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[Ivory Samoan]

Basically, seeing all these layoffs and hearing part of the reason is the risk and small margins...well, there's one simple solution: games need to cost more.

Over here in New Zealand, we currently pay $90-$120.00 or thereabouts a game, games have nearly always cost this much...going way, way back to at least the 90s. I don't really understand why video games are immune to going up in price (apart from the recent $10 USD bump), I mean...if it meant less lay offs, a healthier industry and people still wanting to work in the industry, surely us taking a $20-$30 bump on the chin is worth it?

I probably am not the median gamer in terms of earnings and such, but even when I was a broke Uni student in the late 90s & early 2000s, games were still $90-$120.00 a game here - and I paid it and was happy....that's like $200.00 now adjusted for inflation lol, so yeah, why do many feel SO strongly against games increasing in cost?

I've gotten $200 of value from Hell Divers 2 already, $500 of value from Cyberpunk etc etc - it just feels like it's a crazy good deal, but are we hurting our own industry by not being open to a price hike?

$80-90 USD a game, I'd go there - if it means the industry keeps on smashing it (that's mean $150.00 NZD for sure, painful, but worth it).

 

[AV]

Careful, people here don't like to acknowledge the existence of inflation.

 

[DonF]

Hell no. We are already paying More. Subs, dlc, season passes, microtransctions ... Etc!!

$60 o $70 is just an entry fee

 

[Guilty_AI]

Games don't need to cost more, development needs to cost less. The market will pay what it wants to pay, charging more for games above what they're worth will only lead the industry further into the grave.

 

[Punished Miku]

Fuck no. Every company can die before I consider $120 a game lol. What an absurd strategy.

You're funding rich west coast devs going to knitting clubs lol. Keep your money.

This is why I love Gamepass. I literally would be fine with indies and backlog. It can all die.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

The cost of making games has gone up, this is true. The quality of games being released (in general) have not gone up. In fact, many would even argue that game quality has been going down and most of our time in games is spent doing monotonous tasks that serves as filler to elongate the time we play but not necessarily the amount of fun we have.

 

[KimDongHwan]

Prices are not decided by a consensus or conversation on a forum. The market speaks by itself, if they increase the price and still get the same demand for them, then that is the price, if they already tried and it doesn't work, then they need to work on the cost it takes to build a game. Basically you cannot manipulate the market, its just millions of people taking day to day decisions to what to do with their money. (Basically companies are not waiting for us to say "As gamers, we have gathered and have agreed to let you update the price of games, please go ahead")

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

I see both sides. Prices should be higher adjusted for inflation. But AI should also start making things cheaper and things like CGI is a lot cheaper to do now than back in the day.
The main issue I see is that the AAA games that are top notch high quality at $70, makes a lot of other games coming out at $70 look like a total rip off.
I mean hell, that Outcast A New Beginning looks like a great $30 game , it's releasing at $70 . . .

 

[Ivory Samoan]

Hell no. We are already paying More. Subs, dlc, season passes, microtransctions ... Etc!!

$60 o $70 is just an entry fee

*old man voice*

In 1995, I paid $100.00 here in New Zealand a game for my SNES, today in 2024, I paid $100.00 here in New Zealand for a game for my Switch...I didn't feel like I was being ripped off in 1995, so why is it a rip now to adjust?

Also, not all games have those wretched things you describe, and the live service games that are doing it right? (nudge nudge HD2), they are charging bugger all - they need all the $$ they can get to buy servers the size of the Kink.com building.

 

[Outlier]

I TOO would like to buy less games, because that would be the result.

 

[GrayChild]

I'll pay more only if I get better games.

This is a hobby, not something of vital importance.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

I am fine with $100 games and $1000 consoles but it has to be a game I want to play which neither MS nor Playstation has delivered to me that game I need in my life

 

[Ivory Samoan]

I TOO would like to buy less games, because that would be the result.

You would adjust.

 

[YuLY]

$80-90 USD a game, I'd go there - if it means the industry keeps on smashing it (that's mean $150.00 NZD for sure, painful, but worth it).

Nah, I'm good, let it burn so it can be reborn in a PS2 style industry. 7h games with an optional multiplayer mode, developed in 1-2years. Miss me with this 6years photorealistic shit.

 

[jshackles]

Raising the price would just decrease the demand. Demand in this industry = engagement, and engagement = more sales.

