It’s solely been about two years or so for the reason that online game business started charging $70 for giant video games as an alternative of the standard $60, as a result of sport growth prices growing (and greed). This shift, understandably, didn’t go over effectively with gamers as the associated fee to remain up-to-date with fashionable gaming continues to rise, however which may not cease Take-Two Interactive (the mother or father firm of Rockstar Video games) from attempting to push it additional with Grand Theft Auto VI—one of many few upcoming video games that would in all probability promote for $80.
In 2022, the period of $70 video video games started. Since then we’ve seen WB Video games, Activision, Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation, and different corporations start promoting their largest, fanciest video games for $10 greater than the $60 price ticket that had been in place for years. The response to those elevated costs wasn’t nice, however video games like Name of Responsibility and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom bought effectively even with the upper price ticket. And in Take-Two’s newest earnings name, CEO Strauss Zelnick appeared to set the groundwork for costs going up.
As reported by Gamespot, when Zelnick was requested about how Take-Two decides what to cost for video games like Grand Theft Auto VI and Borderlands, he didn’t present any particular costs and as an alternative shared the writer’s pricing philosophy.
“Look, there’s extra content material consistently being made out there, and we actually intention to ship nice worth at any given time,” stated Zelnick. “We’re so centered on delivering extra worth than what we cost. And that’s type of the rubric.”
He additional added that each time Take-Two establishes a sport’s value, the corporate desires to guarantee that it’s “excellent news” for gamers and that “the expertise vastly over delivers” in comparison with the worth level. “ That’s the aim,” added Zelnick.
If we glance again at current feedback from Zelnick, I’ve some severe questions on what he considers excellent news and good worth for shoppers.
Zelnick’s ideas on good worth and $70 video games
In August 2023, when followers criticized Take-Two for charging $50 for the good, however bare-bones Pink Useless Redemption and Undead Nightmare PS4 and Change ports, this was Zelnick’s response:
“That’s simply what we imagine is the commercially correct value for it,” Zelnick advised IGN after an earnings name.
“[Red Dead Redemption] was an incredible standalone sport in its personal proper when it was initially launched, so we really feel prefer it’s an incredible bundle for the primary time, and positively an incredible worth for shoppers.” I’d argue that $50 will not be an “correct value” for a primary port of a decade-plus outdated open-world Xbox 360 sport that, at launch a minimum of, didn’t help 60FPS and eliminated all the net multiplayer modes.
In Might 2023, Zelnick additionally indicated that there wasn’t any client pushback on publishers charging $70 as an alternative of $60 on some large video games, like Gotham Knights.
“What we’re seeing is shoppers are in search of to restrict their spending by going both to the stuff they actually, actually care about, blockbusters, or to worth, and generally it may very well be each,” stated Zelnick.“And the excellent news is, now we have a bunch of blockbusters and now we have a beautiful catalog.”
All of this appears to recommend that Zelnick believes $70 video games work, shoppers don’t thoughts them, ports are value $50, and other people will purchase your blockbuster video games if they’re actually enthusiastic about them, even when they must handle their cash. That makes me surprise what Grand Theft Auto 6′s value will find yourself being when it launches in 2025.
If any sport can cost $80 (or extra) it’s GTA 6
Wanting again in any respect his feedback and Take-Two’s current historical past makes me surprise: Will Zelnick resolve that GTA 6 is value greater than $70?
Will he have a look at some of the hyped video games in human historical past, the sequel to one of many best-selling video video games of all time, and a blockbuster open-world journey that may possible be large, and assume “Oh gamers pays $80 and even $90 for that!” I feel that’s an actual chance and if it occurs, I’d wager my subsequent lunch that he’d clarify on an earnings name that followers are getting a “nice worth” for that $80.
Certain, it appears foolish and even downright idiotic in 2024 or 2025 to cost greater than $70. We’ve seen numerous examples during the last 18 months or so of huge, costly video games failing to attach with gamers, critics, and fandoms, whereas smaller indie titles charging much less are exploding in recognition. I imply, one of many largest video games in 2024 is Helldivers 2 and it sports activities a $40 price ticket. In simply the previous couple of months, Manor Lords, Grey Zone Warfare, and Content material Warning have discovered large success on Steam they usually all price far lower than $70.
However Grand Theft Auto 6 is completely different. It’s the following entry in one of many largest online game franchises on the planet, will possible have a large advertising push, and is the follow-up to GTA V and GTA On-line, a number of the most profitable items of leisure in historical past.
It additionally has an virtually not possible quantity of hype surrounding it, with gamers and followers going feral over tiny updates to Rockstar’s back-end servers. These similar individuals make theories based mostly on birds in teaser photographs and observe down each piece of minimize GTA content material they’ll discover utilizing all types of strategies. These are followers who, if requested, would possible purchase GTA 6 at $80. And I feel there are many different individuals on the market who would rapidly toss $80 to Rockstar and Take-Two if it meant they might play what is going to possible be the largest online game launch in 2025.
So actually, at this level, the one factor stopping Take-Two from charging greater than $70 (and providing shoppers a lot “nice worth”) is Zelnick and different executives all this and deciding to not be grasping. And people, I’m not holding my breath, particularly as video games price increasingly more to make and take longer and longer to create. I feel if Zelnick and Take-Two imagine GTA 6 can succeed at $80 they’ll cost that and promote you a particular version for much more.
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