Why are Video Games So Expensive? The Truth About Game Cost

Newsarama takes a look at how much it costs to make a video game, and tries to answer the question, "Is $60 too much to pay for a game?"

[CrippleH]

This fool think the beginning CGI of MGS4 can fill movies or MGS4 cutscenes are CGI! lmao.

[hay]

I may have overlooked it but where he mentioned it?
MGS4 is full of cutscenes which may fit into few movies, that's why is worth twice the money i spent on it. In comparison to other half-assed, short games which cost the same ammount of cash, it's incredible. Every PS3 owner should play the game just cause of technical incredibility it shows.

Making games is a risky business but I think the big part of success lies in designer and suits that give them freedom of choice and some nice funding.

[Rhythmattic]

For me , Personally, MGS4's Cutscene's made it immersive, But for some, it was disconnecting....

Poor Buggers......

[shawnsl65]

yeah i was extremely skeptical as to how MGS4 would turn out with all it's hype, but once I played it.. i was like WTF am I playing a PURE CG game WOW. Yeah my first impression was WOW how is this possible *clunks head*.

[omodis420]

Because game publishers are greedy.

[hay]

Sony's trying to make publishers obsolete for PS3 so games may be cheaper in near future as a result of that move.

[yeswecan84]

In NZ, MK: DC Universe is selling for $139.95.

[shovelbum]

I don't think it's too much to pay for some games but let's face it, not all games warrant that price (Area 51, Turning Point, etc...). I have between 35-40 xbox 360 and PS3 games (14 for Wii) but I'd have double that if the prices were in the $40-45 range. Either way, in the past month I picked up Gears 2, FC2, LBP, Fallout 3 and Dead Space so the price doesn't deter me if I'm interested in it.

[heroicjanitor]

Wii games obviously cost nothing to make yet they are the same price as ps3 games! Nintendo has been caught multiple times trying to raise the price of games but the fact is the law states they are charging the absolute maximum and that it is illegal to rip customers off any more. Probably the reason I don't buy many wii games. 50 euros for de blob? just go away. And why the hell did you have to ruin that for me double three? It isn't out in Ireland yet so I didn't have the chance to find that out yet.

[majorsuave]

actually, they are usually 50$ when the same title is 60$ on ps3 or 360. well in Canada it is.

[thereapersson]

It's okay, I reported DoubleThree to Catastrophe, so expect him to get banned shortly after this.

I also reported that douche who is going around, handing out Gears of War 2 spoilers...

[GarandShooter]

Good job and thanks!

[Solbadguy]

was the best bargain for a game ive ever purchased.

[ArtisianDragon]

"So, is $60 too much to pay for a video game? Well, the answer ultimately lies with each gamer and each game, entirely objectively."

That should have been the whole paragraph in a nutshell, as it is the truth. Some gamers love games which give them a wide variety of things to do, with either a short or a long storyline coupled with DLC that is free or really low priced (RB2 prices I suppose) Then their are those who just want a game, out of the shrink wrap, golden, and perfect within' it's own way. Perhaps with a few expansions and such along the way, but that is not the primary reason for the games goodness (Perhaps Halo 3 for this one.) So ultimately it's really up to the consumer and whether or not they want to pay for the game now, or if they will just wait for the price to drop.

Also some game designers would like to be paid for their work to, the same way an artists wants/needs to be paid for their work. Because sometimes those profits don't go directly to them, they have to pay other workers, building they work in, electricity, utensils, designers, so on and so forth. So really I think we are getting a bit of a deal this time around. Especially with the discs becoming a lot larger and Developers throwing in more content for us the consumer.

[Funky Town_TX]

I wait for some games to drop in price. I don't think that a game should be priced at $60 just because it's a current gen titles. Look at BIA. It launched at $60 but it is now $30. We as games should not support over priced games just to support bad dev and a inefficiently ran pub/dev company.

[BachelorBrit]

To be honest some of you Americans are so cheap it's unbelievable. Videogames are priced fairly, of course for Special/Limited Editions you are expected to cough up more money for those but mostly they're optional. I mean come on the Publisher/Developer need to make some sort of profit after all the hard work they put into making a game £35.00 - £40.00 isn't too high of a price to ask.

