With Next-Gen consoles on the horizon and their costs still a mystery, there comes some speculation on the price of the games themselves. How much will you pay for a next-gen game? The first mention of a price point for these next-gen games came when it was announced that NBA 2k21 will retail for $69.99, a $10 increase from today’s games on current consoles.
Why the increase?
The increase should come as nothing new but our wallets haven’t felt it in a while. Think back to the Xbox360 and PS3 generation (2005/2006), when these consoles were released the cost of the software jumped $10 as well, going from $49.99 to $59.99. Since that time, pricing for games has remained flat, despite other media, such as TV and film, increasing considerably. For example, cinema ticket prices have risen 39%, Netflix subscription costs have gone up 100%, and Cable TV packages have risen by 105%.
Yoshio Osaki, president and CEO of games research firm IDG Consulting, says that the “next-gen console game production costs have increased by 200% to 300%, depending on the IP, studio and genre, but the prices have remained at $59.99. 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.”
Not all games are created equal
He goes onto say that, “IDG works with all major game publishers, and our channel checks indicate that other publishers are also exploring moving their next-gen pricing up on certain franchises but not every game should garner the $69.99 price point on next-gen, but flagship AAAs such as NBA 2K merit this pricing more than others.”
So how much will you pay for a next-gen game? A $10 increase doesn’t seem like much to experience the latest and greatest the video game industry has to offer. However, it is enough of an increase to make gamers be more selective on which titles they will add to their video game libraries.