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[Eurogamer] We need to talk about the cost of next-gen video games

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dex3108

dex3108

Member
Oct 26, 2017
22,598
Next-gen video games cost £70 - this is something that has become apparent in the last month.

Sony, with the in-demand PlayStation 5 near launch, has decided Demon's Souls, Destruction AllStars, and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition all cost £69.99 each. On ShopTo, Gran Turismo 7 costs £69.85 - 14 pence cheaper than RRP. So does PS5 game Returnal. Clearly, if you want to get into PS5 gaming, the true cost of next-gen is £70 games.
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But Sony is not alone in selling £70 next-gen games. I've had a look around, and I can't help but feel we're being shafted. PS5 launch title Godfall, published by Borderlands developer Gearbox, costs £70 on Sony's console. The PC version, exclusive to the Epic Games Store for now, costs £50. I know PC games, which are downloads not discs, tend to be cheaper than their console counterparts. But why is Godfall £20 more expensive on PS5 than it is on PC? That doesn't seem right. I asked Gearbox for an explanation for the cost of Godfall, but it has yet to comment.
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There's more: Hogwarts Legacy is £70. Gotham Knights is £70. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is £70. It's clear: £70 is the new next-gen normal.

I get where Zelnick is coming from - to a point. I remember paying (I mean, my parents paying) north of £70 for Street Fighter 2 on the SNES in 1993. That we're getting to that point now nearly 30 years later speaks volumes that video game prices were due for a hike a long time ago.

But what we're looking at here is a hike of up to £20, and I have a big issue with that. And it gets worse when you convert currency. Demon's Souls is $70 in the US. At the time of publication, that's £55. Not £70.
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www.eurogamer.net

We need to talk about the cost of next-gen video games

Next-gen video games cost £70 - this is something that has become apparent in the last month.Sony, with the in-demand P…
www.eurogamer.net www.eurogamer.net


It is obvious that some markets got worse deal and I still stand by my opinion that games with MTX in them shouldn't get price increase.
 
shanew21

shanew21

Member
Nov 7, 2017
516
Gamepass will likely increase in price this gen, but the $10 increase for regular games is just making it a way better deal than gaming elsewhere.
 

Raigor

Member
May 14, 2020
15,146
But Sony is not alone in selling £70 next-gen games. I've had a look around, and I can't help but feel we're being shafted. PS5 launch title Godfall, published by Borderlands developer Gearbox, costs £70 on Sony's console. The PC version, exclusive to the Epic Games Store for now, costs £50. I know PC games, which are downloads not discs, tend to be cheaper than their console counterparts. But why is Godfall £20 more expensive on PS5 than it is on PC? That doesn't seem right. I asked Gearbox for an explanation for the cost of Godfall, but it has yet to comment.
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This is Randy riding the next-gen hype and fucking the PS5 early adopters.
 
2Blackcats

2Blackcats

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,073
I mean Americans have always got bargain prices in comparison.

That's why so many people buy from there which makes them cheap thus the loop continues
 
24thFrame

24thFrame

Alt-Account
Banned
Jun 16, 2020
912
It's kinda fucked, imo. It's hard for me to feel like the consumer needs to be the one to front the cost for the rising budgets in games, when we here so many stories every month about how mismanaged AAA studios often are. That's not just a games industry problem, to be fair... Management is a specific skill set that some people excel at and some people don't, but nearly every company and industry treats it as part of the standard upwards career track.

Combining a $70 price point with MTX is just beyond fucked too, I agree.
 
Bunkles

Bunkles

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
5,663
This price hike is the best thing that MS could have hoped for with Game Pass.
 

davshoward

Member
Nov 3, 2017
3
The problem isn't the £70 it's the actual jump in price. Games on PS4 are regularly £45-55 (disc) at launch. This is a £15-25 increase.
 
Izzard

Izzard

Banned
Sep 21, 2018
4,606
Yeah this is going to change my gaming habits. Normally I buy all games day one, but that's gonna happen with must haves from now on. The rest can wait for sales.

Doesn't hurt to wait anyway, what with patches improving the games, you end up spending less to play the better version.
 
Blade24070

Blade24070

Member
Oct 26, 2017
7,002
I think digital being higher price than physical has always been wonky but especially now, digital should remain 60 whatevers, imo.
 
platocplx

platocplx

2020 Member Elect
Member
Oct 30, 2017
36,072
I think in these cases, People should wait for sales and have way more discernment on the games they spend their hard earned money on. Also so many folks have their backlogs to pay perfect opportunity to do that. There are now thousands of games people can go back and play now Imo.

