Sony has caught a fair bit of flak over the past few months for raising the price of PlayStation 5 titles to $70, but as it turns out, it could have been even worse. According to a new report from Bloomberg reporters Olga Kharif and Takashi Mochizuki, the Japanese giant considered raising the prices of its first-party exclusives beyond $70 to combat inflation and the increasing costs of AAA development.
The report reads: "At one point, Sony discussed going even higher before settling on $70. Many of the game executives requested anonymity, apparently because they recognize the move is unpopular. In many cases, companies won’t acknowledge the fee increase, saying only that prices will vary by title." It's no secret that it has never cost more money to produce the ground-breaking titles Sony puts out each year, but some parts of the internet hoped this price hike would do away with microtransactions. That doesn't appear to be the case, however, as $70 PS5 titles will make up a part of the launch line-up alongside paid in-game currencies.
Capcom's chief financial officer, Kenkichi Nomura, adds: "We believe game software’s price should be determined by how much money consumers are willing to pay for the quality, not by how much money we spend to make that game." How do you react to this? Would you pay more than $70 to play a PS5 game on day one? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
[source bloomberg.com]
Comments 182
Lol, Bloomberg.
Regarding the £70, this is the same price as on series X. Sony can’t compete with the loss MS are willing to make short term on Gamepass sure, but I’m happy with PS Now snd it’s older but many more games for a lower price.
Are they taking the bloody p**s! You're already asking too much and people are barely stomaching it.
Are you trying to push people to GamePass? Because that's what will happen Sony!
If so, Game Over, Game Over man.
Edit: Oh, so it's Gloomberg again, this is'nt the news we are looking for, move along, move along....
Always depends on the game. Something like cyberpunk or GoW ragnorok. Easily. But sackboy and destruction all stars? Not a chance. Also with how frequent sales are, we will see how many people just wait a couple months to buy the game cheaper rather than buying day one.
I think they're on pretty shaky ground as it is, but over £70 and I think even more might go for the Xbox. At the moment they'll get away with that price point but when the big exclusives start to come out on the other console, that £70 is going to start to look very expensive by comparison
This is why I am staying on Nintendo, Sony are getting way too much arrogant... Sony you better watch it!
If it goes past £70 then CEX will become my new best friend.
It’s utterly arrogant of them to even think of this, sorry but when your competition is offering stunning value with Game Pass, you can’t come along and request to charge 80 quid or more for a game that’s not doubt stuffed full of in app purchases. And considering those in app purchases are netting billions for game devs annually then they can do one frankly! Pure unadulterated greed.
Get rid of ALL in app purchases, then we can talk about the games price!
Sonys ridiculous games prices are one of the reasons I’m considering a Series X over a PS5, so to think they wanted to price them higher is disgraceful.
A new Playstation comes out this week.
The Internet: Let's all have a good moan.
Well, they didn't. At least not in the US (it's €80 in Europe).
But I'm fairly certain that every gaming executive ever considered rising game prices
Can't see that happening!
Microsoft Games Pass would win hands down!
They have already raised the game prices in Ireland an extra €20 !!
No way I will be paying €80 for PS5 exclusives :3
In Europe they sell the PS5 games at $95. That’s literally 1/6 of the avg sallary in my country. TY SONY.
Personally I won't even be paying $70. I've always waited for sales in most cases anyways, but ill definitely be waiting alot more on the ps5 side
@DekuGotNext I mean there's no reason to get mad since it didn't happen but still all these little bad decisions from Sony are starting to add up.
@nessisonett They already are my best friend, games are already too expensive!
I dont mind paying £70+ for gold/ultimate editions of games I really want to play where I'm getting the base game and DLC/season pass included but I will never pay £70 for a single base game - I'm waiting to get a PS5 and when I do I'll be waiting until the games I want to play come down in price. The only way to stop this is by voting with your wallet - if the games dont sell well until after the price drops then they'll lower the prices back down. Or they'll double down and raise the prices even more lol!
Is it just me by the way or does today seem like it's been one bit of bad/troubling news after another?? Has someone from MS pr infiltrated Sony to put out all these downers on the same day - the day before the new Series X/S consoles launch?
@Juanalf I know man, it's like everyday something new comes out about Sony. I miss Sony from 2013.
It's amazing how many are like "It's Bloomberg, it must be true"
If it meant I would get games like God of War, TLOU2, Horizon and so forth, then I would pay more for the first party games. They could charge $100 and I would still pay for the first party games because they have proven in the past that most of the studios make great single player experiences.
Yikes.
The good news is that, regardless of MSRP, they'll likely all be $20 or less a year or two after launch.
I think 70 is just about berable for some games, others not so much, I think a lot of ppl will just wait for a sale this gen, at least won't get much of backlog this gen.
