I really don't care who sets that price. Relying on Google for everyting is also a choice. Especially on Android. If niantic were to handle this themselves through for example the store they already have I could just pay for CORE in USD and have my bank convert that at the ACTUAL rate.
But apart from that, i don't really believe you can't set subscription prices for regions yourself.
Grabbed Fing as another app with subscription plan for reference and that just translates 5 USD to 5 EUR?
So you shouldn't be penalized for living in a certain country?
Nia did this to Russia over a year ago, penalizing people just for being born here. Nia lost her own money. Ummm, now players from other countries will pay for this decision.
I have become a less and less frequent player as anomalies have become less and less of a big deal. While I had a core subscription for the rare times I boot this game up, the price change was enough of a push to make me just cancel it. If I ever start playing again, I'm likely to subscribe even at this cost, as it is not terribly high. But this change in cost shifts it from a "well I'll keep it around" to "i will cancel and renew one month at a time, immediately cancelling right after I sign up so it doesn't keep going."
Another similar subscription I had until recently is Fallout 1st, and that was $99 for 12 months which is a third off of month to month. I would probably buy core again as a lump if it were available with such a discount.
I will also say that the increase in p2w elements was a factor in decreasing how much I want to play. I don't care much about p2w when it comes to anomalies because I don't think it is an enormous factor there (no one at anomaly is short of gear if they are even mildly involved,) but I was even at the height of anomaly play pretty much checked out from the day to day and the increase in CMU for day to day items does not help me feel enthusiastic.
Are you serious? A choice to use the built in Play Store from Google and iOS which would have the most access to pay such functionality? It's the most convenient option where the only companies having the weight to use another site is Netflix, Spotify, Epic Games, Apple, and the option from Niantic with Pokémon Go is very recent.
I personally don't give a **** about google and apple store policies and taxes for electronics in countries other than the US. Since they wrote that $7.99 or equivalent let it be $7.99 and not over 11 for the hell of it. Or remove that word "equivalent" and stop ridiculing yourselves.
Because its local conversion, this is out of niantics hands and i dont defend anyone, i think its crazy how some countries will get 80+% increase that is alot for sure.
This is where I'm at. I've played very minimally in the past month. Opened the game on two separate occasions and both times I was out of town. No real plans to come back to the game seriously unless there is something ground breaking. If I'm in a new town for work, I might grab some uniques because it's almost a habit at this point. But, also, thinking I may dip my toes back into the geocaching world and actually go explore the old fashioned way again...
Can someone provide an actual document from Apple that says any subscription that is priced at 7.99 in USD will cost 9.99 in EUR? I'm pretty sure that is not the case on Google Play, although Niantic does have to tweak the prices on Google to agree with Apple because it looks bad to have higher prices on Apple than on Android (which you may remember happened at the introduction of CORE until Niantic fixed it).
So Niantic almost doubled the price for C.O.R.E., and i decided to cancel this for a while. I've got some reasons for that, and one of them is very personal: red faction. Why should i pay money to a game company that is spoofing world wide under the Machina name? This is the big deal why i canceled it for a while. Countless links are crossing the field, people stopping to control their surroundings, organizing fielding operations came to a standstill. Giving people a reason, a badge to hunt the red portals isn't going to help that.
Second, CMU x4 isn't offering that much i believe. I would expect some more inventory space, like +1000.
There is still a lot of lag. I don't like battle beacons at all. Buying all kinds of gear in the store is going to be pay2win, why? I might reconsider C.O.R.E. if the pay2win and spoofing items dissapear from the game/lifestyle.
55 -> 99 NOK (+80%) in Norway [5.2 USD -> 9.4 USD]. The price is getting similar to a streaming service such as Netflix now...
I have now cancelled my subscription.
I will subscribe back to it if they change the cost back to its previous rate, and keep the current inventory bonus reward.
My guess is that the significant price increase is so that they can go into profit even with the loss of subscribers. I bet there are alot of auto-zombies being reminded to cancel their subscriptions now that google is sending a price change notification to every subscriber.
I cannot financially justify a yearly cost of 113 USD to support ingress. I like this game, but not THAT much. The previous yearly cost of 62.5 USD was hard enough to justify as it was.
Bye-bye C.O.R.E. It was nice having +500 inventory for two years at a price of €5.99 - but with €9.99 it's time to part, especially with consideration to some other recent changes.
One issue too, Niantic bumped CMU with the core price increase, however purchased bundles have recently been much worse in value so it probably balances out.
I'm only keeping C.O.R.E going until November, when the next yearly anniversary comes around - and the next bonus 2/3x AP event occurs. The items in C.O.R.E and CMU will be helpful for that event.
