Cities: Skylines Windows 10 version for the PC

[Grapplehoeker]

I am curious about this is the Xbox release for PC via the Microsoft Store, ported by Tantalus.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/cities-skylines-windows-10-edition/9nwvc7xp3pfd

Just which old build version of the game is this?
It does not appear to incorporate the latest free MT content and I don't see much evidence of any of the other additional content we have for the regular game via Steam.

How does Paradox justify the $40 price tag for an older game version? Is this an antique then? lol

 

[akeela84]

Having a bad day again?
Neither Paradox nor Colossal Order have to justify their prices for a game or the content.

 

[Grapplehoeker]

Having a bad day again?
Neither Paradox nor Colossal Order have to justify their prices for a game or the content.

Please stay on topic and leave the personal jibes out of it. I'm having a remarkable day, thanks for asking.

As I stated I posted this out of curiosity.
I wish to know more about this port by Tantalus. Do you have something to add?
You disagree with me about what? Are you disputing my right to question marketing practise? On what grounds?

My right to question the validity of marketing an older version of a product on the Microsoft Store for the price of $39.99 while continuing to market an updated version costing just 8,96€ at a discount of 68%, on the original full price 27,99€ is in my opinion as a consumer, more than justified.
I am therefore asking for more information from either Paradox or Colossal Order, regarding their involvement in licensing the franchise through Tantalus Media.
It appears that porting the game to the Xbox was perhaps too much for CO and employing the Australian company, Tantalus Media, which is experienced with ports to console is a perfectly reasonable solution. However, the pricing of that console version (which appears outdated) for the PC no less, is certainly questionable. It's more expensive than the Paradox original full price!

So here's the situation for a prospective consumer:
Buy the current up to date game for the PC at 27,99€, or currently 8,96€ via the Steam Store.
Buy an out of date version for the PC at 35.70€ (converted from $39.99) via the Microsoft Store.

This is more than a little disturbing, regardless of how my day has been.
Now, I have every right as a consumer to question this.
I have a duty as a consumer to inform my fellow consumers.
Paradox and Colossal Order may of course reserve comment as is their right to do so. I don't care.
I have also invited Tantalus Media to comment.
Now, what is your opinion?

 

[spartansociety]

Does anyone actually use the MS store? Last I heard MS developed a new version of windows, windows S, to try and force people to use the store (you are not allowed to install any other programs). I can't see this working much better than windows RT.

 

[akeela84]

Please stay on topic and leave the personal jibes out of it. I'm having a remarkable day, thanks for asking.

As I stated I posted this out of curiosity.
I wish to know more about this port by Tantalus. Do you have something to add?
You disagree with me about what? Are you disputing my right to question marketing practise? On what grounds?

My right to question the validity of marketing an older version of a product on the Microsoft Store for the price of $39.99 while continuing to market an updated version costing just 8,96€ at a discount of 68%, on the original full price 27,99€ is in my opinion as a consumer, more than justified.
I am therefore asking for more information from either Paradox or Colossal Order, regarding their involvement in licensing the franchise through Tantalus Media.
It appears that porting the game to the Xbox was perhaps too much for CO and employing the Australian company, Tantalus Media, which is experienced with ports to console is a perfectly reasonable solution. However, the pricing of that console version (which appears outdated) for the PC no less, is certainly questionable. It's more expensive than the Paradox original full price!

So here's the situation for a prospective consumer:
Buy the current up to date game for the PC at 27,99€, or currently 8,96€ via the Steam Store.
Buy an out of date version for the PC at 35.70€ (converted from $39.99) via the Microsoft Store.

This is more than a little disturbing, regardless of how my day has been.
Now, I have every right as a consumer to question this.
I have a duty as a consumer to inform my fellow consumers.
Paradox and Colossal Order may of course reserve comment as is their right to do so. I don't care.
I have also invited Tantalus Media to comment.
Now, what is your opinion?

Before you start accusing people to disagree with your post you should check who is disliking your post.
In this case you wish to know something about Paradox's pricing policy, maybe you should try and contact their sales department for solving your issue and not be writing this on a public forum where you most likely won't get the right answer.
To be honest I don't think you will receive an answer from any of the company about this but you might be lucky.

 

[Grapplehoeker]

Before you start accusing people to disagree with your post you should check who is disliking your post.
In this case you wish to know something about Paradox's pricing policy, maybe you should try and contact their sales department for solving your issue and not be writing this on a public forum where you most likely won't get the right answer.
To be honest I don't think you will receive an answer from any of the company about this but you might be lucky.

