In the past, we have consistently priced our games below the going market price for PC computer games. Unfortunately, over the past few years, the exchange rate for U.S. dollars to Euro has fluctuated wildly, and has often been unfavorable for us in Germany, to the point where we have been forced to raise prices to deal with the unfavorable exchange rate.

We have considered releasing our games priced strictly in Euro, but we felt that this would only be confusing to the majority of our buyers in the U.S. In addition, we're somewhat limited in our flexibility due to our relationships with our licensing agents.

About European Pricing
OOTP currently lists for €39.99 for all customers in Europe. In strict dollar equivalents, this means that Europeans will pay more than U.S. customers for the game. We'd like to explain this, and while it probably won't make European customers happier, at the time this is our pricing policy.

Since we are based in Germany, we must pay a 19% tax on all sales in Europe. So, we must sell the game for at least 19% more than we do in the U.S. But, more relevant in this case is simply the going rates for products in Europe compared to the U.S. Most computer games cost more in Euros than they do in dollars, and the same goes for many other products. A quick search turns up examples like this:

iTunes song: $0.99 vs €0.99 (equivalent of US $1.41 as of June 1 2009)
Mario Kart Wii: $46 vs €41.45 (equivalent of US $58.61, comparison on Amazon.com in the U.S. vs Amazon.de in Germany as of June 1 2009)

Examples like these can be found throughout Europe. To be sure, there are other examples to be found that don't follow suit, but at this time we feel fairly comfortable that this pricing structure is not unfair, especially given that during the preorder period we offer customers an opportunity to purchase the game at a 25% discount. (Which is a larger discount for European Union customers, since they save €10, while everyone else only saves $10!)

Additionally, OOTP 10 is priced the same as OOTP 9, so we haven't raised prices at all this year to adjust for inflation.

I'd like to stress that we're always willing to listen to polite commentary on this policy, and we will always openly consider how to create a pricing structure that benefits both us and our customers. However, if at some point the pricing structure changes, it will be on a go-forward basis only, just as putting a product on sale doesn't mean that everyone who bought it before the sale gets money back.

Again, we're very sorry if the pricing policy disappoints you. Ultimately, the choice of where to spend your hard-earned money is yours, and of course we will continue to provide a demo so that you can test-drive the game and make an intelligent buying decision. We do hope you will consider buying our games, because we feel it's a great value, even moreso if you preorder!