OK, I’m a long-time Cubase user, since v3.5 on the PC and prior to that on the Atari. Generally I keep up with upgrades (I need to as I teach a variety of people, some of whom always have the latest version), but I’m not sure about upgrading to 6.5 - to be blunt it looks to me to be another case of “let’s see who we can squeeze for more cash”, rather than a real upgrade. It’s the first time a .5 has been a paid upgrade, isn’t it?
My question is this - will there be a financial discount for those who have upgraded to 6.5 when 7 comes out? Or, perhaps more to the point, will 6 still be eligible for a reasonable upgrade fee to 7?
Hello,
Dear Cubase customers,
We would like to shed some light on the “Why does an update cost money?” debate.
First an explanation on how we differentiate “upgrade” and “update”:
for example, an upgrade means that you’re moving from Cubase Elements up to Cubase Artist or from Artist to Cubase. An update, on the other hand, is when you’re moving to the next version increment, as in Cubase 5 to 6 or from 6.0.5 to 6.0.6.
There are two kinds of updates: maintenance updates fix bugs and introduce improvements while version updates introduce new features on a wider basis.
Now let’s take a look at the price strategy:
The update from 4 to 5 was 199 euros incl. German VAT. The 5.5 update was for free.
The update from 5 to 6 was 149 euros. The 6.5 update from v6 is now 49.99 euros. As you can see, both these pricing strategies add up to the same 199 euros.
We regard our new strategy as an advantage for the customer because: 1) the price point is the same to former product cycles, i.e., you do not pay in any form more than for previous lifecycle updates. 2) You now split the investment and, 3) you don’t have to go for the 6.5 update if you don’t want to, but you’re still entitled to maintenance updates.
Maintenance will still be free of charge and the 6.0.6 will be obviously the sixth free update in the lifecycle of version 6. A free update for our customers, of course, results in additional costs from our side but we do consider free updates as an absolute requirement and that our customers deserve the best service we can offer.
We hope we could give you an insight on our price structure. We are convinced that this two-step update approach can only be beneficial to you.
Santuzzo wrote:I guess that is basically what I mean, that having 6.5 upgrading to 7 will be less expensive than going from 6.0.x to 7
Hi,
sure 6.5 → 7 Updaters will get a price advantage.
For all who are already up und running on 6.5, I hope you enjoy the new stuff!
Cheers,
Helge
Please stay to one topic Cubase 6.5 / Cubase Artist 6.5 update available - Cubase - Steinberg Forums
Cheers,
Chris