Seriously I only really hear those in the United States moaning about the price of videogames when they get them cheaper than just about everywhere else. Some of you should come over here to the United Kingdom sometime and see how much we have to pay for videogames and I can tell you it's usually quite a bit more than what you pay out in America.

Also the price range isn't as high as before I remember here in England it cost like £60.00 or more just for one Nintendo 64 game!

[Funky Town_TX]

what is the average income from an adult male in your country?

[NegativeCreepWA]

FFVI on the snes sold for $70.00 in the US.

[kevnb]

who never until now had to buy their own video games.

[jmcorp]

with the devaulation of the dollar...the pound is worth twice as much or at least nearly double the dollar, and you don't hear us complaining...

in this country you usually pay: £40 for a game, that's already $80...

"Oh $60 is too expensive!" how f@cking broke can you be?

THATS £30 WHERE I'M FROM!!!BLOODY CHEAP!!!!!!

[Sjoeter]

games in asia ar a lot cheaper, i ordered left 4 dead xbox360 for €36,99 in stead of €64,95 at gamehubs.com
just search for the cheapest retailer before you buy! dont buy @ gamestop or stores cause there just expensive!

[robotnik]

just keep in mind that not every game from Asia will work. Search in google for a list of not region locked games for PS3 and Xbox.

[nos4speed]

Yeah you gotta be very careful with importing games, especially ones with online components, I imported COD4 so i got it cheaper than the RRP and 9 days before its local release date but because its an import I cant download the add on maps....*sad face*

[divideby0]

Paying 60 bucks for BROKEN GAMES, which 90% of these games are upon release, is not only a TOTAL AND COMPLETE RIPOFF to us gamers, but how the heck this is allowed to go on is a shame.
We need the BBB or lawsuits to stop the pushing out of broken games.

[kevnb]

stop gaming, the gaming community doesn't need you.

[GarandShooter]

Caveat emptor.

[kevnb]

as a matter of fact they used to be more expensive, add in inflation and well there you go. If we have been paying 60 or more all these years, why would they just go ahead and drop the price?

[The-Director]

I don't see a future for gaming in the 60$ price range, two things should happen in my opinion :

1- drop the price very low, i mean really low like 20$, this will shoot the sales to the roof, not only in America, Europe and Japan, but in the rest of the world which usually can't afford retailer games and just buy a pirate game for 5 or 10$, if the price for the real thing is 20$ trust me the sale in the whole world will go up so high it will be better than the current sales with 60$, and also 20$ price will discourage a lot of people from renting the game or buy it a second hand and just buy the retailer game which will go directly to the publisher pocket instead of some renting or second hand sale company.

2- ADS, stick some ads in the game to lower the cost and increase the profit, ads are in movies, our favorite TV show, and out favorite websites, and it never "RUIN" the experience.

I think the two point above is the future of gaming.

[kevnb]

Video games have been $60 or more for almost two decades, and sales have been steadily increasing like crazy. If games started selling for 20 dollars they would have to sell three times as many to make the same money, for example Halo 2 would of had to sell 24 million copies (more than the number of xboxs).

[ThaGeNeCySt]

thats nothing.. I remember paying a hefty $74.99 a piece for both Donkey Kong Country & Killer Instinct... FOR SNES NO LESS!

[The-Director]

kevnb, where do you live? didn't you just here about the 6% layoffs from EA, and another financial troubles for other publishers? didn't you read in the article that only 3 out of 10 games make a profit? yes the sales are more than before in volume, but the profit margin is less because of higher cost.

now about what you said that they will have to sell 3 time as much, that is very easy because :

1- why rent the game when you can own it for 20$? that's millions of rent money in the publisher pocket.

2- why wait and buy it second hand when you can purchase it day one for 20$? that's another millions of dollars in the publisher pocket.

