Go to http://ahrefs.com/free and start using the tools today Sony might have just opened one of the weirdest pricing controversies in gaming. Players started noticing something strange on the PlayStation Store. The exact same game would show different prices depending on whether you were logged in or logged out. At first people thought it was just random discounts, but then price tracking sites discovered Sony was quietly testing different discounts on different users behind the scenes. What looked like “dynamic pricing” turned out to be something even more interesting. Sony was experimenting with price elasticity to figure out how much of a discount each person needed before buying. Some players saw huge sales while others paid way more for the exact same game. And this is happening right as Sony faces rising hardware costs, AI driven memory shortages, and pressure to make more money from existing PS5 owners. But Sony is far from alone. Retailers, airlines, grocery apps, and even hotels are increasingly experimenting with surveillance pricing and AI driven personalization. Different people seeing different prices for the same products is becoming way more common, and lawmakers are starting to push back. This video breaks down Sony’s secret pricing experiments, the AI memory crisis squeezing console makers, and the growing war over personalized pricing online. Timestamps: 0:00 - Dynamic Pricing 1:10 - The Algorithm 5:38 - Ahrefs Sponsor 7:35 - The Squeeze 11:42 - Pricing Wars Sources: https://pastebin.com/DWbfJag8 Disclosure: This video is sponsored by Ahrefs. Some of the links in this description may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
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I wouldn’t even call it “buying” a game anymore, now it’s just renting a license to play until they decide to pull it.
Whenever a company uses dynamic pricing I dynamically choose they competitor
Dynamic Pricing = Consumer Discrimination.
If buying isn't ownership then pirating isn't stealing
This is it. THIS is the reason for all the digital ID laws being pushed on us world-wide. Once they figure out the identity of the customer, the cartels will grape everybody's bank account... because they will be able to figure out precisely how much is left in it.
This happens each time at peak of economic cycle right before crash & contraction. Every company tries to squeeze dollar from consumers to hit their QoQ% growth $$. Right now you see that in every sector… with excuse of “AI” doing this. In economics terms, you’ve saturated demand, cost can’t be brought down but you still need growth %. Now you’re at peak of the cycle, there is no way to grow in real economic terms. So you “find” idea of dynamic pricing to maximize revenue. It’s not value added. It is “peak revenue efficiency”…..have ppl pay what they are willing to pay with you(company) having asymmetric information. Then after this, there is no more juice to squeeze for $% growth, then economy crashes.
About two months ago I looked up a game on the PS store on my phone. $29.99. I can afford that. After work, I got home, and before making dinner I hopped on the PS store on my PS4 to download the game. Now, it was $39.99…. I check on my phone again. $39.99. I said fuck it and didn’t buy the game. I’m not playing that game. I was considering buying a PS5. But then the price hiked. Years after release… and, most modern games are just not good. Ended up buying an old PS2 and a bunch of games. Been having an absolute blast.
Concord hidden tax? 🙂
They need to make back that Concord money
Even gamers will eventually walk away from this insanity. You cant just dictate terms to customers.
10:23 After my PS3 burned up, I went retro. This video makes me appreciate my SNES that much more,
Mind you that this is the same company that artificially priced hiked the re-release of Horizon Zero Dawn to 50 euros by effectively delisting the older version which was 20 euros. This was a tale long due coming and they're even more agressive with it now, Disc drives has become optional when buying their new consoles and that should've spoken on it's own, but some people still don't get the message apparently
Personalized prices in general should be illegal.
Dynamic pricing coming to groceries near you soon 🎉😑😑
Shower thought: the longer you wait the cheaper a game becomes.
That absolutely is dynamic pricing. Frequency isn't the core issue, it's plenty frequent enough. Airlines are a prime example of dynamic pricing which should be illegal. If a company is basing it's pricing towards a specific customer on a profile they build with that specific customer, then yes, that's dynamic pricing. Regardless of the frequency or way they are doing it. It's exactly this kind of behavior that has been targeted in courts recently, and for good reason. Once you let it start, it will ALWAYS get worse.
Go to /free and start using the tools today
anything but reducing the CEO’s salary
Its over for Playstation
I wanna go back to 2000s and 2010s where Sony was more recognized than ever. Screw 2020s, I missed their PS2 and PS3 eras.