Absolutely no doubt in my mind that Sony's Studios can justify that price tag. They one up themselves every generation anyway. When you think Sony's game doesn't get any better, it some how does, so I'm not worried at all I'm actually excited at the kinda games they'll pump out.
First i loved playing Demon Souls on the PS3, well worth the the money I paid. But now they redo the graphics and fine tune the gameplay some and all of a sudden it's worth more money?
Game companies used to do that over the life of their game without extra charge, CDPR says hi. Game companies used to put out free dlc to attract new players and keep the old ones loyal and buying their products. They also used to provide modding tools.
Then all of a sudden all these millennials started flooding the gaming scene throwing mommy and daddy's money at paid dlc and yearly full priced games like COD which is no more than dlc anyway. Then eating up microtransactions on full price games that are half done and buggy. Companies love these whales and they are the reason soo many companies keep getting away with things like this. Sheep will always be sheep.
$70 with “optional” MTX right? Sony’s 1st party titles might not do that....yet, but you bet 3rd party publishers will and most likely already are. So no, the discussion isn’t over.
But the games market itself is so much bigger than in those days, so comparing costs to the 90s isn't just a straight "adjust for inflation" calculation. Also combine that with the low distribution costs of digital sales sold today, games publishes make more money than they ever have in history.
Games do cost more to make in general but the rewards for publishers are heavily in their favour.
Quick check on Google shows activision blizzard created 6.49 billion dollars in revenue 2020 (4.93 billion of that from digital sales alone)
Publishers and retailers will always try to push their prices up to what they think the market will accept and cope with, that's the reality and the world we live in. We don't have to just lay down and accept that when it happens.
And current gen games give you far more hours of enjoyment when compared to PS1 games. $70 for as many hours of entertainment most current gen games provide is actually a good value for in 2020. However, the combination of a full priced game and micro-transactions in some games is sickening and another issue altogether.
While I agree with that statement let's be real not all games are worth $70 and these greedy publishers are well too greedy to release their games at $60 moving forward
mikeslemonade
You do know bottle of milk was 99 cents now it's $5.00 from ps1 to ps5. Things don't stay the same. I just don't want a standard one price fits all and I do hope with this piece raise we may finally see a revival of AA games. You know we had the best AA games during ps2 days
Gta 6 God of war Halo Gears Forza GT Resident evil Etc
All worth $70
Nba 2k absolutely not because sports titles are basically roster updates anyway on yearly basis. And that is a fact because konami yes that konami sells roster updates for $20 instead of brand new game now
People for the price raise(who understand the need but not for every game) and those who are wrong for being absolutely against the price raise(they have to understand cost of development has gone up because pay for developers has gone up)
We all want fair price that's all. If a game is really worth $70 based on content than yes but when it's publisher greed than absolutely not
True, I was mainly referring to PS exclusives. I don't trust anyone else to do us a service with 70$ AAA's.
"(they have to understand cost of development has gone up because pay for developers has gone up)"
I think the price of development is only expensive at the beginning as tools for both consoles are pricey. New IP and new engines being built are very pricey. But as the gen goes on everything kinda evens out on the developers end. Devs also get bonuse from high metacritic scores and meeting sales projections.
So something like Cod and sports games have no business being 70$.
Like me? The Last Of US 2, Ghosts are some of the most amazing of last gen. Forgive me for trusting Song on delivering that 70$ price tag. When Ragnarok releases next year you'll see what I mean.
I agree with you AngelicIceDimond. I paid $79 here in Australia for COD Cold War. Last game was $69 from memory. I believe it won't make a whole lot of difference in the end for gamers. If you like the sound of a game and you want to get it, you probably will anyway regardless of the price difference. That said though, and this isn't too much to ask for i think, but every higher priced game should maybe have a playable demo to smooth over the price hike? This gives us gamers a taster of what we are getting for our hard earned dollars.
@ Artemidorus Yes, I would. Not like money is in ample supply but moreso, if I like or want to play a game then I'll buy it. If TLOU2 was $150 then it'd still be a yes from me. Sure, I'd buy less games each year but I'm happy to pay more for things I want or would like.
I think this issue of a price hike comes down to the purchaser in the end and less to do with the developer.
REDGUM, it's people like yourself that hinder new ideas.
They would be happy to keep feeding you the same things year after year for more over time.