I agree, however if Apple decide to rip their customers off with higher charges and fees, it shouldn't be for Android users to subsidise.
I've never rated Apple, their over rated and expensive products, nor their various strong arm tactics to quash the smaller competitors.
I still think NIA should be looking at putting their games on other App stores, where the fees are lower.
As I've stated before, PoGo is available through the Galaxy (Samsung) store. I think Harry Potter was too, however Ingress never has been.
App purchases seem lower through the Galaxy Store and there are various bonus offers throughout the year on purchases.
The only other way to bypass Apple and Google is to allow a downloadable APK from an external site. Some places in the world allow for players to be directed to external sites to make purchases. However, this was highly battled by Apple in the Epic Games Vs Apple legal action.
I loathe purchasing items through Google Play, knowing full well they take a cut of at least 30% for doing very little - essentially hosting a game, very little, to no promotion of games they host and still allowing many rogue apps to get online.
Many, many mobile games have web stores lately. I would think it would be going around Apple and Android TOS, but who knows. lots of companies/games are doing it. I've used a web store for another game. A game that gives generous credits whenever there is any sort of downtime for any of their clients across multiple systems.
As no further details are being provided, on why the increase is that high and if there are plans on an alternative than the in-app subscription via Apple/Google, I’ve now decided to cancel my subscription until this is resolved!
I really wanna continue my support for Ingress, but atm I really can’t afford to pay almost double the price. Many other goods and services got their price increased, too— but not 82%, not even when compared to prices in 2019 (before Covid) 🙄
[Edit] I had to pay in EUR and I’m not up for a subscription fee of 9,99…
Comments
I really don't care who sets that price. Relying on Google for everyting is also a choice. Especially on Android. If niantic were to handle this themselves through for example the store they already have I could just pay for CORE in USD and have my bank convert that at the ACTUAL rate.
But apart from that, i don't really believe you can't set subscription prices for regions yourself.
Grabbed Fing as another app with subscription plan for reference and that just translates 5 USD to 5 EUR?
So you shouldn't be penalized for living in a certain country?
Nia did this to Russia over a year ago, penalizing people just for being born here. Nia lost her own money. Ummm, now players from other countries will pay for this decision.
So the user in some countries should be punished and niantic think they wont lose more then those that chose accept the new price
Looks like I'll be living without core then. I'm not paying 10€ a month for loads of red trash in front of my door.
Push from google arrived. 80% increase in NOK..
I have become a less and less frequent player as anomalies have become less and less of a big deal. While I had a core subscription for the rare times I boot this game up, the price change was enough of a push to make me just cancel it. If I ever start playing again, I'm likely to subscribe even at this cost, as it is not terribly high. But this change in cost shifts it from a "well I'll keep it around" to "i will cancel and renew one month at a time, immediately cancelling right after I sign up so it doesn't keep going."
Another similar subscription I had until recently is Fallout 1st, and that was $99 for 12 months which is a third off of month to month. I would probably buy core again as a lump if it were available with such a discount.
I will also say that the increase in p2w elements was a factor in decreasing how much I want to play. I don't care much about p2w when it comes to anomalies because I don't think it is an enormous factor there (no one at anomaly is short of gear if they are even mildly involved,) but I was even at the height of anomaly play pretty much checked out from the day to day and the increase in CMU for day to day items does not help me feel enthusiastic.
Are you serious? A choice to use the built in Play Store from Google and iOS which would have the most access to pay such functionality? It's the most convenient option where the only companies having the weight to use another site is Netflix, Spotify, Epic Games, Apple, and the option from Niantic with Pokémon Go is very recent.
"We plan to increase the C.O.R.E. subscription monthly price to $7.99 (USD or equivalent)"
Where the @#&+ does this 9,99eu come from then?!?
I personally don't give a **** about google and apple store policies and taxes for electronics in countries other than the US. Since they wrote that $7.99 or equivalent let it be $7.99 and not over 11 for the hell of it. Or remove that word "equivalent" and stop ridiculing yourselves.
Because its local conversion, this is out of niantics hands and i dont defend anyone, i think its crazy how some countries will get 80+% increase that is alot for sure.
This is where I'm at. I've played very minimally in the past month. Opened the game on two separate occasions and both times I was out of town. No real plans to come back to the game seriously unless there is something ground breaking. If I'm in a new town for work, I might grab some uniques because it's almost a habit at this point. But, also, thinking I may dip my toes back into the geocaching world and actually go explore the old fashioned way again...
Yet this type of pricing doesn't just happen with Niantic...
You know this issue goes beyond Niantic.
The thing with Euro is especially bad as the buying power of the Euro varies hugely in countries within the EU.
