyone who doesnt have the subscription but got the deal gets margainally screwed because of deceptive marketing tactics.



To put this in perspective of the level of scummyness.  Itd be like if netflix said "hey. Here is this ultra super duper exclusive movie that only you can get for a limited time. But you gotta buy this service for 20 extra bucks" you jump on that because you feel you have to in order to enjoy this acclaimed movie.  1 week later. They make it free for all the standard users and only after they duped a million suckers into basically donating 20 dollars to the brand. That is just not acceptable.


They did this with

1. TLOU Part 1 remaster (30 dollar sale to free in 1 week)
2. GOW Ragnarok (30 globally less than a week ago now free)
3. Hogwarts Legacy (20 for standard. 20 for deluxe 2 days later)


Its deceptive and sad.  I figured id forewarn any users who are unaware if any. I know you all have probably been around that block. But I just was unaware how that was being done. I'll admit I was stupid. I seen sale. I thought I was getting a good deal. You're just 2 weeks away from it being free lol. I know I was until now.  I will NEVER buy a first party sony game on "sale" because that sale really is almost never truly a sale.  Be warned.

[dhaabi]

While neither the person who's purchased access for one specific digital product nor the person who subscribes to a paid payment plan for that same access actually own the product in question, you've neglected to mention something crucial regarding the lowest tier PlayStation Plus subscription plan. When that subscription plan has ended, any items they've redeemed "for free" (let it be known that they are, in fact, not free) become totally inaccessible. Meanwhile, for anyone who purchases direct access to an item, they don't have to worry about that. How long that access lasts, though, is another matter.

Also, saying that everyone who's directly purchased a digital product like the ones you've mentioned that have also been available as monthly PlayStation Plus games but do not subscribe to that plan has been manipulated seems disingenuous. I'm sure that, whether a digital store item was priced at $20 or $20 at a sales discount or however it's being marketed, plenty of people will just be happy to add the game to their collection for that price.

[Cartagia]

Having access to something because you pay a subscription fee does not make that thing free, and as dhaabi pointed out, if your sub lapses you no longer have access to it (the old XBox Gold did let you keep it, but that's likely one of the main reasons they sunset that service).

As for everything else... yeah.  That's just how marketing and sales have worked for years now.

[marvelvscapcom2]

Having access to something because you pay a subscription fee does not make that thing free, and as dhaabi pointed out, if your sub lapses you no longer have access to it (the old XBox Gold did let you keep it, but that's likely one of the main reasons they sunset that service).

As for everything else... yeah.  That's just how marketing and sales have worked for years now.

While neither the person who's purchased access for one specific digital product nor the person who subscribes to a paid payment plan for that same access actually own the product in question, you've neglected to mention something crucial regarding the lowest tier PlayStation Plus subscription plan. When that subscription plan has ended, any items they've redeemed "for free" (let it be known that they are, in fact, not free) become totally inaccessible. Meanwhile, for anyone who purchases direct access to an item, they don't have to worry about that. How long that access lasts, though, is another matter.

Also, saying that everyone who's directly purchased a digital product like the ones you've mentioned that have also been available as monthly PlayStation Plus games but do not subscribe to that plan has been manipulated seems disingenuous. I'm sure that, whether a digital store item was priced at $20 or $20 at a sales discount or however it's being marketed, plenty of people will just be happy to add the game to their collection for that price.

These are great points. Definitely clears up some of the haze. I was looking at it from the wrong angle. I neglected the actually accessing of the content long term. So in that sense game plus is more like blockbuster vs buying a dvd from ebay?  So their is still benefits to buying the actual content.  I still do wish they would announce games upcoming on free to play like xbox used to. But it would deter sales and I get that too.

But what about the other tactic of pretending a sale has a deadline only to extend it over and over or even increase the discount after basically advertising that this deal is a sort of white whale limited deal? Isnt that false advertising? I honestly am more annoyed when they do this. It seems many retailers do. What do you guys think of that scheme? For example. I bought hogwarts legacy for 23 dollars because I was told "limited time deal available until dec 24th" the game right after went on a new promotion for 20 dollars. Then they did 20 dollars for deluxe edition. The sale price wasnt temporary. If anything it went lower. Itd be sort of like if I sold someone a candy bar as a limited time 1 dollar deal. This will only be this cheap for 1 week. Come one come all.  They buy 100 of them. Then poof I make them 50 cents. That happened to me with a few games. They even put a date deadline assuming the price will return but it actually goes lower or stays on sale. Is this not illegal to do soley because they lied and said a sale was to a specific deadline then redid the deal right after? Im sure they know their loopholes being as big as they are but it does feel wrong to me. 


Either way you guys made me feel better about my copy of god of war ragnarok being physical. It may be free to play but at least my copy will remain accessible. All the more reason to go physical route with modern gaming. So I do feel better about owning it.

