If Triple-A Publishers Want Their New IPs To Succeed, They Must Cut Game Prices:
Console game prices have progressively risen over time, and it’s not uncommon to see both first- and third-party titles retail for $70 at launch. This higher price point hasn’t been a problem for established brands, as new Call of Duty games and huge platform exclusives continue to sell well.
Nevertheless, releasing at that pricing is a lot more risky for a game without a large brand, and the moment has come to rein things back.Of course, there has been push-back on this, which is unsurprising. Nobody loves a price increase, and consumer pressure to keep costs low is part of the market’s good functioning.
Nonetheless, Stuart’s half-joking remark that it was “about time” that pricing rise was spot on although as a customer, I’m not excited about paying more for games, it’s apparent that the $60 price point is untenable at this point. Moreover, the industry’s reluctance to raise the headline price has undoubtedly had a number of negative implications for games.
Cost Differences Between Existing Franchises And Fresh IPs:
The increased price tag isn’t as devastating to a game from a popular series as it was with the Dead Space & The Last of Us remakes, both of which cost $70 at launch on consoles despite being playable on newer platforms.
Last Of Us Is Smashing Records On HBO:
The price tag dominated the conversation around the remakes, particularly because their game-play was essentially similar to their predecessors, but they had the huge names to back them up, especially with The Last of Us TV program smashing records on HBO.
$60 Pricing Was Essentially Set During The Commencement Of The Xbox 360 / PS3 Generation In 2005:
Maybe a little history lesson is in order. The $60 pricing point was essentially set during the commencement of the Xbox 360 / PS3 generation, back in 2005, with Activision in particular supporting the new price point for the launch of its major flagship titles on the then-new systems.
There was a lot of bemoaning about this at the time, as it was effectively considered as the end of the age of inexpensive games heralded by the original PlayStation – before to that, cartridge-based game consoles often cost $70 or $80 for AAA titles.
Despite significant increases in game production budgets throughout that period, the $60 price point has remained consistent for 15 years and two platform generations. The majority of justifications for the existing price increase focus on development costs, and for good reason aside from the massive rise in the fidelity of game systems and resources that consumer wants now versus 15 years ago, the large mass of assets that modern games needs is also a huge factor to consider.
Not Everyone Loves Open World Games:
Not everyone is delighted with the current prevalence of open world games, but it doesn’t alter the fact that games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla or Watch Dogs Legion need a level of material and assets that was unthinkable when the Xbox 360 was brand new.
After the introduction of Metroid Prime Remastered, Nintendo was one firm that recently dodged this problem. Nintendo can have justified the price as a complete release, but instead chose to sell it for $40. Fans see this as a fantastic value, considering Metroid Prime is one of the most critically regarded games of all time, and its remake instantly topped the eShop rankings in numerous territories.
If Metroid Prime Remastered had cost $60, the price tag would have hung over the game’s discussion, and there would have been greater motivation for fans to wait for a promotion, something Nintendo seldom does with first-party titles.
The Issue Of First-Party Versus Third-Party Pricing:
When it comes to the console market, PlayStation owners suffer the most because competing companies offer a better deal for the titles locked to their systems, such as Microsoft putting all of its first-party exclusives on Game Pass, while Nintendo generally keeps the price of its games lower at launch, at the expense of rarely putting them on sale.
Because of the Game Pass concept, Microsoft has been able to green-light more experimental products, such as the outstanding Pentiment, which would not have been possible if it had been anticipated to reach retail shelves. As a result, a quirky game like Pentiment stood a lot better chance of reaching a much larger audience than it would have as a $40 or $50 release.
If the price of AAA games had grown in accordance with the US consumer price index over the last 15 years, the $60 price tag would have climbed to $80 to $70 in 2020 dollars, but it is only worth a little more than $52 in 2005 dollars.
In reality, this price increase is merely putting us back in line with the pricing of games in the PS2 period with inflation, those costly SNES cartridges will cost about $140 to $150 apiece in today’s money.
Horizon Forbidden West, Gran Turismo 7, And God of War Ragnarok Have Been Lauded For PS5 Exclusives:
After its release, the PS5 has received critical praise for exclusives such as Horizon Forbidden West, Gran Turismo 7, & God of War Ragnarok. These games are said to have sold well, thanks to extensive marketing and strong word of mouth.
This upscale presentation and association with major names have softened the blow of a hefty price tag, even if the new titles are as critically lauded as their predecessors on the PS4.
Nevertheless, the one-size-fits-all price tag is no longer the only game in town. Microsoft’s backing for higher AAA pricing comes as the company’s own AAA games are released on the same day to Game Pass subscribers who pay £10 per month.
Sony’s comparable pricing plan comes as PS Plus expands its portfolio to resemble more and more like a subscription game library.
Then there’s For-spoken, a Square Enix-published PS5 platform exclusive with a Meta-critic rating of 68% despite receiving several critiques since its announcement. Because of the polarized reaction, purchasing a copy of For-spoken on day one is a gamble, particularly because this was also true of the demo, which left fans split over its quality.
Many individuals will be harmed by the high price point, particularly those who only possess the digital PS5, since they won’t be able to shop around for cheaper physical copies.
If a new PS5 exclusive isn’t the next installment in an established series, or if word of mouth is mixed, the high price tag will put off many prospective buyers. This is particularly true today, when even new games go on sale swiftly, since publishers typically gauge a game’s success by its launch sales, like The Callisto Protocol did.
If a corporation spends extensively in a risky property, a poor audience reaction at launch will be seen as a failure, and the company will be less inclined to try anything again.
Maybe here is where we can see some of the harm caused by game price being fixed at $60 for the last 15 years, despite rising development expenses and inexorably depreciating currency.
That doesn’t justify some of the profiteering and blatantly anti-consumer tactics used by publishers, but the reality of attempting to square the circle of growing expenses and a stubbornly unchanging price point can’t be overlooked either.
The increase to $70 is unlikely to put a stop to these types of monetization schemes, not least since a $10 increase isn’t even keeping up with inflation, but it does provide some further flexibility and illustrates the degree to which a broader variety of pricing is now a viable choice.
The tricky part, of course, is determining which price the market will support for a given game whereas in previous decades games tended to cost roughly the same regardless of how “premium” consumers perceived them to be, this new flexibility has effectively created a price discovery mechanism, which means that publishers must learn to be bluntly realistic in their assessment of how much consumers will be willing to pay.
Although the new release roster expands everyday, the customer only has a limited amount of time and money, and a reduced launch pricing will make a bigger impact when they’re spoilt for choice and on the fence about picking up a new launch.
Publishers should cut their pricing for new IPs upon launch rather than letting them perish on the market. Otherwise, firms will continue to play it safe with cookie-cutter sequels rather than taking risks with innovative concepts.