The Americans have a Sales Tax that is between 0% and 10% depending on state and product. Also I must point out that my maths in my original statement was a bit poor. £12.50 +VAT = £15 We are paying over the odds. This is nothing new. But to solely blaim one company for this is absurd. There are many in the chain. Bungie, Activision, Microsoft, Government. There are likely more factors than this, but people don't like to do research when they can happily shout at a brick wall.