It’s solely been about two years or so because the online game trade started charging $70 for giant video games as an alternative of the same old $60, attributable to recreation improvement prices rising (and greed). This shift, understandably, didn’t go over nicely with gamers as the price to remain up-to-date with fashionable gaming continues to rise, however which may not cease Take-Two Interactive (the mum or dad 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 greatest, 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 Obligation and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom bought nicely 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 continuously being made out there, and we actually intention to ship nice worth at any given time,” mentioned Zelnick. “We’re so centered on delivering extra worth than what we cost. And that’s kind of the rubric.”
He additional added that at any time when Take-Two establishes a recreation’s worth, the corporate desires to ensure that it’s “excellent news” for gamers and that “the expertise vastly over delivers” in comparison with the value level. “ That’s the purpose,” 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 consider is the commercially correct worth for it,” Zelnick instructed IGN after an earnings name.
“[Red Dead Redemption] was an important standalone recreation in its personal proper when it was initially launched, so we really feel prefer it’s an important bundle for the primary time, and positively an important worth for shoppers.” I’d argue that $50 will not be an “correct worth” for a primary port of a decade-plus outdated open-world Xbox 360 recreation that, at launch at the very least, didn’t help 60FPS and eliminated all the net multiplayer modes.
In Might 2023, Zelnick additionally indicated that there wasn’t any shopper pushback on publishers charging $70 as an alternative of $60 on some massive video games, like Gotham Knights.
“What we’re seeing is shoppers are searching for to restrict their spending by going both to the stuff they actually, actually care about, blockbusters, or to worth, and typically it may very well be each,” mentioned Zelnick.“And the excellent news is, we have now a bunch of blockbusters and we have now 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 should handle their cash. That makes me surprise what Grand Theft Auto 6′s worth will find yourself being when it launches in 2025.
If any recreation can cost $80 (or extra) it’s GTA 6
Trying 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 take a look at one 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 probably be large, and suppose “Oh gamers can pay $80 and even $90 for that!” I believe that’s an actual risk 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 over the past 18 months or so of massive, costly video games failing to attach with gamers, critics, and fandoms, whereas smaller indie titles charging much less are exploding in reputation. I imply, one of many greatest 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 massive success on Steam and so they all price far lower than $70.
However Grand Theft Auto 6 is completely different. It’s the subsequent entry in one of many greatest online game franchises on the planet, will probably 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 inconceivable 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 photos and observe down each piece of lower GTA content material they’ll discover utilizing all types of strategies. These are followers who, if requested, would probably purchase GTA 6 at $80. And I believe there are many different individuals on the market who would shortly toss $80 to Rockstar and Take-Two if it meant they may play what is going to probably be the most important 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 taking a look at all this and deciding to not be grasping. And people, I’m not holding my breath, particularly as video games price an increasing number of to make and take longer and longer to create. I believe if Zelnick and Take-Two consider GTA 6 can succeed at $80 they’ll cost that and promote you a particular version for much more.
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