The most profitable games on the market right now are free to play.

 

[Lionel Richie]

I would wait for a sale like I do now lol.

 

[Kenpachii]

aint paying 70 bucks for a game, 30 is my limit. U either deliver or not get bought simple as that.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

Who's approving and funding all of these garbage gaas games that noone wants, and then when they have shitty sales and results, the devs on these teams forced to make this trash are the ones who suffer and get laid off.

The execs and leads or whoever keep pushing these games need to be rooted out and squashed like the roaches that they are.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

I pay plenty. Not my fault these big companies bet on shit that makes no sense and make bad decisions. I’m willing to pay for games that I know are going to be good, but let’s be honest there is a lot of shit being made.

 

[analog_future]

Nintendo looks like absolute geniuses right about now, with their decision to de-prioritize graphics/complexity/cutting edge technology decades ago.



Because of that philosophy, they've been able to keep development costs extremely low, all while outselling their competition. And they're the only major gaming corporation that's healthy right now.

 

[NickFire]

Thanks but not thanks. I'd rather see the companies drop bad policies than ask me to pay for the problems caused by their bad policies.

 

[onQ123]

You got life all messed up buddy lol


This is corporate greed & nothing more they would rather the lower end guys go without food than for their slides to look bad .

 

[WitchHunter]

$80-90 USD a game, I'd go there - if it means the industry keeps on smashing it (that's mean $150.00 NZD for sure, painful, but worth it).

Nice trolling.

 

[Del_X]

The future just arrived for Microsoft first. Big budget games require big-ass install bases.

 

[T4keD0wN]

You paid that for full games back then, no? Most full games nowadays cost hundreds if not thousands already thanks to microtransactions?

No matter, the customers are not responsible for poorly managing the companies making the products.

I probably am not the median gamer in terms of earnings and such, but even when I was a broke Uni student in the late 90s & early 2000s, games were still $90-$120.00 a game here - and I paid it and was happy....that's like $200.00 now adjusted for inflation lol, so yeah, why do many feel SO strongly against games increasing in cost?

I've gotten $200 of value from Hell Divers 2 already, $500 of value from Cyberpunk etc etc - it just feels like it's a crazy good deal, but are we hurting our own industry by not being open to a price hike?

There is absolutely nothing stopping you from buying those games multiple times OP. Do what you think is right if you feel like the shareholders deserve the money.

 

[Wastelander92]

I could see more AAA games being split into parts like Spider-Man 3 supposedly is.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Nope.

I bought Balatro Friday night for about $21 CDN all in after tax. I think it was $19 CDN + tax. Played it a ton already and consider it better than a ton of games ive played in history.

And it’s only $20 with zero GAAS.

A good example that a quality game can be made with fun gameplay despite looking like a game from Windows 95 era.

Problem is a lot of game studios amp up with budget going for the high cost production values route while gameplay is probably the same shit you’ve played before for 10 or 20 years.

 

[Ivory Samoan]

Nice trolling.

But I'm being serious...

If a game is fucking good, I'll drop $150.00 NZD on it in a heartbeat (around $85 USD).

 

[Sanepar]

Subscription for games is a cancer. People who subscribe and don't buy games are helping destroy the industry. MS create gamepass to turn around industry but instead they are conducting videogames to a big crash.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

No stream deal or gamepass no buy!

 

[Mondai]

The day $100+ games are the norm is the day I stop buying new games.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Classic.

*someone else fucks up*

*I pay for it*

*more*

 

[Punished Miku]

Subscription for games is a cancer. People who subscribe and don't buy games are helping destroy the industry. MS create gamepass to turn around industry but instead they are conducting videogames to a big crash.

You got it backwards. We have yet to see a single studio with a big GP deal close. Its a lifeline for AA, indies and AAA games that have rough sales.

 

[cjp]

Careful, people here don't like to acknowledge the existence of inflation.

I’d posit that it is inflation and a worldwide cost of living crisis which is precisely why people won’t be paying more for their entertainment.

 

[FUBARx89]

We already pay more. Unlike in the States, New Zealand, Australia where it's been $60/$90-120 for years, we've had price hikes every generation since the xbox 360.

