Grand Theft Auto VI, a new installment of the best-selling action-adventure series from Rockstar Games that is expected to deliver even bigger sales records for the developer and its parent company, Take-Two Interactive, will be the game that will usher in a new and even more expensive price point for standard AAA game releases, one that exceeds the current $70 standard, according to the latest thoughts from Michael Douse, director of publishing for Baldur’s Gate 3’s Larian Studios. Douse’s prediction on what could be higher game prices was prompted by this week’s release of Star Wars Outlaws, which, according to the industry veteran, has been priced strategically by Ubisoft to tempt players into paying for its game subscription service.
From the @Cromwelp account:
- “I think a game should be priced accordingly with its quality, breadth & depth. I’m not against higher prices, but this arbitrary uniformity just doesn’t make sense to me. It feels so unserious.”
- “Almost all games should cost more at a base level because the cost of making them (inflation, for one) is outpacing pricing trends.”
- “But I don’t think we’ll get there with DLC promises so much as quality & communication. Everyone’s just waiting for GTA6 to do it lol.”
The original criticism from Douse:
I don’t love the artificiality of pricing structures post retail. Use the inflated base price to upsell a subscription, and use vague content promises to inflate ultimate editions to make the base price look better. It all seems a bit dangerous & disconnected from the community. pic.twitter.com/wPmwDM846z
— Very AFK (@Cromwelp) August 26, 2024
Rockstar’s GTA VI trailer, now with over 900K comments and 206 million views:
Take-Two on the success of the GTA series:
Rockstar Games cemented their reputation as creators of complex living worlds with the Grand Theft Auto series, one of the most successful entertainment properties of all time with over 410 million units sold-in worldwide.
The most recent iteration in the series, Grand Theft Auto V, has sold over 190 million units to date. Rockstar Games’ blockbuster western series, Red Dead Redemption has sold over 81 million units worldwide to date, with its most recent release, Red Dead Redemption 2, breaking new ground in fidelity and immersion.
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Discussion (8 replies)
Join Discussion →
No, $70 is not the standard. They might think it is, but it is not. I'm not paying $70 for any standard edition game. Let alone more.
They already asked €80 for forspoken so it won't be the first to charge more, IF they choose to do it.
But I think rockstar would be stupid to poison the well. Charging more could easily backfire
Let publishers charge whatever nonsense prices they wanna charge. Doesn't matter to me. I won't be purchasing until I see a good-@ss sale price. I start paying attention when games drop below $30. Most of the games I buy range from $5 to $20. So charge $70 or $80 or whatever the f*ck you want. IF I buy your game, it's gonna be at $20 or less (usually way less). And you'll be lucky if I don't end up grabbing a "community demo" instead, thanks to your greedy @ss. Publishers wanna charge all this money for games but don't even give us physical copies with cases and instruction manuals. I thought going all-digital was supposed to save money? Well I guess those savings aren't passed on to the consumers.
Reminds me of the 90s, where most PS1 games were going for $50 and below cuz CDs, whereas Nintendo 64 cartridges were often way more expensive than $60. I recall spending around $76 for the first Turok game on N64. My dad almost beat my @ss. Maybe he should've. Even the generation before that was rough. Some of those SNES games with special chips in 'em, like Star Fox with the SuperFX chip, cost a pretty penny. But after the 90s I got waaaaay more stingy and cheap, especially after grabbing community demos became a viable option for me.
"DrezKill, post: 88665, member: 230" wrote:Publishers wanna charge all this money for games but don't even give us physical copies with cases and instruction manuals. I thought going all-digital was supposed to save money? Well I guess those savings aren't passed on to the consumers.
Actually....puts on clown mask? That is why the price haven't gone up since the 90s, because they passed on the savings. /s
Of course in reality it was never passed on, if it were prices should've gone down during the transition period to digital distribution.
And of course it is not just the physical disc that has been taken away. Even discount re-releases of games came with a large box and numerous goodies in them.
During the 2000s, boxes and additional stuff started to be reserved for more expensive collector's editions of games, and by the mid 2010s, even collector's editions gone fully digital. Physical collectors editions become limited run items, that don't come with a disc but cost at least $250 often more.
