It's officially the final stretch for the gaming world on the road to the next-generation of consoles, now that everyone knows the price and release date of the PlayStation 5. Although, saving up for the console might be half the battle, as it appears at least some PS5 games are going to be increasing in price for Sony's next-generation console.
Earlier today, Sony held a PlayStation 5 showcase to announce the few remaining questions fans had regarding the PlayStation 5. On Sony's PlayStation Blog, the company expands on some of the announcements, including pricing details for Sony's Worldwide Studios. From the blog post, Sony mentions that Worldwide Studios titles will be priced from $49.99 to $69.99. This confirms that players will see an increase in price once the next-generation kicks off, at least with some games.
The launch lineup for the PlayStation 5 includes Demon's Souls and Destruction All-Stars, both of which are priced at the full $69.99. The Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition is also $69.99 but the game includes the PS4's Spider-Man game for the PlayStation 5. The base Miles Morales game, however, is only $49.99. Lastly, Sackboy: A Big Adventure is $59.99. So, fortunately not every game Sony publishes will hit that $70 mark, however, it seems most triple-a titles will.
This increase in price for next-gen games had been speculated since NBA 2k announced its plans for the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 consoles. NBA 2k21 was the first game that announced that its base version of the game would increase to $69.99 for the new hardware. On top of that, NBA 2k21 received backlash for charging a higher premium for fans who wanted to own the game on both current and next-gen consoles, instead of taking a more consumer-friendly route or opting into Xbox's Smart Delivery program.
Regarding the price increase, other companies have begun to follow suit but offered players more bang for their buck at $70. For example, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War for PS5 and Xbox Series X is $69.99 but that copy also includes a current-gen version of the game for fans who are waiting to upgrade. Other companies, such as Capcom, are watching industry trends before committing to a price increase for its games.
The gaming world is currently reacting to all of Sony's big announcements from the PS5 Showcase. Along with the prices and release dates for the new consoles, Sony dropped some bombshells throughout the show. Notably, the announcements of Final Fantasy 16 and Hogwarts Legacy, both of which were nice appetizers before Sony announced that a sequel for 2018's God of War is expected to release in 2021.
The PlayStation 5 is scheduled to launch in select countries on November 12.
Source: Playstation Blog