These companies will try anything to claw money in to the extent they now charge for incomplete games with a lack of content with the possibility of downgrades for some.
In general, I'm painfully selective and don't really buy games just to experiment. I only really buy games I know I'll thoroughly enjoy. That said, because I don't buy things on hype, I always feel that my money is well spent. My collection is probably smaller than most people's (I have about 50 PS4 games), and I've not felt that cost was an issue. But again, very selective. I do buy special editions when something comes along that I know I'll be especially fond of. Paid $90 for Persona 5 and $120 on MGSV (Gz + LE TPP).
I don't see myself as the rule, though. And on fairness, many of these games I have were sales purchases. I guess we'll see how the market feels about it.
So you think during a worldwide pandemic with mass unemployment it’s a good time to raise prices. It comes off very insensitive and other companies including 3rd parties are using it in marketing they are keeping prices the same. Heck people in the industry are saying Sony approached them trying to influence companies to raise prices so they wouldn’t be the only one. In a time where these companies are reaping record profits and selling every console they can make raising prices is a very bad look. Obviously it’s not working to plan either because you can already find those 70$ games back to normal prices or cheaper at many retailers in under a week of launch. #forthepayers
No matter the game a £20 increase in the UK is laughable. Most games these days are not even worth £40-£50(current price). Also the games they "pump out" can be bought very often in sales so I'm not willing to roll over. It's not difficult for me to wait for sales.
Agreed. Us Europeans are getting ****ed compared to the Americans. Will be waiting for sales before I pick up Demon's Souls in particular (€80). Don't mind picking up Miles Morales since its just €60 at launch and I own but have never played Borderlands 3 so I'll have the free next gen version of that. And of course, Bugsnax.
Not really. Europe tends to have better wages than us. You may have higher taxes but we have expensive medical, cars are a must here so payments, insurance, gas and more costs. We each get screwed one way another.
@Nomadr3aper ,.. That is certainly not true,.. Most of Europeans have 4-5 times lower wages, way more taxes etc,.. while everything being more expensive from the get go,.. So ,.. But don't you worry,.. liberals are going to destroy you also,.. Good luck with Bo Jiden and insane cortex bitch,.. They will certainly do a number on US.
@NomadR3aper You American? If so that's completely false that Europe has 4 to 5 times more wages, maybe if you were comparing Switzerland to Wyoming. Fuel and electricity lot more expensive in Europe as well.
@NomadR3aper I agree with what you're saying but I wasn't talking about EU vs USA generally, I was just talking about the cost of video-games right now.
@WireMucks "Most of Europeans have 4-5 times lower wages, way more taxes etc." haha. Thanks for the laugh, mate. Americans and Europeans do not have 4-5 times higher or lower wages than one another. You'd have to be extremely unintelligent to believe that. Anyone who upvoted WireMucks' comment is very gullible and uninformed. Europeans have lower living costs and a much bigger middle class than America.
"But don't you worry,.. liberals are going to destroy you also" The fact that you think Europe has been destroyed by liberals is absolutely hilarious. You clearly don't use facts to inform your opinions.
- The EU's GDP accounts for 22% of the global economy which is right behind America's GDP and far ahead of China's GDP. - The states that voted for Biden in America account for 70% of America's GDP, and red states take more federal tax money than they provide: https://www.wsj.com/livecov...
Hmmmm Jim Ryan.. Isnt this the same guy who brought HZD to PC? And is now justifying to increase the prices of PS5 games? Lmao get that man out of Sony.
I think this price hike will ultimately make the consumer much more cautious about their purchases. Developers will need to up the ante to keep being profitable. Also, this digital, cheaper console version is actually the Trojan horse to make us much more dependant of digital purchases and prepare for a physical media less future. That's when the big bucks will start rolling in for both ms and Sony. No more middle man and straight to consumer sales with max profit.
On one hand developers have more work to do, adn have to put more hours into developing a game to nextgen standards. Not just in terms of higher graphical fidelity, but also the hours required to implement haptic feedback etc.
On the other hand however, publishers are already taking in record profits from game revenue, and microtransaction are also a thing; so the true cost of a complete game is much higher than £70. Just look at all the different versions of Assassins Creed Valhalla - as an example. If you want all the content, how much would you actually be spending?