Yeah the price sucks, and last gen there were so many games that people wasted 60 on as well, I think now we should also want way more quality on launch for these games. I'm planning to avoid most games unless they are from studios I trust. Other than that I have so many games I can go and play and wait for a sale. Pretty much we gotta get over our FOMO when it comes to games launching and be more patient with prices esp for the folks who are most price sensitive.
 
get2sammyb

get2sammyb

Editor at Push Square
Verified
Oct 27, 2017
3,006
UK
Surely Americans have to pay tax on top of the $70, right?

Despite that, I'm pretty relaxed about all this. Sales will probably drop as a result of the higher prices, and publishers are going to have to adjust their pricing models as a result. The prices will surely come down.
 
OSHAN

OSHAN

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,932
Raigor said:
This is Randy riding the next-gen hype and fucking the PS5 early adopters.
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Yeep, the "Switch Tax" but on PS5 now.

The cross-gen games haven't gone up in price, but as soon as PS4/Xbox One releases of multi-plats are done, you'll be seeing $70 dollar Assassin's Creed.
 
Phellps

Phellps

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,808
"We deliver a much, much bigger game for $60 or $70 than we delivered for $60 10 years ago. The opportunity to spend money online is completely optional, and it's not a free-to-play title. It's a complete, incredibly robust experience even if you never spend another penny after your initial purchase."
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I think the article failed to make it clear he's talking about a yearly title that changes very little from one iteration to another, which pretty much means his argument is bs.
 
PMS341

PMS341

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt-account
Banned
Oct 29, 2017
6,634
Games should not raise in price while the bonuses of CEOs and inflated marketing budgets are more important than the paychecks of the workers that actually make up said companies. There is no justification.
 
Yankee Ruin X

Yankee Ruin X

Member
Oct 31, 2017
2,685
What they forget to mention when saying SF2 cost £70 way back in the day was that the market was much smaller back then than it is now. Today the market is huge so games sell way more copies than they used to plus with in game microtransactions games have never been more profitable.

Game companies are raking it in, constantly boasting about breaking record profits to shareholders and yet they expect us to believe they need to increase the cost because they are struggling. I don't deny making games is more expensive than it was 10 years ago but the profits are still way higher now than it was back then to due to having a much larger market.

I bought 3 years of Game Pass the other day for £87 and I don't even have an Xbox (XSX on pre-order) because the value from it is insane when looking at the cost of game prices. I just have to play 2 games over 3 years on it and it's already saved me money.
 
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Mr.Deadshot

Mr.Deadshot

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,285
shanew21 said:
Gamepass will likely increase in price this gen, but the $10 increase for regular games is just making it a way better deal than gaming elsewhere.
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What if you are interested in games that aren't on Gamepass?

@Topic: I usually don't buy Day 1 and I am sure we will see games being sold for 20-30€ a few months after release. Just be patient.
 
Ferrs

Ferrs

Avenger
Oct 26, 2017
18,829
The problem isn't simply the price hike but the unfair one European countries have (yes, even after VAT).
 
Betty

Betty

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
17,604
I'll still buy the big tentpole releases at launch, £70 or otherwise, but I won't be impulse buying as much as before.
 
SxP

SxP

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,867
The shafting of Europe is just insane. The US didn't get a price hike with the PS4 generation, but here prices went up from 60 to 70. And now the US prices are getting raised... and they just raise EU prices AGAIN. 95 dollars. Pure insanity.
 
SymbiantXenos

SymbiantXenos

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
2,740
It is what it is, I'll continue to buy the games in interested in buying. I remember paying those prices for snes games in the 90s.
 
Skel1ingt0n

Skel1ingt0n

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,738
The problem is the cost isn't gonna be passed on to developers in the form of better benefits, better pay, or less crunch.

Its gonna line the pockets of the execs.

Games are infinitely more popular than they ever have been, games have countless ways to monetize, and every major release seems to have deluxe or collectors editions, anyway.

I've been buying, on average, 2-3new releases a month for the last... decade? My entire career, I'd say.

I can't see myself buying more than one game a month here moving forward.
 
Jaded Alyx

Jaded Alyx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
35,377
Times like this I'm honestly thankful that I tend to play a lot of indie games rather than AAA.
 