Unfortunately just about every manufacturer likes blaming the economy and the past pandemic for rising prices, but we all know it's mainly greed.
"Niner51, post: 88672, member: 106" wrote:Unfortunately just about every manufacturer likes blaming the economy and the past pandemic for rising prices, but we all know it's mainly greed.
According to economic theory, if demand goes down...then prices SHOULD go down. This is not what we are seeing here. Nearly everyone has been resistant to dropping prices hoping to sell at the maximum dollar. My wife and I are looking to buy a Subaru Outback and our local Subaru dealer has been stupid-resistant about lowering prices even though the cars have been sitting on the lot for months. I would not be surprised if Rockstar charges $100 for a standard game, $150 for a deluxe edition, and then $300 for the collector's edition. (Wonder if "journalists" will take what I said and use me as a source...awesome!)
Just got my wife a new to her car and he's the price inflation is freaking real.
"Slag-King, post: 88679, member: 5436" wrote:According to economic theory, if demand goes down...then prices SHOULD go down.
If demand goes down they reduce the supply, so the supply - demand ratio does not change significantly. It's kind of a market fixing.
But good videogames are always in short supply.
The want for entertainment is endless. A NEED can be met.
Hence why the entertainment industry is so large.
Discussion (8 replies)
Join Discussion →No, $70 is not the standard. They might think it is, but it is not. I'm not paying $70 for any standard edition game. Let alone more.
They already asked €80 for forspoken so it won't be the first to charge more, IF they choose to do it.
But I think rockstar would be stupid to poison the well. Charging more could easily backfire
Let publishers charge whatever nonsense prices they wanna charge. Doesn't matter to me. I won't be purchasing until I see a good-@ss sale price. I start paying attention when games drop below $30. Most of the games I buy range from $5 to $20. So charge $70 or $80 or whatever the f*ck you want. IF I buy your game, it's gonna be at $20 or less (usually way less). And you'll be lucky if I don't end up grabbing a "community demo" instead, thanks to your greedy @ss. Publishers wanna charge all this money for games but don't even give us physical copies with cases and instruction manuals. I thought going all-digital was supposed to save money? Well I guess those savings aren't passed on to the consumers.
Reminds me of the 90s, where most PS1 games were going for $50 and below cuz CDs, whereas Nintendo 64 cartridges were often way more expensive than $60. I recall spending around $76 for the first Turok game on N64. My dad almost beat my @ss. Maybe he should've. Even the generation before that was rough. Some of those SNES games with special chips in 'em, like Star Fox with the SuperFX chip, cost a pretty penny. But after the 90s I got waaaaay more stingy and cheap, especially after grabbing community demos became a viable option for me.
Actually....puts on clown mask? That is why the price haven't gone up since the 90s, because they passed on the savings. /s
Of course in reality it was never passed on, if it were prices should've gone down during the transition period to digital distribution.
And of course it is not just the physical disc that has been taken away. Even discount re-releases of games came with a large box and numerous goodies in them.
During the 2000s, boxes and additional stuff started to be reserved for more expensive collector's editions of games, and by the mid 2010s, even collector's editions gone fully digital. Physical collectors editions become limited run items, that don't come with a disc but cost at least $250 often more.
Unfortunately just about every manufacturer likes blaming the economy and the past pandemic for rising prices, but we all know it's mainly greed.
According to economic theory, if demand goes down...then prices SHOULD go down. This is not what we are seeing here. Nearly everyone has been resistant to dropping prices hoping to sell at the maximum dollar. My wife and I are looking to buy a Subaru Outback and our local Subaru dealer has been stupid-resistant about lowering prices even though the cars have been sitting on the lot for months. I would not be surprised if Rockstar charges $100 for a standard game, $150 for a deluxe edition, and then $300 for the collector's edition. (Wonder if "journalists" will take what I said and use me as a source...awesome!)
Just got my wife a new to her car and he's the price inflation is freaking real.
If demand goes down they reduce the supply, so the supply - demand ratio does not change significantly. It's kind of a market fixing.
But good videogames are always in short supply.
The want for entertainment is endless. A NEED can be met.
Hence why the entertainment industry is so large.