The cost of video games and gaming consoles has been a topic of conversation for several months now. Part of the conversation came via topics like the Nintendo Switch 2, which many thought was “too expensive,” despite its clear improvements, and then its launch title was $80, which many thought was unfair. Adding to that was the discussion about GTA 6, which is clearly going to be the biggest game, in terms of sales, of this decade. As such, the rumors around the title stated that it could be the first true $100 title, not including special editions, of course. Those are a separate thing entirely.
Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive haven’t directly swatted down those rumors, which has made the talk increase in a big way. Yet, due to a recent event, the game might not be the one to set the record, because someone else “sold out” before them.
That someone was Electronic Arts, which entered a deal not too long ago to become a private company owned by Saudi Arabia and other “powerful figures.” The deal has raised all sorts of eyebrows, especially because of the $20 billion in debt that EA will have for accepting the deal.
Enter Esports Insider, who talked with Professor Rob Wilson, who heads up a special class in London, and he noted that because of EA’s debt, they could easily push some of their titles to $100 or over in an attempt to get rid of the debt quickly:
“EA Sports FC is quite simply the jewel in the crown. The idea that new blockbuster titles might push toward $100 or even $120 is not far-fetched, especially since speculation around GTA 6 suggests the industry is already flirting with that threshold.”
And according to him, that might just be the first step in the “squeezing” that EA is likely to do:
“There is a genuine concern for consumers and a real danger that cost-cutting becomes inevitable, monetisation strategies may be stretched further, and they will be charged more. In a leveraged environment, there’s little room for generosity. The priority will be squeezing every incremental dollar from existing franchises rather than funding risky new bets.”
The sad thing here is that this is completely believable. Even before this deal, EA has been known to “squeeze” both its customers and its teams really hard so they could make as much money as possible. We’ll have to wait and see just how far they’ll push things to “overcome” their debt.
