IDG: Other publishers are considering raising game prices for PS5 and Xbox Series X [development costs have increased by 200%/300% compared to 2005]

Deleted member 224 · Jul 2, 2020

Powerofthecloud said:
It's simple. People would rather pay more upfront than monitize on the backside. People arent excited to pay more but a higher price on the front end means that more games will come out with less bs on the back end. The cost to makes games have gone up and the market is saturated. Ignoring cost increasing is naive, the money has to come from somewhere.

This won't happen.

Idk how some of you don't know this, but these publishers aren't hurting for money. They simply want to keep making more money. The mtx market won't slow down with $70 games. In fact, it'll continue to get worse.

games may be more expensive to make. But EA, Activision, Ubisoft, 2K, etc. are making waaaaay more money than they were in 2005.

Swift_Gamer · Jul 2, 2020

scottbeowulf said:
So like every other consumer product in the world? I agree about mtx shit. Games that are stuffed to the brim with that crap shouldn't up their entry price. But every game isn't like that. Are games never to go up from $60? Cuz 30 damn years ago they cost that much. I don't like paying more. But I get it.

I don't. Screw these companies, they should lower their shareholders gain, their profits not screw us over. They don't need what they make to survive or invest. This is just greed, they just want money.
Ubisoft, square enix, EA and all AAA multimillionaire companies don't need to have their game prices raised in order to survive or investing in best games.

Kyubajin · Jul 2, 2020

In Europe most games on launch are 69€ = USD 78. That's why I almost never buy games day one and wait until they're 20-30€.

Zemst · Jul 2, 2020

I keep sseing this argument yet people still get nickled and dimed. There's no guarantee games being 70 will give us fairer dlc practices. Look, im all for it if that situation turns out to be a positive but looking at the current gaming landscape that's unlikely to happen.

Soapbox Killer · Jul 2, 2020

69.99 was a normal price for Snes games when i was a kid in the 90s. This is fair.

ViewtifulJC · Jul 2, 2020

$100 games...

Swift_Gamer · Jul 2, 2020

Powerofthecloud said:
It's simple. People would rather pay more upfront than monitize on the backside. People arent excited to pay more but a higher price on the front end means that more games will come out with less bs on the back end. The cost to makes games have gone up and the market is saturated. Ignoring cost increasing is naive, the money has to come from somewhere.

How innocent are you to truly believe that?

Leveean · Jul 2, 2020

But the console makers and engine makers have proudly claimed that the upcoming gen will reduce development time and costs.

Duxxy3 · Jul 2, 2020

scottbeowulf said:
So like every other consumer product in the world? I agree about mtx shit. Games that are stuffed to the brim with that crap shouldn't up their entry price. But every game isn't like that. Are games never to go up from $60? Cuz 30 damn years ago they cost that much. I don't like paying more. But I get it.

30 years ago games came on expensive cartridges. That's why games were so expensive. Now they don't come on anything. They just get downloaded to your system.

dmix90 · Jul 2, 2020

I am getting convinced that anyone who is ok with this or even encouraging price increase in this thread is shareholder, astroturfer or/and a bot.

Swift_Gamer · Jul 2, 2020

Kidgalactus said:
But how true can this really be, as long as wages remain flat?

Predictions (if true) :

1) people will buy less games
2) monster resurgence of used games market

Developers will still cruch, maybe even more and companies will make more money and all those extra money will be for shareholders that don't need it at all.
It's not necessary.

Cloud-Strife · Jul 2, 2020

asd202 said:
Even for FFVII Remake part 2? :P

That's not fair.

chandlerbing55 · Jul 2, 2020

a916 said:
Why should game length dictate price and not just value? DQ has excessive padding and is over 100 hours but it's the same price as TLOU2 when they both launched.

oh I wouldve paid $60 for a 10 hour TLOU2. I was just thinking the average gamer would be up in arms about it

Deleted member 27471 · Jul 2, 2020

Canada is about to see $95 to $105 games! No thanks.

Phabh · Jul 2, 2020

Good luck with that.

Chief Malik · Jul 2, 2020

Luckily GaaS and the rapid devaluation of games makes this moot. Try this shit if you want to.

AshenOne · Jul 2, 2020

Well game publishers you decide... ether completely remove microtransactions from your games and price it at $69.99 OR don't make the price higher. You can't have your cake and eat it too. I refuse to believe that these publishers don't rake in profits despite the development costs.. most the top corporate people in a publishing company.

Swift_Gamer · Jul 2, 2020

dmix90 said:
I am getting convinced that anyone who is ok with this or even encouraging price increase in this thread is shareholder, astroturfer or/and a bot.

Nah they're more like loaded people that relay don't care about money because they have lots of it. Lots of people here don't really mind spending $4k+ for gaming related stuff.

K' Dash · Jul 2, 2020

Alvis said:
So I'll have to wait for deeper sales than currently, got it

ElephantShell · Jul 2, 2020

I honestly just don't buy very many games with MTX and when I do I completely ignore them so it is a bit of a shock to my system that they're so rampant. Just depends on your gaming habits I guess.

