Video Games Prices Could Be Increasing To $69.99

[bleedblue1223]

I have no problem with a price increase, but people that say prices have remain stagnant remain ignorant of the abhorrent micro transactions that have destroyed video games. There used to be actual innovation in sports games, now they are complete copy/paste games, that will happen with the non-sports games soon enough. And the special editions of games have cost more than $60 for years.

The games that actually avoid micro transactions and loot boxes need to increase the price. Just don't do what 2k did, and force players to buy 2 versions of the same game if they want it on the next-gen console after already having it on the current gen.

 

[Osprey]

Once upon a time, we hoped that digital copies of newly released games would be cheaper than physical because of the money saved on boxes, discs, manuals, maps, shipping and warehousing. Little did we realize that this would turn out be true only because all physical copies would eventually be called "collector's editions" and priced even higher .

 

[Commander Clueless]

I have no problem with a price increase, but people that say prices have remain stagnant remain ignorant of the abhorrent micro transactions that have destroyed video games. There used to be actual innovation in sports games, now they are complete copy/paste games, that will happen with the non-sports games soon enough. And the special editions of games have cost more than $60 for years.

The games that actually avoid micro transactions and loot boxes need to increase the price. Just don't do what 2k did, and force players to buy 2 versions of the same game if they want it on the next-gen console after already having it on the current gen.

It's true.

Prices may have stayed at $60 USD, but the market has changed dramatically with very little in tangible savings to the customer. Big AAA game companies are recording record revenues.

That said, they can ask whatever they want for their games I suppose. All it does is change the "is this product worth it" equation for their customers, which may help (extra $10 per game) or hurt them (more people waiting for sales). I'm sure it's all be calculated and projected by the business people.


Well, I suppose it also annoys people....but on the other hand, there is no shortage of fantastic slightly older games available on the cheap to fill the gaps.

 

[izzy]

already paying 79.99 in canada

keeps going up, cant justify buying them anymore

 

[PeteWorrell]

I buy them on sale later anyway. I don't mind waiting for years for prices to go down since i don't have the free time that i used to so i always have a backlog.

 

[syz]

Obligatory:



If you ever encounter anyone braindead enough to claim microtransactions are necessary because games are expensive, ask them why the biggest companies with the highest revenues are the ones who use them so much.

The last game I bought at launch on its own was Red Dead Redemption 2. I was able to get a lot of money off it and got it for about 40% of what it cost. The last game I paid full price for at launch was.... Assetto Corsa Competizione last week, although that was £35 rather than £50. The last actual full price game I bought at launch was BioShock Infinite.

Also ask them if they understand where that money is going. The people crunching to actually make the games aren't seeing that microtransaction money, it's paying for the CEO and some marketing executives' eighth yachts as they layoff a few hundred more employees or whatever.

 

[tacogeoff]

prices have become unreasonable imo. I have stopped buying games right off the hop a few years ago. I just wait till they go on sale 29.99-39.99. Sure I may read some spoilers but oh well.

 

[bleedblue1223]

If you avoid micro transaction and the other premium fake crap, games are cheaper just based on inflation. They have been $60 mainstream since PS3 and Xbox360, and even before those times, you still had certain games that would hit that level or more. In one way the micro transactions have kept the price down, but at the expense of the quality of the games IMO, they have destroyed sports games. Quality single-player games without micro-transactions have been hurt bad, that's why you don't see many of them.

 

[JaegerDice]

Honestly, my videogame habits have changed to the point that this isn't a particularly big deal for me.

Whereas I used to play a ton of different games, the realities of my career means I basically mainline one game for months, then move to the next. In many cases, by the time I'm done with one game, the next game I'm interested in playing has been out for months and can be had for a reduced price on ebay or craigslist.

I understand why games have become so expensive though. There simply isn't an efficient way to create or automate high-resolution art. It's pure gruntwork and man-hours to 'paint' the geometry in a game with the textures that make them look great. That costs time and money, and teams are getting larger and larger to accommodate the move the 4k.

