Current Events > Publishers are considering raising game prices for PS5 and Xbox Series X

(+) Yeah! (+)

It follows the news that NBA 2K21 will be priced at $69.99 on the next consoles, $10 more expensive than it is on the current devices.
Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, IDG President and CEO Yoshio Osaki says that game pricing has remained flat since 2005, whereas TV and movie pricing has increased significantly.
"The last time that next-gen launch software pricing went up was in 2005 and 2006, when it went from $49.99 to $59.99 at the start of the Xbox 360 and PS3 generation," he says.
"During that time, the costs and prices in other affiliated verticals have gone up."
Osaki says that next-gen console game production costs have increased by 200% to 300%, depending on the IP, studio and genre, but the prices have remained at $59.99. Meanwhile, cinema ticket prices have risen 39%, Netflix subscription costs have gone up 100%, and Cable TV packages have risen by 105%.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-07-02-idg-other-publishers-are-considering-raising-game-prices-for-ps5-and-xbox-series-x

Makes sense but I think video games are simply too competitive for it to work.

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Okay but what about PC

console gamers always winning!!!

Gamepass stays winning

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I'm surprised it hasn't happened before now.

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Trash

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take two is fucking scum

the only way I'd ever pay $70 for a game is if it had no microtransactions or DLC

DarthAragorn posted...

take two is fucking scum

the only way I'd ever pay $70 for a game is if it had no microtransactions or DLC

yeah this, prices have stayed the same, but they are now trying to get us to spend way more money after buying the game as if the 60 dollar price tag is just a fee to be able to pay them more money for microtransactions or other dumb stuff. So basically making a game using a F2P model but having us pay to play it first

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PC master race
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Pay more for less!
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Up to 80$ and beyond once you guys get your unionization
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Time to wait for deals. Haha, I'll wait for a price drop on all of them.

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It does make sense to up the prices, but just for games that can show something for it and not due to marketing or music licensing.

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GoodOlJr posted...

Up to 80$ and beyond once you guys get your unionization

If paying more for games means developers get unions, then great, I'll pay more.

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TendoDRM posted...

If paying more for games means developers get unions, then great, I'll pay more.

Can you give me 10$ for every game I buy too
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Shocked they haven't gone up yet.

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Tryhaptaward posted...

Okay but what about PC

I live in a country where games are supposed to be $99 but they're rarely that at retail. Our dollar changes too much for them to ever change it and it has been like that for as long as I remember.

Steam has the same $99 price as Xbox and PlayStation for us. So I doubt it'll be different.

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GoodOlJr posted...

Can you give me 10$ for every game I buy too

same

I don't give a fuck if they have unions or not but I don't wanna pay extra for it

Honestly this should have happened a long time ago to account for inflation. Not doing it is part of why we have micotransactions and Day 1 Editions.
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I'm glad I almost always buy used games
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pokedude900 posted...

Honestly this should have happened a long time ago to account for inflation. Not doing it is part of why we have micotransactions and Day 1 Editions.

lol that's bullshit and you know it

greed is the reason we have microtransactions and day 1 dlc

Oh, so a new game will be $100 in Canada. Nice!

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Note that I said that it's PART OF why it happens.
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We've been living on borrowed time for years

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pokedude900 posted...

Note that I said that it's PART OF why it happens.

Good non-committal weasel wording.

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That price increase timeline doesn't sound right.

I specifically remember PS3 games being $59.99 in Canada and they were always more expensive than in the US. I swear games didn't hit $59.99 in the US until the Xbone/PS4 came out because that's when they went up to $69.99 in Canada (and then $79.99 because the dollar got even worse).
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JuanCarlos1 posted...

It does make sense to up the prices, but just for games that can show something for it and not due to marketing or music licensing.

Well I hear you but video game MSRP hasn't gone up since the PS3.

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Logically increasing game prices makes a lot of sense. But business models don't really support that for most games.

Nintendo can get away with it. Hell games like Pokemon have gone up in price and sold even better.

But a shitload of games just can't wait to drop the price to then make money on microtransactions and DLC. The biggest game of this generation was completely free to play and that's the competition they have to worry about.

I would be totally happy if a niche game like Prey or Hitman released for $69 to make up for not having a mainstream audience but this isn't going to be how it works.

