[bloaf]

I think this is the key thing. The problem isn't that Valve charged too much. The problem is that people thought Valve was charging too much. Why did they think that? It is because the pricing was too "in your face" and prevented you from actually playing the game. People will spend a lot [0] so long as they feel like they aren't being forced into it.

[0] https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/4by4e4/pol...

[CydeWeys]

> The problem isn't that Valve charged too much. The problem is that people thought Valve was charging too much.

I don't think this is a meaningful distinction. The correct price is determined in large part by whatever people are willing to pay. The vast majority of the addressable customer base deciding that a price is too high means that it effectively is too high. Valve certainly hasn't maximized their profit at the current price level. And since the marginal cost of offering more product on digital goods is effectively zero, they have a wide range of options in addressing the problem, unlike manufacturers of physical goods who have a base price level of the cost of manufacture.

[bloaf]

But what I am saying is that Valve could have kept the game effectively the same price and avoided the criticism by changing how they charged the player.