According to a company letter that went out over the Labor Day weekend, Viz Media is raising the prices of its regular digital manga releases from $4.99 a volume to $6.99 beginning October 1. The standard price of its print volumes will remain $9.99.
In a letter addressed to its readers, Viz Media announced the increase in prices and said price rise was, “a difficult decision, but one we need to make to keep up with the cost of gathering great digital manga. Manga purchases by fans worldwide help support hundreds of artists, writers, editors, producers and now engineers who bring you this great content in digital form. These contributors pour their hearts and minds into bringing this content to you, and your purchases allow us to compensate them fairly.” The company also said that prices of its VizBig omnibus editions, which include multiple volumes in a series, will also be changed on October 1.
Beginning around 2009, Viz Media has moved aggressively to transition to digital delivery from launching the online manga magazine Ikki, to the Vizmanga.com website to the Viz Manga app for iOS and Android and most recently simultaneous Japanese/English publication via its Shonen Jump Alpha weekly digital anthology.
The letter states that “Over the last few years, Viz has made a lot of investments to bring you digital manga in a variety of formats. Today you can access VIZManga on the web, and iOS, Android and Kindle apps. The same great content is also available on Nook and Kobo devices. In the next few weeks we will be expanding to two new platforms to give you even more options. These investments would not have been possible without your help. Thank you!”