New Donker · Jul 2, 2020

dmix90 said:
I am getting convinced that anyone who is ok with this or even encouraging price increase in this thread is shareholder, astroturfer or/and a bot.

I think theres a difference between being apathetic to this vs in favor of this.

For me? I'm apathetic if they raise prices. Games have been 60.00 (or 50.00) for a LONG time. I knew this day would come and I'm not going to be angry about it.

Now, if the games are packed with the same level of MTX and day 1 DLC? Thats a different story.

a916 · Jul 2, 2020

michaelle said:
oh I wouldve paid $60 for a 10 hour TLOU2. I was just thinking the average gamer would be up in arms about it

Yeah fair enough, I can definitely see that too. Some of the padding on Ubisoft games is kind of a turn off for me. Even if they do go on sale... it's a huge time sink.

bushmonkey · Jul 2, 2020

I wouldn't mind if there was no micro-transactions but saying that the price hasn't gone up since the early 360 days is a lie as they rely on pst-launch content and monetise that way instead these days.

Shoichi · Jul 2, 2020

scottbeowulf said:
So like every other consumer product in the world? I agree about mtx shit. Games that are stuffed to the brim with that crap shouldn't up their entry price. But every game isn't like that. Are games never to go up from $60? Cuz 30 damn years ago they cost that much. I don't like paying more. But I get it.

Games cost a lot back then (and even then they ranged from around $30-60+) because of cartridges, shipping, etc. Nowadays, devs can bypass all that and just load that game straight to the console's virtual shop which also gives them a bigger % profit. While also getting things like DLC, Season Passes, Microtransactions, etc. in it which didn't exist back then.

This raising of base pricing was bound to happen eventually just due to devs finding ways to increase revenue. The market though will decide if the demand is there for the price increase (which I think it will unfortunately)

silva1991 · Jul 2, 2020

Thank God for share feature. At $70, I'll buy one or two games a year at best. The rest my friends are gonna have to share with me.

Sky87 · Jul 2, 2020

Soapbox Killer said:
69.99 was a normal price for Snes games when i was a kid in the 90s. This is fair.

Just because it was obscenely expensive in the past doesn't mean it should be today. Look at how much money is in the games industry today compared to back then as well. Massively increased sales = massively increased profits. Increase price and sales will go down.

DOBERMAN INC · Jul 2, 2020

I don't buy any game over £30 so I guess I'll be getting even less this time round, gamepass/cdkeys are going to be lifesavers for me.

headspawn · Jul 2, 2020

The funny part is NBA 2k used to be a $20 game in 2005. They have already increased the price 300% and that doesn't even factor in the hundreds of millions they're making with microtransactions.

scottbeowulf · Jul 2, 2020

Duxxy3 said:
30 years ago games came on expensive cartridges. That's why games were so expensive. Now they don't come on anything. They just get downloaded to your system.

And they were usually under 8mb for the entire game compared to now approaching 100gb with teams of artists many times larger and getting paid much more than in the past. By almost every possible measurement games have grown exponentially. Just because a few things were more expensive back then doesn't take away the many more things that now cost more.

dmix90 · Jul 2, 2020

SeanR1221 said:
I think theres a difference between being apathetic to this vs in favor of this.

For me? I'm apathetic if they raise prices. Games have been 60.00 (or 50.00) for a LONG time. I knew this day would come and I'm not going to be angry about it.

Now, if the games are packed with the same level of MTX and day 1 DLC? Thats a different story.

That's not even a question IMO... at best they will bait you at the start with dropping some of this stuff then triple down for sequel or another IP.

CatAssTrophy · Jul 2, 2020

Brohan said:
I don't really think they can compare it to cinema tickets.

I mean games have alot of revenue streams besides the $59 it sells for at launch. Cosmetics, DLC etc etc.

I hope that games that sell cosmetics etc at least continue to sell for the current price.

Yeah, and it's not like the cinema/film world doesn't price gauge too.

4K digital purchase of a movie on Vudu is $20. Twenty entire US dollars for a 90 minute 4K movie. You don't even get a booklet and extras and a behind the scenes disc etc. Just a disposable 90 minute feature that they can take away from you at any minute per their TOS.

I think $70 will backfire and they will make the plague of F2P and Freemium games even worse. Big pubs will want to release big tentpole games they can support for years and years with MTX rather than actually develop and release individual games over the span of a generation.

Xx 720 · Jul 2, 2020

Glad I'm mostly pc, Steam, CD keys, gamepass etc get. Having said that, the idea the game prices should stay the same forever is silly, of course everything goes up over time.

nightstalker962 · Jul 2, 2020

A new game in states with a high sales tax will be north of $75.00, oof.

Luckett_X · Jul 2, 2020

All while of course digital games pass on 0 savings to the consumer. Will be a sad day when physical media finally gets the chop and suddenly you don't have ownership of the games you buy anymore and you're completely at the whims of the market leaders.

Rockets · Jul 2, 2020

We talking $65 USD or a whopping $70?

Deleted member 19533 · Jul 2, 2020

SeanR1221 said:
I think theres a difference between being apathetic to this vs in favor of this.

