Home Gaming No next-gen game price increase

No next-gen game price increase

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While some developers believe that the development costs of “next gen” games are going to skyrocket, others don’t believe there’ll be a significant increase in costs. Still, there’s a pervasive fear that increased development costs will lead to an increase in the cost of games, with the $60 standard price going up – possibly to $70. In South Africa, we already pay higher prices for games, and that could see us paying up to R750 for console games. Thankfully, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.

SCEA president and CEO Jack Tretton has said that he doesn’t expect games for the PlayStation 4 to cost any more than the $60 we’re already paying for games, saying that games for the PS4 will cost from $0.99 to $60 – in addition to a number of free-to-play titles.

Responding to CNBC’s question about the willingness of gamers to pay for fully-fledged titles in the face of low-cost gaming apps, he said that  "People are willing to pay if they see the value there and I think there’s more choice than ever before for consumers. We’re going to welcome free-to-play models, games from $0.99 up to those $60 games."

"If you really see where the heat is for the true gamer it’s on the console and it’s still that big-form experience that typically runs upwards of $50 million to develop and we’ll justify that $60 price point and we’ll give people hours and hours of gameplay on a daily basis for months and years to come," Tretton added.

He says that real gamers aren’t the sort to look towards getting their gaming fixes via smaller mobile games by  “migrating down the food chain other than to maybe kill some time or to complement that core gaming experience." Conversely, he believes that mobile and smaller games could convince more casual gamers to eventually move towards proper gaming via consoles.

If Tretton’s cost prognostications are true, it would mean that video games will have managed to bypass inflation – staying at the same base price since 2006. Of course, that’s largely mitigated on publishers’ end by selling you half games and charging you more for complete games via DLC.

Last Updated: February 25, 2013

14 Comments

  1. Theo Steenekamp

    February 25, 2013 at 14:19

    same old same old…

    Reply

  2. Henk Roux

    February 25, 2013 at 14:28

    The price for games can’t really go up. It’s already at the limit of having a low barrier to entry. They will have to change the way games are being made to stay profitable. The triple-A concept is a dinousaur and needs to go.

    Reply

    • mornelithe

      February 25, 2013 at 20:28

      Tell that to CoD, GTA, Red Dead Redemption, Halo, Mass Effect, Gran Turismo, Gears of War, Borderlands, Battlefield, Diablo, Starcraft etc… all AAA titles, all sold an exorbitant amount, and will pretty much always do so.

      The problem is, companies who aren’t normally known for their AAA titles, who try to cash grab because the aforementioned games do so well, with the mindset, ‘If they can do it, so can we’. Quite often, this is not the case, and many of those companies have suffered catastrophic failure, and collapse this gen.

      Personally, this system works out for me. Companies will eventually learn their boundaries, or they’ll fold. It’s an easy lesson to learn….if you care about your employees.

      Reply

  3. Admiral Chief Erwin

    February 25, 2013 at 14:31

    Still moar expensive than PC games 🙁

    Reply

  4. Macethy

    February 25, 2013 at 14:42

    I will believe this when I see it…

    Reply

    • Sean Carbutt

      February 25, 2013 at 14:47

      Ya. Now we just need to get rid of the true greedy c…ts, Megarom and Ster Kinekor. These 2 alone are why the RSP has jumped by R100

      Reply

      • OVG

        February 25, 2013 at 16:08

        lol So next gen games are cheaper than todays Take Two Interactive games.

        Reply

    • Sean Carbutt

      February 25, 2013 at 14:47

      Ya. Now we just need to get rid of the true greedy c…ts, Megarom and Ster Kinekor. These 2 alone are why the RSP has jumped by R100

      Reply

  5. Tarisma

    February 25, 2013 at 15:03

    There is a simple solution if the price increases. Wait. The price always comes down after a couple months. I picked up a new copy of farcry III the other day for R270.

    Reply

  6. Anon A Mouse

    February 25, 2013 at 15:07

    Haven’t paid the “normal” price for games since 2008ish. I always wait a few months, even a year, before buying a game. Haven’t bought any new game for more than R300 and will never do that in the future.

    Reply

    • Matthew Figueira

      February 25, 2013 at 15:32

      That and steam for PC 😛 never pay lots for any kind of game! Bargain bin hunting for console is totally worth it too 🙂

      Reply

  7. The Lying Dutchman

    February 25, 2013 at 15:45

    prognostications is what the Prognosticasaurus do to other dinosaurs.

    Reply

  8. OVG

    February 25, 2013 at 16:07

    Should I cc Megarom this link or are you going to :p

    Reply

  9. OVG

    February 25, 2013 at 16:09

    Great, so we get 2 hour single player games instead of 5

    Reply

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