360/PS3 - £40
XB1/PS4 - £50
SSX/PS5 - £60-70

Console prices have gone up each generation. PS+/XBL prices have gone up. Most games have extras that once upon a time would of been pre-order bonuses or just included in the game. Microtransactions are rampant.

 

[Ivory Samoan]

You paid that for full games back then, no? Most full games nowadays cost hundreds if not thousands already thanks to microtransactions?

No matter, the customers are not responsible for poorly managing the companies making the products.

There is nothing stopping you from buying those games multiple times OP.

Yeah cause I just want to arbitrarily throw money at publishers. No, I just think it's odd how the price of a game, on average, hasn't really moved for 30 years: it's weird as fuck.

 

[Represent.]

Its time America pays more. The rest of us already pay 100 for a game. They'll live.

 

[Skyfox]

Hey, how about when you SELL us a disc, it doesn't require internet access to run?

All 3 console makers poisoned the well with games that DO NOT RUN without internet access.

Shit like codes in disc boxes and broken games don't help either.

 

[Buggy Loop]

After this just happened a few months ago and it enjoyed massive success at the right price?

Seems like the problem isn't with the content or price for it, but the unrealistic expectations that all the marketing department micromanaged GAAS live service DLC microtransaction filled to the brim experience has to sell 10M units to make a profit is the problem.

They can try to raise the price. It's a fast track for shit practice publishers to collapse. The faster the better.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Its time America pays more. The rest of us already pay 100 for a game. They'll live.

Bruh, if I had to pay 100 a pop for games, I'd be takin' me dubloons elsewhere and take up sailing for a lark.

 

[Punished Miku]

Its time America pays more. The rest of us already pay 100 for a game. They'll live.

They can try it. They'll go out of business though lol. Wont bother me. Zero chance I'll ever pay that.

 

[T4keD0wN]

Yeah cause I just want to arbitrarily throw money at publishers. No, I just think it's odd how the price of a game, on average, hasn't really moved for 30 years: it's weird as fuck.

Its country dependant, games used to cost 999 where i live in the 2000s, since then my currency has more or less doubled in value, games cost 1600 nowadays and thats the basic versions.

 

[Ivory Samoan]

We already pay more. Unlike in the states where it's been $60 for years, we've had price hikes every generation since the xbox 360.

360/PS3 - £40
XB1/PS4 - £50
SSX/PS5 - £60-70

That's actually pretty crazy considering the value of the pound.

Our ones down under have stayed in the $100ish realm for as long as I've been buying games with my own $$ (since like, 1994, paper route $$).

 

[Hudo]

Hell the fuck no. Not when most publishers can report profits. And I'm sorry but the general quality of games has gone down. While shit like microtransactions, battlepasses and other monetization mechanisms have gone up.

I am willing to pay 70€ if the game is well-tested (i.e. it works as advertised and doesn't require months and months of patching), the gameplay and game design has been done with intention (not just "let's just do an open-world game and pump this shit full with check-box ___content___!") and doesn't have aggressive monetization shit.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Pay more for what? Movie "game" slops?

 

[Ivory Samoan]

Hell the fuck no. Not when most publishers can report profits. And I'm sorry but the general quality of games has gone down. While shit like microtransactions, battlepasses and other monetization mechanisms have gone up.

I am willing to pay 70€ if the game is well-tested (i.e. it works as advertised and doesn't require months and months of patching), the gameplay and game design has been done with intention (not just "let's just do an open-world game and pump this shit full with check-box ___content___!") and doesn't have aggressive monetization shit.

I think you're onto something with an emphasis being well tested - this seems to elude 90% of modern releases lol.

 

[jshackles]

After this just happened a few months ago and it enjoyed massive success at the right price?

Seems like the problem isn't with the content or price for it, but the unrealistic expectations that all the marketing department micromanaged GAAS live service DLC microtransaction filled to the brim experience has to sell 10M units to make a profit is the problem.

Exactly this. Also, we live in the timeline where Pocket Pair sold 15 million copies of Palword in a month, which is a $30 game with no microtransactions or DLC.

 

[K' Dash]

They can charge whatever they want.

I'll buy the thing on sale for $20.

 

[zeroluck]

You can always mail them a check directly.

 

[StereoVsn]

The day $100+ games are the norm is the day I stop buying new games.

Well, I would just wait for 2 years till the game drops to $30-40 vs one year (or sometimes six months).