When it comes to 2020 we knew that going in we would see the launch of the next-generation video game platforms from both Sony and Microsoft. There was plenty of hype and anticipation on what the new platforms would offer, most likely didn’t think about costs rising for the software. While former Sony PlayStation executive Shawn Layden made mention of the costs rising to develop games, it became a reality that games may hit a new high soon afterward.
NBA 2K21 was the first game to come out into the scene that was confirmed for a $69.99 price point for the next-generation video game edition. While new video game titles that come out today are usually priced at $59.99, the $10 price difference may become the norm across the board for these big title releases. Of course, there have been some arguments on both sides of this move. While there are certainly some big costs that go into building these video games, there are also others that have suggested that bumping up the price for these games should come with less emphasis on titles preying on players to make in-game purchases.
There are certainly plenty of video game titles out there today that offer quite a few microtransactions that allow the game to continue earning money long after its initial release. Still, it’s always interesting to see what other industry veterans think of the price hike such as Microsoft’s Phil Spencer. Phil is the head of Xbox and recently he was asked about the price from The Washington Post. As someone with a prominent position from Xbox, it looks like Phil Spencer views this move as something that players will ultimately decide on if $69.99 is justifiable.
“As an industry, we can price things whatever we want to price them, and the customer will decide what the right price is for them.”
Furthermore, it does look like Microsoft is keeping some developers from releasing games with a price hike when it comes to next-generation upgrades. Even if these games do end up coming out at $69.99, there are still quite a few players that ultimately wait for a price to drop before purchasing a game. In fact, most games tend to drop relatively fast, but we could see some games just not being bought as quickly as before, but only time will tell.
