Harmonix Explains Rock Band Europe Pricing

A Harmonix spokesperson has responded to the mild outrage that has been brewing over the extremely high price for Rock Band in Europe. Probably just in time too as the over doubled price of entrance versus the US bundle has a few Europeans a little on edge. It is put very nicely into perspective when you realise that to buy simply the Rock Band bundle plus game will actually run you more that a price of an Xbox 360 arcade. If you’ve doubted up until this point that Rock Band was its own platform, doubt no longer.

So what’s up with the high price tag, other than corporate greed? Blame taxes, “It is more expensive, when you just straight to straight convert the prices you see on the website for the US version, but there’s a myriad of these little differences that all add up. One thing is VAT, which is included in all the UK prices, 17.5%. There’s no tax included in the US prices because tax is different per state. There’s a bunch of little reasons that add up to make the price difference.”