Take-Two has addressed the price of next-gen games, the company will sell NBA 2k21 for $70 on PlayStation and Xbox, however, in the Q1 earnings call, Take-Two ‘s CEO Strauss Zelnick explains that the increase in the unified price of games is something that is needed and the company will determine on a game-by-game basis the retail price of all of its games.
“I would just observe there hasn’t been a frontline price increase for a very long time although costs have increased significantly,” Zelnick told investors.
“But most importantly we believe we’re delivering the highest-quality titles in the business and consumers are staying more engaged than ever. Games have extraordinary playability and replayability and they offer many, many hours of entertainment. We think it’s a great value. It does rely on our continuing to deliver amazing experiences and that’s our strategy and our goal.”
IDG President and CEO Yoshio Osaki recently explained the problem of the unified cost for a AAA game of USD $60, something that has not been increased since 2005.
“Even with the increase to $69.99 for next-gen, that price increase from 2005 to 2020 next-gen is only up 17%, far lower than the other comparisons.
While the cost of development and publishing have gone up, and pricing in other entertainment verticals has also gone up substantially, next-gen software pricing has not reflected these increases. $59.99 to $69.99 does not even cover these other cost increases completely, but does move it more in the proper direction.”
In late June, Former PlayStation Executive Shay Laden explained how the current approach in AAA Games Design “not sustainable”. He explains that the unified $60 cost of a game, something that has not changed in decades, is preventing developers to have profits that match the investment made in games that are now, completely different from games from the early 2000s.
Source: VG247
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