UK stiffed on Test Drive price

Friday 28 July 2006
UK gamers will be required to pay the full price for the Xbox 360 version of Atari'sracer Test Drive Unlimited when it hits the shops this October, despite the fact that it will be released in the US at a discount price.

Atari recently announced that its upcoming 360 version of the racer would be released in the US for a very reasonably priced $40 (around £22), $20 less than the $60 (around £32) asked for most other 360 games. Unfortunately Atari has no plans to offer a similar deal when the game launches in Europe.

Bruno Bonnell, CEO of Atari, confirmed that when the game is released in the UK this October it will cost £50, and told UK games industry publication MCV that it was because "the US and Europe are very different markets in terms of the penetration of Xbox 360 and HDTV.

"The US is much more advanced than Europe so [Atari] believes the time is right to introduce a lower price point. This is why we have chosen to be aggressive, but we won't do that in Europe."

Cheers then.

Above: Test Drive Unlimited is an ambitious, Hawaii-set online racing game