 

[Commander Clueless]

If you avoid micro transaction and the other premium fake crap, games are cheaper just based on inflation. They have been $60 mainstream since PS3 and Xbox360, and even before those times, you still had certain games that would hit that level or more. In one way the micro transactions have kept the price down, but at the expense of the quality of the games IMO, they have destroyed sports games. Quality single-player games without micro-transactions have been hurt bad, that's why you don't see many of them.

True, although I think the other side of that coin is the $60 goes a lot further these days with reductions in distribution costs thanks to massive digital platforms and the like. To be fair, we don't have those exact details to make a judgement.

I will say that if the options are more expensive game without micro-transactions and with attention to quality vs cheap crap games with micro-transactions, I know which one I'm picking....

 

[John Price]

Thankful for sites like GMG.

Also thankful for Origin Premier which allows me to download a slew of games for one set price yearly.

Anyway, I won't dip on a new game full price. There are rarely any situations when I would have to drop 60 dollars to play a game immediately. If it's not part of EA Origin Acccess Premier (like COD MW) I can wait a few weeks or months until it inevitably drops during a seasonal sale. I waited a few months but Modern Warfare eventually lowered to 39 dollars and then I ended up purchasing it.

 

[John Price]

I buy them on sale later anyway. I don't mind waiting for years for prices to go down since i don't have the free time that i used to so i always have a backlog.

Every year CHEL drops to 20 or 30 dollars during Black Friday

If you are a hockey fan just wait until the day after Thanksgiving

OP is about NBA 2k20 which I'm almost positive will go down to 50 or 40 on Black Friday. Every sports game does this. Even when NBA 2k was on the ps4 it was still on sale Black Friday as well as Madden [Insert New Year too]. Heck for Madden they slashed 50% off in November.

Games like SpiderMan though you may see them 70 dollars for a while. I mean Spiderman Ps4 didn't even start going on sale until the 20 dollar sale a few weeks ago!

 

[JaegerDice]

I think companies should start looking at variable pricing. They used to do it in the PS2/Xbox generation, different games were released at different price points by the same publisher, based on established fanbase, development cost, marketing push, etc.

I'd pay more for FIFA than I would NHL, simply because FIFA (as a result of a much higher budget) is generally a higher-quality, more polished experience than NHL is.

Likewise, I'd pay more for the next Assassin's Creed or GTA than I would the next generic urban open-world game, even if it's pretty good. Pedigree and brand matter.

 

[aleshemsky83]

They still do different pricing, Dreams was $40 US, Spongebob is $20 US. Problem is that it's so rare. Tons of budget JRPGs are $60, there are PS3 ports coming out late this gen that are $60

 

[bleedblue1223]

True, although I think the other side of that coin is the $60 goes a lot further these days with reductions in distribution costs thanks to massive digital platforms and the like. To be fair, we don't have those exact details to make a judgement.

I will say that if the options are more expensive game without micro-transactions and with attention to quality vs cheap crap games with micro-transactions, I know which one I'm picking....

Yeah, if sports games cost $80, but they didn't have the ultimate modes or at least with the micro transactions and they actually developed their career modes, then I'd be all for it. FIFA makes more in ultimate team mode than they do for the actual game. That's the issue, they adopted the free to play model, yet they still charge the premium price, and those gamers just go for it.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

I'd pay more for FIFA than I would NHL, simply because FIFA (as a result of a much higher budget) is generally a higher-quality, more polished experience than NHL is.

You really believe that? To me sports games from EA are the worst gaming scam. They do little changes year over year, they charge premium pricing and focus entirely their live updates on ultimate team which is a complete money grab.

Overall, this is the biggest ROI in all gaming industries and they don't even care about improvement anymore. Actually the games should be way cheaper than it is compared to revenue/development cost ratio but they really don't care because as long as they keep their sales that high they don't have any incentives to drop their prices.

 

[JaegerDice]

You really believe that? To me sports games from EA are the worst gaming scam. They do little changes year over year, they charge premium pricing and focus entirely their live updates on ultimate team which is a complete money grab.