Ewaan

Ewaan

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May 29, 2020
3,578
Motherwell, Scotland
davshoward said:
The problem isn't the £70 it's the actual jump in price. Games on PS4 are regularly £45-55 (disc) at launch. This is a £15-25 increase.
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Seems to me like devs have been eating the cost of that VAT because they've taken the US RRP and adjusted it for exchange rate so we got £50 games. Now they're not going to eat that cost of VAT and they've increased the prices to reflect what the US might pay after tax.
 

Wulfram

Member
Mar 3, 2018
1,478
If they're going to cost that much on release I'll just get them on sale when they cost £5. If I really want to play them on release then I might use a subscription as a rental.
 
Lord Fanny

Lord Fanny

Banned
Apr 25, 2020
25,953
get2sammyb said:
Surely Americans have to pay tax on top of the $70, right?

Despite that, I'm pretty relaxed about all this. Sales will probably drop as a result of the higher prices, and publishers are going to have to adjust their pricing models as a result. The prices will surely come down.
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Of course, it's like 10% on average. So a new game at $69.99 is going to cost in actuality like 76ish
 

LCGeek

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,857
24thFrame said:
It's kinda fucked, imo. It's hard for me to feel like the consumer needs to be the one to front the cost for the rising budgets in games, when we here so many stories every month about how mismanaged AAA studios often are. That's not just a games industry problem, to be fair... Management is a specific skill set that some people excel at and some people don't, but nearly every company and industry treats it as part of the standard upwards career track.

Combining a $70 price point with MTX is just beyond fucked too, I agree.
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You're on the money devs were forced in to this position on n64 due to cart prices. They didn't learn this lesson in the 90s when the industry was smaller I don't see them learning it now that it's much bigger.

its a ruse and I won't be paying that title price too often only to run in to dlc or mtx bullshit.
 
2Blackcats

2Blackcats

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,073
get2sammyb said:
Surely Americans have to pay tax on top of the $70, right?

Despite that, I'm pretty relaxed about all this. Sales will probably drop as a result of the higher prices, and publishers are going to have to adjust their pricing models as a result. The prices will surely come down.
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Some do. I doubt it comes to 94 dollars though which is the equivalent of 80 euros
 
JoeNut

JoeNut

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,482
UK
Another reason why gamepass looks incredible value right now. £70 is too much and I simply will not buy as many games if that's going to be the price
 
Acquiescence

Acquiescence

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,257
Lake Titicaca
Yeah we do, because £70 is an insane fucking leap from what we usually pay for a new AAA game in the UK (and that was already expensive to begin with).

Thank god games eventually drop in price is all I can say. I don't know when Demon's Souls will be £35, but I can wait for however long it takes.
 
platocplx

platocplx

2020 Member Elect
Member
Oct 30, 2017
36,072
get2sammyb said:
Surely Americans have to pay tax on top of the $70, right?

Despite that, I'm pretty relaxed about all this. Sales will probably drop as a result of the higher prices, and publishers are going to have to adjust their pricing models as a result. The prices will surely come down.
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Yeah every state has different sales tax so it rangets to at least 5 to 6 % and a bit higher so we are a bit closer to 80 than just 70.
 
Shairi

Shairi

Member
Aug 27, 2018
8,568
Bunkles said:
This price hike is the best thing that MS could have hoped for with Game Pass.
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Is it? The opportunity costs are just getting higher for Gamepass. It might look like an even more attrative deal for users for a while but Microsoft will have to increase the price.

There will be multiple price increases for Gamepass in the next 2-3 years.
 
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever
Member
Sep 24, 2019
34,370
There's no justification for the price hike other than turning millions into billions. Meanwhile the people purchasing the games have dealt with stagnant wages and a creeping increase to their cost-of-living expenses. And it's not like developers are going to be treated better or paid more either. You don't drive up the price to satisfy your shareholders and then dump all of the extra profit into salaries.

The consumer does not benefit
The developer does not benefit
The executives and the shareholders benefit
 
jem

jem

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,757
The last time I bought a game for more than £15 was almost 2 years ago.


Why buy games when you have gamepass?
 

Majora85

Member
Nov 21, 2017
1,105
You can pick up the physical editions of Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Watch Dogs Legion for around £45 in the UK. Sure, they're cross-gen but so is that Harry Potter game. Will be interesting to see if Ubi also hike up their prices to £70 after these releases or not.
 
NekoNeko

NekoNeko

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
18,447
game prices are still very cheap for not americans.
as long as i can buy from their store i'm fine.
 
Altair

Altair

Member
Jan 11, 2018
7,901
Gamepass subscribers like

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