I'm accusing nobody of anything. I could care less who likes or dislikes my post. You told me they are not obliged to comment but failed to offer your own opinion about the topic yourself. And by the way, this isn't 'my issue', this is pertinent to all consumers.

I am asking for three things in case you missed it:
1. Which build version is this? What are prospective buyers actually getting for their $39.99?
2. Justification for this pricing policy.
3. Your own opinion on this matter, not whether or not you believe anyone from PI or CO or TM will respond.

Edit: I have since been in contact with Microsoft and their Xbox support representative Harvey D, states that,

Oh, alright. I noticed something. The game offered on our store includes After Dark expansion allowing players to plan and design for their cities’ nightlife and tourist attractions.

Now that's not mentioned on the Microsoft store page and that is an interesting addition which partly explains the $39.99 price tag. However this build version from Tantalus Media is not the same as the current build from CO. It isn't clear exactly how old it is but from the screenshots on the store page and from the video above:
I can see that the Canals and Quays content appear to be missing
and so too the Mass Transit update content (the free content rather than DLC)
and there's no Scenario Editor
there isn't even a hard mode and only two default mods
So, the question regarding justification of price for an older build version albeit bundled with AD is still relevant.

 

[Massive Roy]

I wondered at first if it was a stripped down version for less powerful PCs, like the Xbox version which lacks a lot of what is on offer on the PC version. To me, this made sense.
Then I looked at the minimum and recommended specs, and the windows 10 version and normal version requirements are exactly the same, which then begs the question why?

I'm afraid I cant answer the OPs question, but I do feel for anyone who purchases this if they are capable of running the full game anyway. especially when Steam are selling the full version (not including dlc) for just under £8 at the moment..

 

[The_Kru]

Does anyone actually use the MS store? Last I heard MS developed a new version of windows, windows S, to try and force people to use the store (you are not allowed to install any other programs). I can't see this working much better than windows RT.

FYI Windows S (Version 10 or whatever it is actually called) is not SUPPOSED to be a full windows 10 version for the regular customer. Windows S is for the educational sector. Cheap "Chromebook" like Notebooks version bought by the educational institutions in america for their students.

The MS Store is used in this version to have SAVE access and distribution for educational programs via the MS Store so students can't do shenanigans with the hard-/software on those things. It is not really for the european market here most students have to buy their own it equipment, if they even use it in schools.

Back to topic:
1. Which build version is this? What are prospective buyers actually getting for their $39.99?
=> Nobody on this forum can answer this, only staff members can and that should not be done via forum, but via the distributor in the store.
2. Justification for this pricing policy.
=> Same as Point 1, this is IMHO not the place to discuss this.
3. Your own opinion on this matter, not whether or not you believe anyone from PI or CO or TM will respond.
=> IDC about this, if one is dumb enough to use "XBox Port to PC" when there IS a viable PC Version on its own, pay the price.

 

[Grapplehoeker]

I wondered at first if it was a stripped down version for less powerful PCs, like the Xbox version which lacks a lot of what is on offer on the PC version. To me, this made sense.
Then I looked at the minimum and recommended specs, and the windows 10 version and normal version requirements are exactly the same, which then begs the question why?

I'm afraid I cant answer the OPs question, but I do feel for anyone who purchases this if they are capable of running the full game anyway. especially when Steam are selling the full version (not including dlc) for just under £8 at the moment..

I have since last post, discussed this with Mark Johnson who made the above video. He has confirmed for me that this build version is certainly an old one and probably from around September 2015 when After Dark was released. If therefore, all it has is the After Dark content, then it would be a safe guess to assume that this build is probably based on the 1.2 version of the game. That means it is missing all of the important updates to the game from 1.2 through to the current 1.7.0-f5. That means it does not include the following:

• no Canals n Quays update
• no Terrain Tool update
• no Mass Transit update
• no Increase of several in-game limits
  
• none of the many hot-fixes, patches and optimisations

So, I fail to see how Paradox can re-sell this 18 month old game at more than full price for the original up to date version even with the inclusion of the AD DLC. It's an immoral practise and I'm very disappointed.

 

[Grapplehoeker]

Back to topic:
1. Which build version is this? What are prospective buyers actually getting for their $39.99?
=> Nobody on this forum can answer this, only staff members can and that should not be done via forum, but via the distributor in the store.

I did seek answers by speaking to both the Microsoft Store and Xbox store 'expert' representatives. The pricing policy and overall marketing policy is the responsibility of PI however and an open forum such as this is the perfect place to provide feedback.
As for the build version, through a process of eliminating which updates it is clearly missing, it isn't difficult to approximate the build to 1.2 as I detailed above.

