£70 - The "New Normal" for next generation games?

[VortexA1]

No no no! I'm honestly fed up of people saying that digital costs more because of physical. It's utter nonsense. If it all went digital tomorrow do you honestly think that game prices would suddenly come down? Because I would bet my entire years wages that they wouldn't. Digital games cost what they do purely down to publisher greed. It's as simple as that.

Well yeah if it went all digital tomorrow of course they wouldn't go down cos of greed,that's the set digital price now isn't it..but....whatever the prices of physical , digital will be at a higher price because:-

My quote .It isn't out of my a** lol. I have read this multiple times they sell digital at a higher price so that bricks and mortar shops that sell the physical discs/consoles don't go out of business/they placate businesses.

I understand the argument that it's the publishers etc etc just cos they can..but think about it..everything is /has gone online/streaming services. If digital was the same price as physical don't you think the bricks and mortar shops would most probably disappear/suffer heavy losses/administration? HMV had to be rescued in 2013.

For now they need the stores /benefits them for now.

i buy physical games but if digital was the same price I might be tempted /at the moment I like to wander in my store .No way am I paying extra for the same game on digital .

Anyway that's my views on it.

 

[Random Guy Esq.]

Well my quote isn't out of my a**. I have read this multiple times they sell digital at a higher price so that shops that sell the physical disc don't go out of business/placate businesses.

It's exactly this. They need bricks and mortar stores to sell the consoles on their behalf (for now, at least). So they keep them sweet by not undercutting them on game prices.

 

[VortexA1]

Delete please.

 

[KraniX]

I'm tempted to cancel my PS5 preorder, I just can't stomach £70 for a new game. I've rarely paid full price this gen barring a few exceptions such as RDR2, BotW and Mario All Stars... Prefer to pick up PS4 and Xbox games for half the price a few months later.

My most anticipated next gen game isn't even next gen, it's Cyberpunk...

I have a Series X pre-ordered which is likely to run Cyberpunk better than the PS5 given the additional horsepower. Will have to wait for the Digital Foundry verdict though.

I will very likely still buy a PS5 at some point but I think makes sense to wait until the library of exclusive games has filled out a bit and dropped in price.

 

[Earth[Tera].bin]

I noticed they're asking £89 for the special edition (digital version) of Demon Souls . Bonkers. Definitely playing straight into MS' game pass strategy.

It'll also be interesting to a see a comparable PC v PS5 list for games when they're released.

 

[Trifid]

I don't buy games at £50 a go (especially when they often start needing more spent on them). They have no chance of consideration at £70.

 

[Khrest]

My upper ceiling for a console game is about £40. I paid £47-£49 for a couple under lockdown as I had nothing else to spend it on.

I'd have a simple moral objection to paying over £50 for a game. Very, very few games are worth more than this and any game with any form of MTX in it is disqualified, however good it is in my book.

I'll buy a series X and game pass unlimited. Job done.

<EDIT> But to be fair, we aren't the intended market for £70 games. Little Jimmy will always get his FIFA and COD, no matter what the price is. The mums and dads will accept the increase without even blinking.

 

[ljt]

Thankfully I'm at least a year or more behind with games. So I rarely if ever buy games new. Put it this way, I waited until the nathan drake collection was given away free during lockdown, and purchased Uncharted 4, Days Gone, and Last of Us Remastered for about £32. On Xbox I just use gamepass and the last game I bought new was RDR2.

So that's my typical spending (or as very little as possible) habbits for games

 

[DeliciousStorage]

But to be fair, we aren't the intended market for £70 games. Little Jimmy will always get his FIFA and COD, no matter what the price is. The mums and dads will accept the increase without even blinking.

To be fair £70 for a multiplayer game like COD wouldn't be that bad if you like that type of game and know you will play it a lot. Discounted top up vouchers would bring the price down to £58.88. Micro transactions are usually cosmetic only and are not necessary. Lets say you put 200 hours into it throughout the year, that would make the price £0.29 per hour of game-play. Compare that to a singleplayer game that you get maybe 20 hours out of, even if you picked it up on sale for £20 it would be £1 per hour of game-play.

 

[JBeck]

Some were as high as £60. I recall Sonic & Knuckles and Virtua Racing being particularly egregious. That's about £120 in today's money

I remember Turok on the N64 being silly money, something about expandable cartridge or something.

I think some are forgetting games back then cost almost as much, with a much smaller team developing the game in the first place.

I think what we also need to remember is cartridges were not cheap to produce, they were literally hardware, today we have discs at what, 5p each?

 

[Raymond Lin]

I think what we also need to remember is cartridges were not cheap to produce, they were literally hardware, today we have discs at what, 5p each?

Keep reading, someone already made the same argument already.

 

[JBeck]

Keep reading, someone already made the same argument already.

I didn't realise I had to read the whole thread to comment on a post.

It's not really an argument it's more of a fact.

 

[Raymond Lin]

I didn't realise I had to read the whole thread to comment on a post.

It's not really an argument it's more of a fact.

And your point has already been answered, that’s what I am trying to tell, so to save you and I time repeating ourselves, which is exactly what we are doing, wasting our time repeating arguments that’s already been made.

 

[JBeck]

And your point has already been answered, that’s what I am trying to tell, so to save you and I time repeating ourselves, which is exactly what we are doing, wasting our time repeating arguments that’s already been made.

And my point was I haven't read the whole thread, I was merely commenting on what I initially saw and hence haven't read the answer to my comment.

I'll carry on reading in that case and say no more.

 

[Raymond Lin]

And my point was I haven't read the whole thread, I was merely commenting on what I initially saw and hence haven't read the answer to my comment.

I'll carry on reading in that case and say no more.

I know you haven’t read the whole thread, that is abundantly clear and I knew that hence I told you that argument is in the thread, so please go read it because it’s been answered.

 

[JBeck]

I know you haven’t read the whole thread, that is abundantly clear and I knew that hence I told you that argument is in the thread, so please go read it because it’s been answered.

Read, point taken.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Read, point taken.

 

[JBeck]

I think what is erking me about the price hike is that it's come all of a sudden because of the next gen.

New gen, that's an extra £15 please straight off the bat, it's like an excuse just to charge more.

Does it suddenly cost £15 more to develop a game? I don't think so, maybe I'm wrong, but what I know is that I've bought some dogs digitally that I've only played for a few minutes and hated them, no way of getting my money back and I'm not prepared to do that for £70, hence Game Pass on XSX and free games on Plus will be the next gen for me.

 

[bakes0310]

Outrageous prices I'll never pay £70 game. £45 is max and that has to be the game plus all dlc/season pass.
I will get a ps5 but not till about 4-5 years time, should have some reasonably priced games to try then.

 

[d_brennen]

I think what we also need to remember is cartridges were not cheap to produce, they were literally hardware, today we have discs at what, 5p each?

There's arguments both sides. Back in the 80s and 90s, small teams could make a game in short order that would sell well enough. The market was smaller (arcade, console and PC).

Now the market is MUCH bigger, mainstream entertainment no less. However, games are no longer a duo or small team endeavour for programming enthusiast, it's business. The tools cost a fortune (engines, middleware, creative applications etc.) and teams are large in number as games have grown in scale, with the associated costs of wages for highly mobile professionals, HR, employer obligations etc.

We've been paying largely the same for games for a looong time and it's been financed by the expansion of the market.

There's a good saying: Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.’

Gaming is nearly tapped out in growth. It's in the consolidation phase now, which isn't good for consumers but it means prices will rise or other means of income will be explored.

I'd rather pay £50-70 for a game that's complete, not buggy, pay to win and free of micro transactions than the alternative...