This is all to MAXIMIZE profit. Most publishers could easily release games at 50 dollars or euros. The amount of money some of these games make is insane. So why would i as a publisher sell something for cheaper if people keep buying it for more? I don't think the price increase is justified but i'd like to see some real numbers if they wanna convince me otherwise. And that's never gonna happen.
They spend millions making the game, and we're acting like 70 bucks is robbing us blind.
Not all games cost that much to make, but you can usually tell the games that actually cost money and took effort to make, and the games that are trying to maximize profit.
just listen to developers talking about making games for next gen. So many new technologies that help development and reduce cost and time to make games. These savings should be passed on to consumers IMO.
I mean just looking at the Unreal 5 tech and how there will be no need to develop multiple 3d models of the same items due to the elimination of LODs. Furthermore you can save time on that illumination technique which is in real time supposedly and eliminates having to bake in lights in the scene.
beyond all that, with all this covid crap happening and the amount of people that will be economically affected for years to come, i think this price hike is a little bit out of place
Some forget that there's this thing called inflation. Costs more money to do things you did before for less years ago. I don't like it. But it is what it is. Also, Sony games aren't beating you over the head with micro transactions. And Sony busts their butts making highly detailed, highly animated, high quality first party games that get yearly GoftY nominations. That takes talent. Also takes MONEY to do it. But Sony will still give away free content for a successful game. Didn't see any micro transactions in my Ghost of Tsushima. Didn't see it in Horizon. Not in Spider-Man, etc. Gamers want Sony to make bigger and better games than ever before, but not pay for it at launch.
Here's the thing to counter suggested $70 prices or any price. Trust me. It works **EVERY** time. There's this thing called, "Wait for a sale." Just because they ask for a given price for a product, doesn't mean you have to buy it at that price. You don't need to buy ANY product day one. If you do, food, clothes, TV, cellphones, car, game systems or videogames, etc. Expect to PAY for it as an early adopter. Sometimes I will want it right away. Sometimes I won't.
If you don't want it right now like everyone else. Wait. The prices you're willing to accept will come to you faster than you think. And saves you money in the meantime. But if you do want it right now, be the first to own it, the first to experience it, pay for it.
inflation is the biggest bs excuse. Game developers pay isn't being adjusted for inflation nor are most employees. Personally I make the same annually as I did 20 years ago. Game developers who have been around for 20 years are probably making more than they did 20 years ago simply due to minimal annual raises. And at the end of the day these additional $10 is not going back into new projects or the game developers pockets. It's pure, unadulterated corporate greed. We live in a time where greed drives industry. CEO pay has risen 940% since '78 while the workers pay has risen 12%. It use to be CEOs made something like 50% more than employees post WW. Which is an entirely different argument but still... the fact remains it's corporate greed. not inflation.
Games are selling at record numbers over and over again. Profits are at record highs. And you can point to Sony games and what Sony does but that's something they choose to do. What about those other companies who will demand $70 for their games riddled the loot boxes, micros, DLC/seasonal content, etc. Furthermore, as I've said time and time again. We already had a payment model that allowed gamers to pay $60, $70-80, $100 and sometimes $150-300 for various editions of the game. What is wrong with continuing that model and allowing the customer to decide what they want or can afford.
Your argument about early adopters falls a bit flat to. When new technology is released it's often the components and manufacturing costs driving up the price. Until they can be made more efficient and on a larger scale the price will stay high. LCD tvs, OLED tvs, blu ray, cd, etc, etc. food & clothes don't have an early adopter penalty. Even cellphones pricing has been somewhat stagnant but, again, corporate greed and in the US, no contracts discount has pushed pricing a bit higher than it use to be. Cars, again, no early adopter penalty though again, corporate greed has pushed pricing to ridiculous prices. So much so that from 2009 to 2019 cars saw a 48% increase in price.
You call it cooperate greed. But neglect that it costs more to manufacture, more to ship, more to research and develop products, etc. If you want the best artists, the best programmers, the best story tellers, etc, you're going to pay for it. That costs money. Sony bought Insomniac at a high price. Because they make high quality. Spider-Man sold 20 million. It was worth the buy. To make next gen games better than what we seen, that costs money.
Do you see Sony taking the money and running? No! They reinvest back into PlayStation by making even more high quality games.
Do you see micro transactions in GOW? Horizon? Spider-Man? Ghost? Hell no. So, all the ones complaining about micro transactions doesn't apply to Sony when they aren't putting that in their single player games. So, why all the nonsense above talking about micro transactions? If Sony was doing it and charging for micro transactions, then they can complain.