2. Justification for this pricing policy.
=> Same as Point 1, this is IMHO not the place to discuss this.

Really? Are you suggesting that we should refrain from providing feedback and criticique about the policy decisions PI makes? Why is that?
I'm sorry but I disagree. As consumers we have the right to demand more information about a product that is sold with very little information provided. We should also be duty bound through any sense of loyalty for a publisher we are fond of, to let them know when their actions may be detrimental to their reputation.

3. Your own opinion on this matter, not whether or not you believe anyone from PI or CO or TM will respond.
=> IDC about this, if one is dumb enough to use "XBox Port to PC" when there IS a viable PC Version on its own, pay the price.

Thank you for your opinion. We could all use some more compassion...

 

[JimmiG]

It's essentially a *fork*, not an old version. It was forked around 18 months ago, and then developed in parallel with the PC version by Tantalus.

Obviously this version seems kind of pointless on the PC, so I still have to as why they'd release it.

 

[Grapplehoeker]

It's essentially a *fork*, not an old version. It was forked around 18 months ago, and then developed in parallel with the PC version by Tantalus.

Obviously this version seems kind of pointless on the PC, so I still have to as why they'd release it.

It's a very bare-boned fork with literally none of the opimisations and extra content that we have received from CO since September 2015.
Yes, indeed it does beg that question.

 

[The_Kru]

I did seek answers by speaking to both the Microsoft Store and Xbox store 'expert' representatives. The pricing policy and overall marketing policy is the responsibility of PI however and an open forum such as this is the perfect place to provide feedback.
As for the build version, through a process of eliminating which updates it is clearly missing, it isn't difficult to approximate the build to 1.2 as I detailed above.

Well I was referring that nobody can really answer your question. Only staff, because you might come up with a probable set of features the version has, but you cannot be 100% sure.

Really? Are you suggesting that we should refrain from providing feedback and criticique about the policy decisions PI makes? Why is that?
I'm sorry but I disagree. As consumers we have the right to demand more information about a product that is sold with very little information provided. We should also be duty bound through any sense of loyalty for a publisher we are fond of, to let them know when their actions may be detrimental to their reputation.

No I don't say you should refrain from anything. The pricing policy is weird I admit, but nothing "special", there are several different sources where you can buy things...steam, PI site...etc. pp. All having different sales options at different times, maybe it was just forgotten, that there was this special thing...maybe not. I'd rather question why this product exists in the first place, because this specific version is really obsolete in its current existence.

Thank you for your opinion. We could all use some more compassion...

We could all use more common sense also...but yeah I accept your critique of my answer.

 

[ChiefLEGOMAN1]

I have since last post, discussed this with Mark Johnson who made the above video. He has confirmed for me that this build version is certainly an old one and probably from around September 2015 when After Dark was released. If therefore, all it has is the After Dark content, then it would be a safe guess to assume that this build is probably based on the 1.2 version of the game. That means it is missing all of the important updates to the game from 1.2 through to the current 1.7.0-f5. That means it does not include the following:

• no Canals n Quays update
• no Terrain Tool update
• no Mass Transit update
• no Increase of several in-game limits
  
• none of the many hot-fixes, patches and optimisations

So, I fail to see how Paradox can re-sell this 18 month old game at more than full price for the original up to date version even with the inclusion of the AD DLC. It's an immoral practise and I'm very disappointed.

Well it can be quite complicated to port over games from one platform to another as each platform requires different code. They can end up running into bugs that may ruin the experience or even completely ruin the game where you can't play it at all.

I know the game Subnautica is having trouble on Xbox One. All updates are made for the Steam version then ported over to Xbox One. There was a bug they found in one of the updates when they tried porting it over to Xbox One which prevented things from spawning/rendering in and you wouldn't be able to play the game. Because of this bug they have kept back the update and the Xbox One version is now two updates behind.

I'm not saying that CO or PI have run into big issues like this but if they have then this more than justifies the big pricetag.

 

[DRiley97]

Looking at this from a 2020 perspective, there isn't much of a point to the Windows 10 edition anymore, as developers can now sell the normal versions of windows apps on the store, and not only that but most of the windows 10 s mode computers sold don't meet requirements for dedicated graphics processors and only amd powered computers running windows 10 s mode could run this version. and even then, you can get out of s mode for free and get the steam version cheaper. the only people this version appeals to are the people who have xbox game pass ultimate or xbox game pass for pc and do not own the steam version of the game. and even then, the steam version is cheap enough now that its better off buying thta version instead of getting the windows 10 version.