(For instance, a litre of fuel (95 octane) is 1.22 EUR in Turkey vs 1.80 in Belgium).
Therefore, Niantic should take this into account when raising prices. In USD there is 60% increase, in PLN converted probably from EUR there is 87%.
Can someone provide an actual document from Apple that says any subscription that is priced at 7.99 in USD will cost 9.99 in EUR? I'm pretty sure that is not the case on Google Play, although Niantic does have to tweak the prices on Google to agree with Apple because it looks bad to have higher prices on Apple than on Android (which you may remember happened at the introduction of CORE until Niantic fixed it).
So Niantic almost doubled the price for C.O.R.E., and i decided to cancel this for a while. I've got some reasons for that, and one of them is very personal: red faction. Why should i pay money to a game company that is spoofing world wide under the Machina name? This is the big deal why i canceled it for a while. Countless links are crossing the field, people stopping to control their surroundings, organizing fielding operations came to a standstill. Giving people a reason, a badge to hunt the red portals isn't going to help that.
Second, CMU x4 isn't offering that much i believe. I would expect some more inventory space, like +1000.
There is still a lot of lag. I don't like battle beacons at all. Buying all kinds of gear in the store is going to be pay2win, why? I might reconsider C.O.R.E. if the pay2win and spoofing items dissapear from the game/lifestyle.
Nice. Vote with your wallet.
55 -> 99 NOK (+80%) in Norway [5.2 USD -> 9.4 USD]. The price is getting similar to a streaming service such as Netflix now...
I have now cancelled my subscription.
I will subscribe back to it if they change the cost back to its previous rate, and keep the current inventory bonus reward.
My guess is that the significant price increase is so that they can go into profit even with the loss of subscribers. I bet there are alot of auto-zombies being reminded to cancel their subscriptions now that google is sending a price change notification to every subscriber.
I cannot financially justify a yearly cost of 113 USD to support ingress. I like this game, but not THAT much. The previous yearly cost of 62.5 USD was hard enough to justify as it was.
Convenience is fine, but not at at any cost.
I'm not going to fork over 10 euro's a month for C.O.R.E. just to satisfy some tech giant's hubris.
Bye-bye C.O.R.E. It was nice having +500 inventory for two years at a price of €5.99 - but with €9.99 it's time to part, especially with consideration to some other recent changes.
One issue too, Niantic bumped CMU with the core price increase, however purchased bundles have recently been much worse in value so it probably balances out.
I'm only keeping C.O.R.E going until November, when the next yearly anniversary comes around - and the next bonus 2/3x AP event occurs. The items in C.O.R.E and CMU will be helpful for that event.
After that it will be going.
I agree, however if Apple decide to rip their customers off with higher charges and fees, it shouldn't be for Android users to subsidise.
I've never rated Apple, their over rated and expensive products, nor their various strong arm tactics to quash the smaller competitors.
I still think NIA should be looking at putting their games on other App stores, where the fees are lower.
As I've stated before, PoGo is available through the Galaxy (Samsung) store. I think Harry Potter was too, however Ingress never has been.
App purchases seem lower through the Galaxy Store and there are various bonus offers throughout the year on purchases.
The only other way to bypass Apple and Google is to allow a downloadable APK from an external site. Some places in the world allow for players to be directed to external sites to make purchases. However, this was highly battled by Apple in the Epic Games Vs Apple legal action.
I loathe purchasing items through Google Play, knowing full well they take a cut of at least 30% for doing very little - essentially hosting a game, very little, to no promotion of games they host and still allowing many rogue apps to get online.
Pokémon GO has a web store where they sell bundles for items in exchange for both in game coins or real money.
Ingress could do the same and offer a discounted subscription pass through that I would think.
Many, many mobile games have web stores lately. I would think it would be going around Apple and Android TOS, but who knows. lots of companies/games are doing it. I've used a web store for another game. A game that gives generous credits whenever there is any sort of downtime for any of their clients across multiple systems.
Something for downtime would be excellent but I don’t expect it for Ingress sadly.
I am sure a webstore for Ingress is at least in the planning stages though
With the current amount of players? I doubt it. That's why it's possible through Pokémon Go first instead of us.
Typical silent treatment from Niantic on the drastic price differences between currencies.
As no further details are being provided, on why the increase is that high and if there are plans on an alternative than the in-app subscription via Apple/Google, I’ve now decided to cancel my subscription until this is resolved!
I really wanna continue my support for Ingress, but atm I really can’t afford to pay almost double the price. Many other goods and services got their price increased, too— but not 82%, not even when compared to prices in 2019 (before Covid) 🙄
[Edit] I had to pay in EUR and I’m not up for a subscription fee of 9,99…