I honestly think give it a year or two and prices will come down to around 55-60 once the install base is there, games are always expensive at start of a new gen
to combat inflation? are you nuts sony? our wages have not kept up with inflation either. who do you suppose would have purchased these games beyond the $70USD price mark? i don't think $70USD is going to work out as it is and more and more people are going to begin questioning the value of games on release day... games that STILL have MTX and a myriad of bugs and performance issues until they are patched...
@Ralizah Is that $20 or £20? Sony don’t seem to know.
i got ps5 for launch but i wont be spending 70 on a game, i'll probably just play ps4 games for six months to a year. happened with ps4. picking up an external 4tb drive for ps4.i usually use shopto to get cheaper games. most games are lucky to last 20 hours ; that is not worth £70.
And that's the reason I pre-ordered a PS5 with a disc-drive so that I can buy used games
In fairness, whats the RRP now? 60 dollars/60 quid? I haven't paid that for any game, just like i wont be paying RRP for PS5 titles (thank goodness for physical titles)
That said, its galling enough (albeit understandable when you see so many devs going to the wall over the costs of game development) to see the increase we did get. Particularly in the current climate.
I remember being a kid, saving up pocket money to buy games. How are future generations meant to buy in at that cost?
So increasing the prices any higher is a non starter. At that price id rather see smaller titles like miles morales and lost legacy becoming the norm tbh.
Game Pass is a non starter for me. That's down to game ownership. Whatever happens in the future, i have a stack of titles i can return to anytime, even if servers are switched off. But for many others i can see why they would ask why you would drop 140 pounds on a couple of games, when you can get hundreds for the same price on xbox.
Tread carefully this gen Sony
Guarantee, and I do mean "GUARANTEE" no microtransactions, loot boxes and stuff that should be in the game in the first place and I could stomach it. But if you're gonna charge 70 plus quid, plus loot boxes and Micro trans.... Then forget it.
Edit: As others have mentioned, I do think that this is a strange time to mention this, considering that Gamepass is KILLING it at the moment. For £10.99 a month you get: GWG (which includes 4 games each month), a huge library of Gamepass titles (which includes Xbox one launch games) and now, to top it off; you get access to EA Play.
@astrosea Ok, you got me there 😂
That wouldn't work. I'm already not going to buy as many games as that price. Only select titles. It's just too much and they are making more money than every with PS right? If profits are already rising with costs, then I don't think I actually need to pay more or that it will last. You better start outlawing MTs and other things from games that cost that much at launch otherwise.
There is no difference whether it is 70$, 80$ or 100$. As long as they don't follow Nintendo's strategy (to keep their games' price the same over 5 years), the price of the games will eventually drop. Therefore, just be patient (don't be an early buyer) and very soon your 80$ game will turn into an 40$ game.
@Mpquikster There's a huge difference to going to a live-event. It doesn't feel the same at all and it's why a televised concert doesn't have nearly the same value as a ticket to one in person.
Stopped reading after Bloomberg. Zero credibility.
@Justin_Bieber exactly. Never been an issue for me. I simply wait.
nothing to worry here if you skip the digital console..second hand games,retail price competition and good old fashioned game trading between friends for the rescue.
@DekuGotNext Ninty? The company whose games never drop in price? Hahaha. Good one.
This is actually the future if you go all digital. They can ask you for whatever they feel like and you'll have to pay.
With the exception of limited editions, I can't think of a single time where I brought a PS4 game full-price. Needless to say, if I am not willing to spend £50-£60 now, £70+ certainly won't get any response from me.
@naruball Can't argue with that. Bloomberg is the official mouth piece of all large American corporations, too bad Sony is Japanese 🤷
I happily bought some launch games for day one because I cannot get them anywhere. For games in the future I will likely be going second hand, I don't agree with companies going beyond $60 and still having micro-transactions attached.
£70 is already too much, how people can just suck up a £20 increase is crazy. £20!! That’s a huge increase in just one go and one I feel isn’t justified.
It’s made even worse with the value of gamepass, Sony would be insane to try and raise prices further while the competition is offering a very tempting alternative.
It's too expensive but I can wait for a discount if games price is beyond $70, maybe I'll buy the games one year after its released.
$70 means never buying a game without a discount for me. Even Horizon FW. I would also wait a year or so before buying a PS5 to allow games to get cheaper.
$70 plus DLC, season passes and micro transactions it’s already insane and they wanted more lol
Again not sure I understand the Bloomberg bashing here. They are saying executives considered making even more money, which is the most plausible thing in the world, but then go on to explain that they settled at 70, which we know to be true.
Considered, not considering.
@zupertramp the bashing is due to them making up stories with zero sources, naive people falling for them, and Sony having to correct them every time.
