For what feels like eons, video games have had a price ceiling of US$60, and as the cost of developing video games continues to increase, it seemed inevitable that the price would someday increase. 2K already jumped the gun earlier this year, announcing that next-gen versions of NBA 2K21 would retail for US$69.99 (Australian RRP rising from $99.95 to $109.95). Some publishers, such as Ubisoft have stated that their games won’t receive any price hike, while others are yet to comment.
Today however, PlayStation has weighed in on the topic…sort of…with top dog Jim Ryan stating in a blog post that “Our own Worldwide Studios titles will be priced from US$49.99 to US$69.99 (RRP) on PS5.” Meaning that any future first-party AAA titles are likely to sit at that higher price point. A cursory glance at EB Games’ PS5 game offerings confirms that prices will indeed be higher than we’re used to (see image below). It looks like $124.95 could become the new RRP for big-budget titles, which is a decent price hike from the $99.95 we’re used to. Games with smaller scopes, such as Spider-Man: Miles Morales will swing in at $94.95. With the consoles still a couple months away from release, it is yet to be seen whether the likes of JB Hi-Fi, Target and co. who frequently sell video games well under the RRP will offer the same deals this generation.
Personally, I’m not fully against the price hike, just as long as developers and publishers become less reliant on microtransactions (something Sony aren’t known for anyway – looking at you 2K), and that games are priced accordingly – I mean $124.95 for Destruction Allstars…carn. In an ideal world, the developers would be compensated better than what they are now, but as Rich Ward once wrote (and Eddie Gowan sang) “presence of money always leads to greed.”