On the other end of the spectrum people wonder why a game isn't releasing for $60 if it's budget price. We literally just saw that with Star Wars Squadron.

So we're probably going to remain with $60 for everything outside of huge sports games and GTA. Indie games and stuff like Game Pass continue to have a popular alternate model for developers at least.

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Bio1590 posted...

That price increase timeline doesn't sound right.

I specifically remember PS3 games being $59.99 in Canada and they were always more expensive than in the US. I swear games didn't hit $59.99 in the US until the Xbone/PS4 came out because that's when they went up to $69.99 in Canada (and then $79.99 because the dollar got even worse).

I worked at GameStop during the 360 era in Florida. Games were 59.99 before tax.

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Would probably make even more people wait for a price drop instead of buying at launch.
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Oof, that WITH DLC, NOT cool!!!!!

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Bio1590 posted...

That price increase timeline doesn't sound right.

I specifically remember PS3 games being $59.99 in Canada and they were always more expensive than in the US. I swear games didn't hit $59.99 in the US until the Xbone/PS4 came out because that's when they went up to $69.99 in Canada (and then $79.99 because the dollar got even worse).

Games were $70 in Canada before current gen.

There was a point last gen where they went back down to $60, but then started slowly climbing back to the $70 and $80 price points.

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One thing for sure is this is a very, very big reason to not go for the digital consoles because you'll literally have no alternative.

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Sputnik1337 posted...

Games were $70 in Canada before current gen.

There was a point last gen where they went back down to $60, but then started slowly climbing back to the $70 and $80 price points.

I always remember everyone complaining about games arbitrarily being $10 more in Canada and I swear that was when they were only $59.99 up here.

I do remember them going to $69.99 when next-gen first started but they quickly went up to $79.99 (and the PS4 had a $50 price increase) because the CAD tanked.
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https://i.imgur.com/ZTWl8P9.jpg
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Bio1590 posted...

That price increase timeline doesn't sound right.

I specifically remember PS3 games being $59.99 in Canada and they were always more expensive than in the US. I swear games didn't hit $59.99 in the US until the Xbone/PS4 came out because that's when they went up to $69.99 in Canada (and then $79.99 because the dollar got even worse).

What are you talking about? lol New games were always $60 for the ps3/360
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console gaming is dead

pc master taste

consumers are still winning

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GoodOlJr posted...

Up to 80$ and beyond once you guys get your unionization

Worth it for devs to actually have security and protections.

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If video game companies can't afford to treat their employees well without raising the price then what they're doing right now isn't really sustainable.

I don't think it has a single thing to do with that though.

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A thing about companies is, they want to make money.
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Poop2 posted...

console gaming is dead

pc master taste

What flavors?

This is fine and needed to happen.

...is what I would say but you bet your ass that all the predatory microtransactions aren't going anywhere.

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If this occurs without a decrease in microtransaction practices then they can fuck off

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Also same publishers "Ur gaemz dont sell as many units as 10 years ago! "

Like, most AAA games have at least 10 to 20 bucks in DLC at best, on top of being 60 bucks for the basic edition.


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I think games have a similar issue as movies where a small minority of games sell way, way more than they used to and the rest sell less or no longer sell enough to justify their budgets.

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Nintendo wins again

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Two things here:
1. has the video game industry gotten more or less profitable in the last 10 years?
2. I'll pay the extra 10 bucks, but devs gotta cut that dlc bs. Stuff like MHW Iceworld (forgot the name lol) or Witcher 3 dlc is fine. Otherwise I want a complete game.

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Wouldn't have a problem with it if it wasn't for two things:

1) I grew up in the eighties where games were 40 a pop - adjusted for inflation that's 122 - and sales were practically non-existent. Games were overpriced for far too fucking long.

2) The amount of DLC and in-game purchases that some companies try and stuff down our throats. If they're gonna raise prices, they should cut out the microtransactions (but of course they won't).

Edit: Probably an unpopular opinion; but if developers and/or publishers hadn't focused so much on improving graphics over the years (and instead, y'know, tried to sell games based on their gameplay), then the costs wouldn't be so exhorbitantly fucking high as they now are.

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