Take-Two Interactive announced in July of last year that its next big sports title in the NBA 2K series, NBA 2K21, would be selling at a $70 price point. This was notable at the time because Take-Two was the first company to announce a price increase for games on next-gen consoles from the apparent industry standard cap of $60. Since then, Take-Two has stated it doesn't regret raising NBA 2K21's price and the game's financial success backed up the statement. Now Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick believes gamers are ready to welcome $70 games as a standard.
Although a $70 price point is ten dollars more than usual for base edition games, there have always been options for gamers to spend more than that. Games often come in special, deluxe, or collector's editions that can range from $80 or so to insane amounts like the $1,800 Resident Evil 8 Complete Set Collector's Edition. It should be noted that these editions always come with extra stuff to warrant the price (miniatures, art books, DLC passes, etc.) and gamers definitely buy them. But for gamers on a budget who still want to buy the base edition of a AAA title, $60 has been a comfortable cap since 2005.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick is confident gamers are ready for $70 games on next-gen consoles as long as developers offer a quality product. Speaking of NBA 2K21, Zelnick states that "consumers were ready for it" because Take-Two Interactive "offer[ed] an array of extraordinary experiences" and "lots of replayability." Zelnick also says that while he believes consumers are ready for the price hike, Take-Two does not have plans to increase prices for its new games across the board and will be evaluating each game individually.
Zelnick's thoughts are based upon the stipulation that companies will "captivate and engage consumers," but unfortunately this isn't always the case. While the price of CD Projekt Red's recent RPG Cyberpunk 2077 was never a sticking point with fans, the game's performance on consoles proved to be a huge issue. CD Projekt Red refunded players for Xbox One and PS4 versions of Cyberpunk 2077, and lost some credibility in the process. A game's price can be irrelevant if consumers feel they aren't getting what they paid for.
Take-Two is not on its own $70 island though. Final Fantasy 7 Remake will cost $70 on PS5, and the upcoming third-person shooter Returnal will also be $70 on PS5. While these games have yet to come out, Final Fantasy 7 Remake already released on PS4 to critical acclaim, so it seems unlikely gamers would decide to skip out on the PS5 version based solely on its quality. If more publishers join in on $70 titles, it's likely that will become the trend to follow.
Source: VGC