Xbox One Chinese pricing criticized: Microsoft lacks sincerity
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After 14 years of waiting, Xbox finally unveiled its entry into China. Yesterday afternoon, Microsoft China held a press conference in Shanghai, officially announcing that Xbox One will go on sale in China on September 23, with a starting price of 3,699 yuan. This TV game console, which was released as early as 2001, finally entered the Chinese mainland market after 14 years of waiting. Xie Enwei, general manager of Microsoft's Xbox Division in China, revealed at the scene that Microsoft has made a lot of investment in the future entry into China, and Xbox One has become the first game console approved for sale in China through the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. The high price is accused of lack of sincerity. The most controversial thing about the entry of Xbox One into China this time is the pricing. Microsoft announced on the same day that the Chinese version of Xbox One is divided into two versions, a home entertainment version of 3,699 yuan and a first limited edition of 4,299 yuan. Among them, the home entertainment version does not include Kinect, only a game console and a game controller, and gives away Live Gold membership until March 31, as well as two games, "Celebrity Golf" and "Neverwinter ONLINE". The first limited edition includes a game console, a game controller, Kinect, and games such as "Dancing", "Sports Rivals", "Forza Motorsport 5", "Neverwinter Online", and "Celebrity Golf", as well as Live Gold membership until March 31, and one year of Premier League video broadcasting rights. This price is much higher than the expectations of Chinese users, and also much higher than the overseas price of Xbox. In the United States, the Xbox One with Kinect is priced at US$499, about RMB 3,079, plus the average consumption tax rate of 8%, the total price is only RMB 3,325. The version without Kinect is priced at only US$399, about RMB 2,659 including tax. Taking the version without Kinect as an example, the price of the Chinese version of Xbox One is nearly 30% higher than the US price, not counting the discounts given by foreign sellers. Although the Chinese version comes with two games, "Neverwinter Online" is a game developed by Perfect for Xbox, which mainly adopts the free + props charging model, and "Celebrity Golf" is also a "soy sauce type" game. The value of these two games is almost negligible. According to a survey conducted by Sina Technology, more than 50% of the 3,000 netizens who voted said they would not buy the Chinese version of Xbox One, while only 28% said they would. Previously, in a survey on Xbox pricing on JD.com, users had the highest preference for 3599 yuan among the prices of 3299, 3599, 3999, 4299 and 4999, while most users believed that the price of 3999 yuan was the most reasonable. A senior TV game player told Sina Technology at the press conference that after learning the price, he thought the hardware price was much higher than expected. "The price of Xbox in China lacks sincerity, and it also disappoints players who have been waiting for many years. If you want to squeeze out a way out among PC games and mobile games, I'm afraid you can only look at its game pricing strategy and region lock policy next." Game pricing determines success or failure At the press conference, Microsoft said that more than 25 game developers brought more than 70 games developed for Xbox One, including exclusive content, free games, popular games, etc. The biggest highlight of Xbox in China this time is that its game pricing strategy is quite different from that in the United States. In the US market, almost all games adopt a one-time payment, that is, users buy it once and there is no further payment point. The average price is around US$60 (about RMB 370). In the Chinese market, Microsoft introduced the free model for the first time to cater to the habits of Chinese users. Like most Chinese PC online games, the game can be obtained for free, but there are built-in paid props. Currently, 13 Chinese game developers are developing games for Xbox, most of which adopt this charging model. In addition to Perfect World's "Neverwinter Online" that debuted this time, Chinese manufacturers such as Game Bar, Yingpei Games, Snail Games, NetEase, and Tencent are also developing games for Xbox. The head of a domestic manufacturer who is developing games for Xbox said that the free model has been proven to be successful in China, and the revenue contributed by such games to Microsoft will never be lower than that of one-time paid games. Microsoft's high pricing of Xbox hardware is not conducive to its popularization in China, nor is it conducive to the rapid realization of domestic developers. It can be said to be a "lose-lose" situation. Microsoft said that in the future, the price of one-time paid games for Xbox will be between 99 yuan and 249 yuan, which is slightly lower than that abroad. However, Microsoft did not announce the region lock policy at the press conference. Whether the Chinese version of Xbox can play foreign games is the focus of senior players. At the scene, a senior player told Sina Technology that due to strict domestic censorship, most popular foreign games may not be able to enter China. Even if they can enter China, there is a long time difference with foreign countries. "If the Chinese version can run foreign games, senior and high-end players will definitely place orders without hesitation." "The domestic TV game market is actually supported by a group of senior otakus, and senior high-end players are the real main users of Xbox. If Xbox is strictly locked and cannot run foreign games, then its appeal will be greatly reduced. Without the support of these core users, the development of Xbox One in China will also be overshadowed." The above person said. Major channels compete for Xbox sales Although users are gradually looking down on Xbox, the competition for the first release of Xbox One among major sales channels is intensifying. Almost at the same time as Microsoft officially released the price of Xbox, Gome announced its sales strategy. Consumers who participate in the Xbox One pre-sale event can also receive a Gome shopping voucher worth 150 yuan, which can be used to purchase not only Xbox One-related peripheral products, but also digital products such as laptops and tablets. Suning revealed that consumers who pre-order Xbox One only need to deposit 499 yuan to get a gift package worth 1,000 yuan. However, the content of the gift package is still unknown. Tmall will give the first batch of users who pre-order Xbox One a 150 yuan Tmall coupon card, which users can directly use to purchase other Tmall products. This is almost the largest direct discount among all major channels. JD.com launched related publicity as early as June this year, and included all WeChat and mobile QQ shopping entrances into its sales channels. Currently, the first 10,000 people who pre-order on JD.com can get a 100 yuan Jing coupon (no threshold to purchase JD.com products) and a 1,000 yuan Jingdong gift package and a 300 yuan Office 365 voucher. The comprehensive discount is slightly higher than Tmall, but the direct discount is not as strong as Tmall. An e-commerce executive told Sina Technology that for a new product like Xbox One, "we would rather not make money, but we must attract publicity." "This is to piggyback on the Xbox craze. No company wants to miss this opportunity to attract new users and promote themselves, so the price basically gives up their own profit margin. We basically don't make any money selling Xbox," he said. As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity. |
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