[Cartagia]

But what about the other tactic of pretending a sale has a deadline only to extend it over and over or even increase the discount after basically advertising that this deal is a sort of white whale limited deal? Isnt that false advertising? I honestly am more annoyed when they do this. It seems many retailers do. What do you guys think of that scheme? For example. I bought hogwarts legacy for 23 dollars because I was told "limited time deal available until dec 24th" the game right after went on a new promotion for 20 dollars. Then they did 20 dollars for deluxe edition. The sale price wasnt temporary. If anything it went lower. Itd be sort of like if I sold someone a candy bar as a limited time 1 dollar deal. This will only be this cheap for 1 week. Come one come all.  They buy 100 of them. Then poof I make them 50 cents. That happened to me with a few games. They even put a date deadline assuming the price will return but it actually goes lower or stays on sale. Is this not illegal to do soley because they lied and said a sale was to a specific deadline then redid the deal right after? Im sure they know their loopholes being as big as they are but it does feel wrong to me. 

That's not false advertising.  The fact that the price went lower later (which is how pricing works in general), doesn't preclude the fact that the previous sale was only for a limited time.  It doesn't say "And when the sale is over it will go back to MSRP."

[dhaabi]

I don't necessarily disagree with how these marketing practices operate, but it's not exclusive to Sony. It's not even exclusive to digital marketplaces. There are all sorts of sales happening at any given time, and sometimes a newest low point is reached.

If you yourself want to be more aware of digital pricing history for items on the PlayStation Store, then you'd benefit from referring to a third-party site like PS Deals. It seems like Hogwarts Legacy: Digital Deluxe Edition has only just recently dropped to its lowest ever price point of $19.99. It should be known, however, that it's currently adjusted back to its full pricing of $79.99, which I've also verified using the PlayStation Store directly. Even if you purchased it for $23.99, that seems like a good value to me.

Edit:

I still do wish they would announce games upcoming on free to play like xbox used to.

I forgot to respond to this point. Monthly games available to be redeemed for those subscribing to the base PlayStation Plus tier are announced about a week in advance. Here is January's blog post published January 1 detailing which games will be included starting January 7. However, I don't think the same can be said for any higher subscription tier offerings, but I may be wrong.

[sworddude]

Having access to something because you pay a subscription fee does not make that thing free, and as dhaabi pointed out, if your sub lapses you no longer have access to it (the old XBox Gold did let you keep it, but that's likely one of the main reasons they sunset that service).

As for everything else... yeah.  That's just how marketing and sales have worked for years now.

While neither the person who's purchased access for one specific digital product nor the person who subscribes to a paid payment plan for that same access actually own the product in question, you've neglected to mention something crucial regarding the lowest tier PlayStation Plus subscription plan. When that subscription plan has ended, any items they've redeemed "for free" (let it be known that they are, in fact, not free) become totally inaccessible. Meanwhile, for anyone who purchases direct access to an item, they don't have to worry about that. How long that access lasts, though, is another matter.

Also, saying that everyone who's directly purchased a digital product like the ones you've mentioned that have also been available as monthly PlayStation Plus games but do not subscribe to that plan has been manipulated seems disingenuous. I'm sure that, whether a digital store item was priced at $20 or $20 at a sales discount or however it's being marketed, plenty of people will just be happy to add the game to their collection for that price.

These are great points. Definitely clears up some of the haze. I was looking at it from the wrong angle. I neglected the actually accessing of the content long term. So in that sense game plus is more like blockbuster vs buying a dvd from ebay?  So their is still benefits to buying the actual content.  I still do wish they would announce games upcoming on free to play like xbox used to. But it would deter sales and I get that too.

But what about the other tactic of pretending a sale has a deadline only to extend it over and over or even increase the discount after basically advertising that this deal is a sort of white whale limited deal? Isnt that false advertising? I honestly am more annoyed when they do this. It seems many retailers do. What do you guys think of that scheme? For example. I bought hogwarts legacy for 23 dollars because I was told "limited time deal available until dec 24th" the game right after went on a new promotion for 20 dollars. Then they did 20 dollars for deluxe edition. The sale price wasnt temporary. If anything it went lower. Itd be sort of like if I sold someone a candy bar as a limited time 1 dollar deal. This will only be this cheap for 1 week. Come one come all.  They buy 100 of them. Then poof I make them 50 cents. That happened to me with a few games. They even put a date deadline assuming the price will return but it actually goes lower or stays on sale. Is this not illegal to do soley because they lied and said a sale was to a specific deadline then redid the deal right after? Im sure they know their loopholes being as big as they are but it does feel wrong to me. 


Either way you guys made me feel better about my copy of god of war ragnarok being physical. It may be free to play but at least my copy will remain accessible. All the more reason to go physical route with modern gaming. So I do feel better about owning it.

it being free on psplus does not make it free. you pay decent dough for the subscription to have acces to it.

also you can sell your physical copy if your done with it. with digital you just got a nice image to look at. 

in terms of the sales talk. it's legal and especially with digital stuff not an uncommon tactic.