The prices of next generation games has been a subject of hot debate, especially after it was revealed that many titles would go on sale for $70. It's been a sort of unspoken rule that video games cost at most $60, a trend that has persisted for over a decade, but with the release of the Xbox Series X and PS5, it seems that may be poised to change.
Certain next generation games, like Godfall for example, are retailing for $69.99 for the standard edition. It's not uncommon for titles to have deluxe or premium editions that go for more than that, but it's practically unheard of until the PS5 that a base game would cost more than $60.
Now a recent financial report from Bloomberg reveals that the $70 video game price tag is actually lower than what many developers were hoping for. It turns out that next generation games could have been much pricier if things went their way, but instead it seems most developers are settling on prices between $60 or $70.
According to the report, publishing houses have been contemplating increasing the price of video games for years, though none of these companies have taken action due to fear of backlash. That fear turned out to be very real, as when NBA 2K21 came out as the first game to announce its increased price, there was serious reprisal from fans. The $60 video game is so ingrained in society that anything more than that seems absolutely absurd. It's crazy to think that Sony almost went even higher than $70 for its next gen games.
Bloomberg claims that developers seem to know that this move is an unpopular one, and says that many that were involved in the discussions requested to be left unnamed as a result. Despite this, there are many developers and publishers that have taken a public stand in support of increased video game prices, citing inflation and higher production costs as the key reason. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, spending $60 on a game in 1990 is the equivalent of spending $116.70 today, yet players are still paying the same amount for games that are much more difficult to create.
Whether or not the increase in video game prices is a good thing is still up in the air, and it seems unlikely that the prices will increase anymore than they already have in the near future. Those players still unnerved about spending over $60 on a new game should take heart knowing at least it wasn't higher than that.
The PS5 releases November 12th.
Source: Bloomberg