Jim Ryan: £70 is a fair price for PS5 games (The Telegraph)

[Tali'Zorah]

PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan: £70 is fair price for PS5 games and launch line-up is console's best ever

The second part of the Telegraph's exclusive interview also covers console storage, cloud gaming and the PS5's divisive design

www.telegraph.co.uk

A recent interview with Jim Ryan has been published in UK newspaper The Telegraph today, with some interesting quotes about Sony's decision to raise their RRPs to £70 in the UK.

Demon's Souls has an RRP of £70 on PS5 - significantly more than gamers had been accustomed to paying for PS4 games. Do you consider that a fair price for a video game?

"Yes, yes, I do. If you measure the hours of entertainment provided by a video game, such as Demon's Souls compared to any other form of entertainment, I think that's a very straightforward comparison to draw."

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Also, Jim Ryan had this to say on the recent Bloomberg reports that Sony considered even higher prices

"I can say that that report that we were considering higher prices for first party games is categorically false."

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The article also covers things such as launch line up and cross gen games but I thought this was pertinent to discuss. For US based people, £70 is over $90, which I'm sure you'd agree is absurd for a videogame. If I recall correctly, the US RRPs are now $70, which would be around £52, which would be much more reasonable. Sony is essentially raising prices in the UK and Europe to ridiculous levels and trying to justify it.

FWIW, I'm sure Microsoft will also be setting their prices this high, and if you buy physical games they're unlikely to actually cost you RRP, but this will be a significant issue if you're UK based and wanting to go all digital where prices usually are, outside of sales, set at RRP.

EDIT: As pointed out by many people, the UK RRP includes tax whereas the US one doesn't so it's not a completely fair comparison to compare the two. Threadmarked a post which compares prices pre-tax. In it you can see that countries that use the Euro are also getting screwed quite heavily, which obviously can't be attributed to the decreased value of the pound post-Brexit which seems to be a lot of people's argument.

 

[Gradon]

No it's not.

 

[p3n]

It is not a fair price if your biggest market is paying almost 20% less than everyone else.

 

[KillLaCam]

No

 

[Kida]

No it's not.

 

[ianpm31]

I don't know the game dev cost but inflation is increasing but I will say Bloomberg needs to get it together.

 

[Humidex]

Nope.

 

[NekoNeko]

if the game is good, sure.

 

[Toumari]

I disagree.

 

[Prine]

Nevah

 

[Lobster Roll]

False.

 

[disgraciau]

80 € a fair price my ass.

 

[Outrun]

Nope.

That's why I am utilizing sales and the local used game market for my PS5 gaming needs.

It will be like the old days for me, when game purchases are few and far between.

 

[Ferrs]

lol fuck off. What about the even bigger price hike in Europe or Australia?

 

[Oreiller]

Having equal prices with the US would be fairer.

 

[His Majesty]

No.

 

[nelsonroyale]

hmmm...I don't like the higher prices, and my concern is who they make them less affordable to. On the other hand, I do agree that games offer many hours of interactive entertainment and a price hike can be justified. But it should be justified based on improving supply chain and employee conditions, not company profit, which is already great for big successful games.

 

[xtib81]

So reasonable to pay 80€ for sackboy, yeah..

 

[stoke1863]

it really has taken the shine off the the consoles imo, it hurt so much to pay £65 for Demons Souls that i wont be buying gmaes until they are on sale now.

 

[Deleted member 923]

Fuck off Jim.

 

[Remeran]

What were the EU prices before the price hike?

 

[DoDonPachi]

Reminds me of the N64 days, seem to recall £60-70 being the norm for some first-party games. To be fair though, they were on a cartridge which factors some manufacturing costs.

 

[Uzzy]

 

[Dest]

Hell no. I think $70 USD is fair, but certainly not £70. Make the pricing fair. £50-£55.

 

[Nintendo]

I agree

 

[Wrexis]

No. Maaaybe for something like God of War.

But a 10 hour title? Hell no.

 

[Deleted member 43552]

The "fair price" is simply what the market will bear. Is anyone surprised by this?

 

[GhostTrick]

No, fuck you.

 

[Blent]

Especially since the Pound is going to tank soon anyway.

 

[Stewarto]

Wrong.

I got Demon's Souls for £58 and that is my absolute maximum

 

[Xando]

What were the EU prices before the price hike?

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They were at 60€ at the beginning of the gen 70 at the mid gen increase and now at 80 here in germany.

Good thing is retail isn't completely following them. I saved like 80€ by buying 4 games at retail instead of digital

 

[Deleted member 23212]

If that's "fair", based on price to time, let's say a movie is around 2 hours and costs $15. So, should a 20 hour game cost $150? That's why comparing purely based on time doesn't really work.

 

[UglySofaGaming]

Jim Ryan you're wrong. I buy every Sony exclusive release at launch and if they all cost £70 that ends and I'm sure on not speaking just for myself.

A game like Days Gone will struggle even more. Ratchet will struggle at that price.

Absolutely ridiculous there needs to be a greater push back against this. I'll be buying games used or on sale exclusively unless they see sense.

Last of Us Part 3 and Red Dead Redemption 3 are the only games I'll drop £70 for, begrudgingly. Not God of War, Not Horizon, not anything else.

 

[shimon]

Uhhhhhh............NO.

 

[Arkai]

I sure hope people vote with their wallet. No way is £70 fair and I'll be getting next to no PS5 games day one now.

 

[Kinthey]

It absolutely isn't when you consider that price is way higher than in the US

 

[Damn Silly]

Tracks that this would be in the Torygraph

 

[DjRalford]

They'd get better press if they made sure every region paid their own currency equivalent of the US base price plus local taxes, but it never works like that and it end up looking like they just pull each regions pricing out of a hat.

 

[Ferrs]

Here Jim, for you

 

[robinium7]

Wow I can't believe he'd actually have the gall to come out and say "yeah, we're charging EU and UK people 20% more than the US for the exact same product, and we think it's fair". I already disliked Jim Ryan and did not get good vibes from him, but this has cemented it for sure. Read the room Jim, you come out and say this after the backlash during the pandemic where a huge amount of people have lost income?

 

[ApeEscaper]

Is that including microtransactions and dlcs

 

[sredgrin]

Dollars per hour ratio from a platform head, that's only gonna encourage that sort of thinking. And then that audience that swallows that pill might not come back for the 10-15 hour games that are charging the same price.

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

Like hell it is!

 

[Konosuke]

Fuck off Jim, even if Demon's Souls is highly regarded, 80€ for the base game is too much.
Really want him to justify that price point with sports games.

 

[Phoenom]

It sure as shit isn't.

 

[Satonaka]

Execs want to ban second-hand market but also raise game prices to a fraction of a working man's salary.

 

[xem]

definitely worth it to me. $70 is cheap for the amount of hours i put into the games i play

 

[MnM]

This fucking guy.

 

[Skeff]

Remember in uk a £70 game already includes the 20% Tax when you are comparing to US.

So a $70 game would be $84 if you had 20% tax.

 

[Launchpad]

Hard disagree. It may be a necessary evil due to our terrible economy (which I also doubt), but it is far from a fair price. Especially when the same games on PC are still £50.