Gamers Should Count Themselves Lucky If Next-Gen Titles Only Cost $10 More
The price reveal of NBA 2K21 suggests next-gen titles will be more expensive, and honestly, it has been a long time coming.
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Considering how long it has been since the last increase, along with the rate of inflation, gamers will be lucky if next-gen title prices only jump up by $10.
The release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X is now only a few months away, yet gamers still have no idea how much the next-gen consoles will cost. However, they do know what sort of price they’ll be looking at in terms of the consoles’ games. That’s thanks to the reveal that NBA 2K21 will cost $69.99 on the new consoles.
That’s a $10 increase compared to the standard cost for AAA titles on the current generation of consoles. While not confirmed, it’s expected that this will be the norm going forward. IDG Consulting CEO Yoshio Osaki revealed to GamesIndustry.biz that a number of publishers his company has been in contact with plan on applying the same price hike to their own next-gen games.
The news that games will cost more once this current generation of console has come to an end has garnered some expected backlash from gamers. However, there are a number of reasons why $10 extra per game should be seen as a win for the consumer. It will be the first time the recommended price for AAA games has been increased since the release of the PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2006.
It’s also a minimal increase when compared to other forms of entertainment over the same time period. Since 2006, the price of the average movie ticket has increased by almost 40%, Netflix subscription prices have double, and the average cable bill is 105% more expensive. Meanwhile, the potential move from $59.99 to $69.99 is a jump of less than 17%, and will more than likely not increase again until the next generation at the very least.
PlayStation boss Shawn Layden spoke on the cost of creating big-budget video games a few months ago, stating that the era of epics like The Last Of Us Part II might be over. That if gamers want prices to remain the same, games will have to take less time and effort to develop and thus become shorter. Hopefully, if more publishers do follow 2K’s lead, that extra ten bucks will stave off having to sacrifice a game’s length, quality, and story.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz, Video Games Chronicle
Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/gamers-lucky-next-gen-titles-10-more/