I bought PSVR day one at $500. Gamers today can buy PSVR for half that or less and get free games included in a bundle. You want it right now, you pay for it. You don't, the price will come down to you. Always has. Always does. TVs that cost $5,000. I wouldn't buy them. But there are those that do at launch. I wouldn't spend over a $1,000 just to watch TV. I can wait.
What I'm actually seeing here are gamers complaining they can't afford something right away because they want it. Like they are entitled to lower prices. Companies don't owe you anything. You might think they do because you bought something from them. They don't owe you a thing.
How many games go on sale? All of them. How many lower in price over time? All of them. Only thing happening is whining and complaining that something is out of someone's price range at launch. Nothing no more. I don't complain about it. I wait. If I want it, can afford it, I get right away. That's how it works.
PS5 and Series X are $500. There are those that can't afford the console. Let alone the games. Instead of whining, wait. Or save up. If a game is $70, there's no one pointing a gun at your head making you buy it right away. Same when games cost $64.99. Or $59.99. Or when they we're $49.99. People complained then too.
Well, that's how you prove they are wrong with the price hike...don't pay it and wait for a discount instead. If enough others do the same, they will budge. If not, then they have no reason not to keep initial game launch prices at $70.
Sony exclusives can definitely justify the price increase. A lot of multiplatform games do not, cannot, and shouldn't be increased. If you cannot up your quality with your games, there should not be a price increase.
Exactly torrents FTW well for PC :D Modded PS5's are not out there just yet. Just keep raising I keep taking lol. Lower prices I'll buy some, seems fair xD
To me, the problem isnt that games are 70$ now compared with the old prices, for me the real problem is you pay 70$ today to get half of the content. Sometimes if you want everything that should be on the game you end up paying more than twice the price of the game. I mean i can understan MTs in free2play games, but in 70$ i feel is stupid. Im old school, i was used to buy a game and get a full game, and to get extra things for completing the game and its challenges, not with my whallet.. idk maybe im the only one who thinks this way, but i feel im not wrong.
Getting a digital only console now might not be the smartes move in the long term if you are looking for saving some money. Locking yourself totally into Sonys eco system lol.
Dark Souls is like close to 90USD around here. Really feeling Sony fist up behind this time around.
Absolutely no doubt in my mind that Sony's Studios can justify that price tag. They one up themselves every generation anyway. When you think Sony's game doesn't get any better, it some how does, so I'm not worried at all I'm actually excited at the kinda games they'll pump out.
70$ well spent.
In Portugal PS5 Sony games are 70-80€... way too much money for a game.
It's a tough call.
On one hand developers have more work to do, adn have to put more hours into developing a game to nextgen standards. Not just in terms of higher graphical fidelity, but also the hours required to implement haptic feedback etc.
On the other hand however, publishers are already taking in record profits from game revenue, and microtransaction are also a thing; so the true cost of a complete game is much higher than £70. Just look at all the different versions of Assassins Creed Valhalla - as an example. If you want all the content, how much would you actually be spending?
Some forget that there's this thing called inflation. Costs more money to do things you did before for less years ago. I don't like it. But it is what it is. Also, Sony games aren't beating you over the head with micro transactions. And Sony busts their butts making highly detailed, highly animated, high quality first party games that get yearly GoftY nominations. That takes talent. Also takes MONEY to do it. But Sony will still give away free content for a successful game. Didn't see any micro transactions in my Ghost of Tsushima. Didn't see it in Horizon. Not in Spider-Man, etc. Gamers want Sony to make bigger and better games than ever before, but not pay for it at launch.
Here's the thing to counter suggested $70 prices or any price. Trust me. It works **EVERY** time. There's this thing called, "Wait for a sale." Just because they ask for a given price for a product, doesn't mean you have to buy it at that price. You don't need to buy ANY product day one. If you do, food, clothes, TV, cellphones, car, game systems or videogames, etc. Expect to PAY for it as an early adopter. Sometimes I will want it right away. Sometimes I won't.
If you don't want it right now like everyone else. Wait. The prices you're willing to accept will come to you faster than you think. And saves you money in the meantime. But if you do want it right now, be the first to own it, the first to experience it, pay for it.
In some gamers mind, all games should be $5 and give you 400 hours of gameplay with zero ads or microtransactions.