3- why pirate it or or just not buy games because it's expensive in your country? now you can buy it on day one for 20$, imagine the millions of people that are staying away from gaming because it's too expensive for them coming in with that cheap price.

4- ads.

with the above 4 points they will easily make 2 to 3 times the money their making now with 60$.

[kevnb]

so you're telling me they would make 6-9 times the amount of sales if they sold for $20 a game... Do you honestly believe 70% of video games made make no money? EA is such a bad example, they spent alot of money lately... they had to answer to the shareholders somehow.

[Woof]

Here in South Africa, LBP cost $100 with the current exchange rate!

Why cant you guys just be appreciative and stop complaining for once!

Please think first and remember that the US is not the only country in the world.

[GarandShooter]

Stop painting Americans with the same broad brush. I don't portray every South African as a Stephen Biko killing, apartheid promoting, racist, genocidal, murdering maniac.

The fact is, it's just the way it is with some people. If they have something to sell it's priceless, but if they want to buy something it's worthless. And as an American who works in a retail business, let me tell you that there are plenty of immigrants who put homegrowns to shame when it comes to outright cheapness. (and note I did not say ALL immigrants) Think before you stereotype.

[kingme71]

The game industry is so dependent on first week sales and limited edition sales that is has created a pricing problem for itself. Very few games maintain the $60.00 tag for extended months at a time. Only top selling titles do and the very elite will keep that price possibly for years.

This is in sharp contrast to many other products. Books may release in hardcover for the die hards, but the paperback will maintain a similar price for a very long time only when it finally has reached the end of life will it hit the bargain bin (of course you could argue that topical books like the election will hit the bin much quicker).

It's hard to pay full price knowing that the game will be reduced very soon. Especially with all the titles coming out, the backlog to get to them means they will usually be cheaper when you are ready to play.

So, is $60.00 too high? I don't think so, the market supports it and sales are good, so why would they change it?

[comm13]

How can you blame Americans for whining while they have a low price of a game? Are most games made in America .... no!

If anything blame your government for protective tariffs and taxes that they charge on imported products.

Brits how much is your VAT? 22% I believe last time I was there....in Canada I pay much less.

In other words yall should stop whining about your local market pricing or take it up with your own government.

Maybe I ll start complaining that UK charges ridiculous prices for Food compared to Canada....dumbasses.

[oldsnayke]

This applies, generally, to casual gamers. They don't want to pay too much because they're not intending on playing it on a regular every-day basis.. while the more hardcore gamers are looking for that, and are willing to pay that much.

[grilledgorlupa8]

Most movies today cost more than most regular video games to make. I know their is a lot more economics to why the price is higher but I don't agree that the prices being so high is good for the industry. Sure hardcore gamers are always gonna be buying games but for people that don't play games so much are only gonna spend so much money on it.

Honestly IMO the industry needs to expand the market 1st so they can afford to lower the price and this definitely the generation to do it imo too with the raising interest in gaming for many families. Who knows but when I look at the growth of the industry I see so much more potential.

[GarandShooter]

Maybe they should just adopt movie business strategies. Pay $15.00 to play the game for 90 minutes while 25 other people try to disturb you. Then pay $5.00 again to play it for 90 minutes through a DD service that allows your console to act as a terminal. Then finally charge you again if you decide to purchase it for your collection.

[grilledgorlupa8]

they could reduce the price admission to play games expanding the market to larger audiences so industry will have an incentive to create different types of games for different types of people so that could expand to the point where everyone plays video games cause theirs a genre for everyone.

[bednet]

Would selling them cheaper (say 30$-40$) increase the number of units sold...I would personally buy more games at that price...to me that price warrants an impulsive buy...not so much at 60$.

These past/next few weeks are hard for me since I cannot afford to buy every game that I want, I have to choose, and it breaks my heart.

[Claudinho69]

price of games should vary..

[air1]

agree.. how the hell is it that a broken game like alone in the dark (360) cost 60 bucks but then a game like gears 2 cost the same? games like aitd should sell for 20, hell it should of been a download for 10 bucks..

[capital1player]

i agree $60 is way too much should have just kept it for 50