Overall, this is the biggest ROI in all gaming industries and they don't even care about improvement anymore. Actually the games should be way cheaper than it is compared to revenue/development cost ratio but they really don't care because as long as they keep their sales that high they don't have any incentives to drop their prices.

I don't buy EA Sports games every year.

But yes, I do believe that Fifa is a better, more polished game than the NHL game. Mostly due to the huge gap in production budget.

The only games I really buy annually anymore are the Destiny 2 expansions that release in the fall (Forsaken, Shadowkeep, Beyond Light, etc), and the Assassin's Creed games.

There was a time I bought COD every year to play with friends, but that was awhile ago. I didn't buy a COD game between Advanced Warfare and Modern Warfare, simply because none of them looked interesting. Actually, Infinite Warfare looked interesting, but the general consensus was that TitanFall 2 did everything it did far better, so I never bothered to buy it.

 

[Oogie Boogie]

 

[bleedblue1223]

And the absurd thing with Take-Two on NBA isn't even that they are going to $70 when they know they make more in micro-transactions, it's the fact that if you have NBA 2K21 on current-gen, you would have to buy the same game for next-gen, they won't do a free upgrade for you.

So are the die-hards going to buy 2, wait for next-gen and initial sales for the game will suck, or will they skip next-gen? Take-Two is just trying to get an absurd amount of money from gamers.

 

[Commander Clueless]

Well, $60 plus $20 if you want to play the game without extra grindy crap thrown in.

 

[Supermassive]

Every year CHEL drops to 20 or 30 dollars during Black Friday

If you are a hockey fan just wait until the day after Thanksgiving

OP is about NBA 2k20 which I'm almost positive will go down to 50 or 40 on Black Friday. Every sports game does this. Even when NBA 2k was on the ps4 it was still on sale Black Friday as well as Madden [Insert New Year too]. Heck for Madden they slashed 50% off in November.

Games like SpiderMan though you may see them 70 dollars for a while. I mean Spiderman Ps4 didn't even start going on sale until the 20 dollar sale a few weeks ago!

Side note: NHL 20 is $12 CDN on PS4 now.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

And the absurd thing with Take-Two on NBA isn't even that they are going to $70 when they know they make more in micro-transactions, it's the fact that if you have NBA 2K21 on current-gen, you would have to buy the same game for next-gen, they won't do a free upgrade for you.

So are the die-hards going to buy 2, wait for next-gen and initial sales for the game will suck, or will they skip next-gen? Take-Two is just trying to get an absurd amount of money from gamers.

They just know they have their fanbase by the balls right now and they will essentially accept whatever BS they throw at them. So they just keep inching the line of how far they can rinse them year on year. Sure the die hards whine about it for a couple weeks...but like clock work they are shelling out an extra $100 the day they bought the game to make sure they have the best build for the park!!

 

[Pilky01]

Honestly, my videogame habits have changed to the point that this isn't a particularly big deal for me.

Whereas I used to play a ton of different games, the realities of my career means I basically mainline one game for months, then move to the next. In many cases, by the time I'm done with one game, the next game I'm interested in playing has been out for months and can be had for a reduced price on ebay or craigslist.

I understand why games have become so expensive though. There simply isn't an efficient way to create or automate high-resolution art. It's pure gruntwork and man-hours to 'paint' the geometry in a game with the textures that make them look great. That costs time and money, and teams are getting larger and larger to accommodate the move the 4k.

I echo all of this.

I just went on a bit of a shopping spree to for games on sale. Just got FIFA 20, Madden 20, NHL 20, NBA 2K20, MLB The Show 20, and F1 2019 for less than the price of one brand new game.

I kind of appreciate the people who spend lots of money on new games because it helps maintain this economy that lets me buy all those games less than a year after release for dirt cheap.

Very happy to have my 'sports' folder well stocked and updated, even if I wont get very deep into many of them.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I like EASHL too much despite all its problems. EA has got me by the short ones