For me? I'm apathetic if they raise prices. Games have been 60.00 (or 50.00) for a LONG time. I knew this day would come and I'm not going to be angry about it.

Now, if the games are packed with the same level of MTX and day 1 DLC? Thats a different story.

Well, they will be. I'd honestly expect season pass prices to increase again on top. And they're making record profits currently. Record profits do not indicate a price increase is needed.

Inglorious Man · Jul 2, 2020

I don't think all publishers will have their AAA games priced at $70. Right now you can purchase Assassins Creed Valhalla for $50 at Amazon and that game has Xbox Smart Delivery as well as Cyberpunk 2077. Also Marvels Avengers also will be $60 because if you buy the current gen version of the game you also get the next gen version. I think prices for the games are going to vary depending on the publisher. NBA 2K1 is the first game to be priced at $70. Also I am curious to see how the first party games for the PS5 and Xbox Series X will be priced because I remember during the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 era that Nintendo games were usually $10 less than third party games. We know that Microsoft will have Smart Delivery for almost all of their first party games because Microsoft said in the past that for the first couple of years during the Xbox Series X games like Halo Infinite and the next Forza game will have Smart Delivery and be cross gen games. Those games are probably going to be $60 like Assassins Creed Valhalla.

Mudo · Jul 2, 2020

I've said it before - I am fine with a price increase as it's been like 15 years.
HOWEVER, games charging $70 and also having tons of micro transactions, loot boxes, PTW mechanics, can fuck right off.

If the price is going up $10, you better damned well give me the whole game without these elements or I will not buy your game - or buy it used later cheap.

I fully expect the price will increase, and these elements will not only still exist but become ever more prevalent. I hope I'm wrong but greed is real...

Josh5890 · Jul 2, 2020

Seeing as I never pay $60 for games, $70 games will keep me off the day 1 market even more. I bought three games this day 1, and all were with gift cards/rewards. I understand them raising the prices. It's been 14/15 years since they had an official price hike in the US. I will just be more mindful of sales and Black Friday deals.

God, I miss my Best Buy GCU.

Also, two things. 1- Microtransactions are not going anywhere. 2- Gamepass becomes a better deal, but I can't see it going another 2 years without a price hike. I think MS tries to get a quick jump on next gen, and then they raise the price.

jroc74 · Jul 2, 2020

Welp.

It's been a good ride. Back to $79, baby!!!!

Sabin · Jul 2, 2020

Powerofthecloud said:
It's simple. People would rather pay more upfront than monitize on the backside. People arent excited to pay more but a higher price on the front end means that more games will come out with less bs on the back end. The cost to makes games have gone up and the market is saturated. Ignoring cost increasing is naive, the money has to come from somewhere.

Swift_Gamer · Jul 2, 2020

scottbeowulf said:
And they were usually under 8mb for the entire game compared to now approaching 100gb with teams of artists many times larger and getting paid much more than in the past. By almost every possible measurement games have grown exponentially. Just because a few things were more expensive back then doesn't take away the many more things that now cost more.

So tell us: how does the companies make way more money now than back then despite costs rising? Something is not adding up.

Deleted member 12352 · Jul 2, 2020

I'll just wait for the price to drop more often in that case. Patience is a virtue.

Jiraiya · Jul 2, 2020

Swift_Gamer said:
So tell us: how does the companies make way more money now than back then despite costs rising? Something is not adding up.

Politics. So many places have rules designed for companies to make as much money as possible.

Menx64 · Jul 2, 2020

Well thats what you get when Tflop warriors complain about rock textures, how many times a light bounces of a wall, how many leaves are on each tree...
We can not pretend to have cutting edge games and hardware and then pretend things will not go up in prices... Fortunately there are tons of games already available at good prices already.

lorddarkflare · Jul 2, 2020

This right here is why physical media continues to be awesome.

Because I might actually take a risk on a $70 game if I know I can sell it to someone else if I don't like it.

Phellps · Jul 2, 2020

I guess this is easier than controlling ballooning budgets.

Jinroh · Jul 2, 2020

They tried multiple times before, the first PS3 games were like 110-120 bucks here. After a while it went down to the classic 79 bucks overall.

Josh5890 · Jul 2, 2020

headspawn said:
The funny part is NBA 2k used to be a $20 game in 2005. They have already increased the price 300% and that doesn't even factor in the hundreds of millions they're making with microtransactions.

Man I really miss the PS2 gen. Those 2K games were much easier sells for my parents to get me on the fly.

Swift_Gamer · Jul 2, 2020

Menx64 said:
Well thats what you get when Tflop warriors complain about rock textures, how many times a light bounces of a wall, how many leaves are on each tree...
We can not pretend to have cutting edge games and hardware and then pretend things will not go up in prices... Fortunately there are tons of games already available at good prices already.

No. That's what you get when you have a crap economic system based in profits and make a small percent of people really rich while not needing that money to survive. That's what happens when you have shitty bloodsuckers known as shareholders demanding more money from you.

IDG: Other publishers are considering raising game prices for PS5 and Xbox Series X [development costs have increased by 200%/300% compared to 2005]

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