The “Pokémon” series has become a tradition over the years to release dual versions, and many loyal players have long been accustomed to buying two sets at once. However, a recently exposed internal document shows that all this may not be just “traditional”, but has already been included in the official sales strategy. The content of the document shows that The Pokémon Company had considered raising the price of the game from the then US$60 (approximately NT$1,770, HK$470, RM255), and also hoped to further stimulate players to purchase dual versions to increase overall sales.
The dual version means that players are expected to buy two copies!
According to leaked internal planning documents, the official has evaluated three pricing options, including increasing the price of the single version, and maintaining the price of the dual-version package to make players feel that buying two sets at once is “more cost-effective”, thereby encouraging more people to purchase the dual-version directly. The document further listed the sales target at the time, hoping that 41% to 50% of players in the Japanese market would buy two versions at a time, and pointed out that if the proportion dropped, overall sales could decrease by 800,000 to 1 million units.
It’s not that it won’t rise, but that the time has not come yet
The document also mentioned that the price was not directly raised at that time, not because the official gave up, but because the North American market had not yet generally accepted game pricing higher than $60, and was worried about affecting sales performance, so it finally chose to maintain the original price. This document is said to come from the previously exposed Game Freak “Teraleak” data, and the current leaked content has once again triggered heated discussions among players.
It can only be said that Pokémon players have been joking that “the official knows that everyone will buy two copies.” Now it seems that the official not only knows, but has even seriously studied how to make more people willing to pay twice at once. As for whether “Pokémon Winds” and “Pokémon Waves” will adopt higher pricing in the future, there has been no official announcement yet.