@Medic_Alert just like it happened with psvita games. The market rejected the price that Sony wanted.
@naruball Do you not believe anything Jason Schreier puts out then?
When making a decision you have to have multiple choices or its not a decision! But it's only the choice that matters. Bloomberg really spun this one for clicks and views. I'm sure Sony also considered everything between $60 and $70 also and above. But hay a that's not a great headline.
Consumers still have the ultimate say in what they are willing to pay. Yes I may pay $70 for a select few game titles. But the vast majority of them I will simply wait for a lower price.
Hang on... I know this report specifically talks about Sony, but Game Pass aside, isn't this the next-gen price generally - i.e. Xbox too? Why are Sony catching so much flak?
Apart from that, as I've said before, I personally think the hike is a bit much anyway, especially for those of us outside the US who had a hike at the beginning of the current generation whilst the US retained it's $60 pricing.
Yes, I know the US pricing doesn't include tax etc., but even then the highest average US Sales Tax (Tennessee, as far as I've been able to determine) is under 10% - some are as low as 5%, most seem to be around 7%. In the UK, the equivalent (VAT) is 20%.
So a $70 game in Tennesee costs just under $80 after tax. At current exchange rates, the same game, including VAT and costing £70, equates to over $90.
It's been a fuppin sh*te year.
We'll have new hardware in days.
I'm so excited I could vomit.
Potential price increases that didn't come about or usb save transfer not available at launch do nothing to change that.
Just chill and enjoy the ride from this point, folks. It's going to be a blast.
Lol try it Sony 😂I already refuse to buy Demons Souls in principle and play my Xbox One X more than my PS4 lately. Game Pass is so appealing.
Been with PlayStation since the psx, will jump ship permanently if they get too arrogant.
@Paranoimia That 20% VAT is your reason.
@LiamCroft I don't know him. As an academic, I care about sources. Did he provide reliable sources that I can verify on my own? No? Then he's not credible. Simple as that.
@naruball he's usually a fantastic journalist, unless he's in activist mode, then not so much.
Rule of retail: If you overprice something, you can always discount it. If you underprice, you can’t put the price up.
I’m pretty sure the £70 price point won’t last.
@naruball The whole point of journalistic reporting is to protect your sources. They shouldn't be making them public in the first place.
Bye bye gaming industry
I'm voting with my wallet and will NOT be paying £70 for many new games. There will be exceptions of course like Cyberpunk, Horizon 2, God of War 2 and some more niche titles I may like. But for your average middle of the road game NO.
If it's anything like the PS3 and PS4 after launch it will take a bit longer for games to come down in price than we are used to, but they will, and I am happy to wait.
In the meantime I happily have both consoles ordered and will be enjoying my backlog of wonderful titles with better performance, resolution and load times... and on the green I have game pass.
In the 1980’s, I bought Castlevania 3, an NES game, for $55 new. Here we are, 40 ish years later, and while costs for gaming have skyrocketed, we still want to pay sub-$60, or whatever your regions equivalent of that is.
Games cost more to make, pretty graphics and beefy hardware cost more to produce, software developers and their teams have grown in skill since the 80’s. If the game is rock solid, I’ll pay more to support the increased development costs.
It’s unreasonable to keep asking $60 for a new, big game. If you consider DLC, for example in Street Fighter V, if you bought everything as it was released you ended up paying around $120 for the entire experience. I think it’s better to be more upfront about the cost, but I also think it would be great if they were more upfront about how things were developed, so that we knew why costs increased.
I think at this point it's likely the $599 PS5 rumour was true and the Xbox leaks forced Sony to reduce the price to $499.
Considering there is no way I'm paying $70 for a game,Sony just going to hand over the business to Microsoft an Nintendo. One poor decision after another. Hell who to say they won't still pull this for God of War? Sony lol I go from trying to pre-order a PS5 to now I dont care.
@oldschool1987 Arrogant? It’s a $10 increase. Meanwhile, games keep getting more expensive to make, but the games industry hasn’t raised the asking price for software in almost 40 years. They have to meet the demands of inflation, somehow, how is that anything near arrogant?
@Snick27 How else will games companies be able to meet increased development costs, and inflation, if they don’t increase the prices? Sony is the first, the others will follow.
Hell, this year alone prices for lumber, my other hobby, has almost doubled. Inflation is a thing, and it happens.
Let me be clear SONY ! I will NOT pay beyond $70.00 a game and I will buying many less games when the price does go to $70.00.
Seen alot of people on here saying how ridiculous £70 is for a game. But reading the article its actually saying $70, which works out around £55, that's fairly average for a new title and alot of them infact start at £59.99 (Avengers for example). So unless they are considering charging £70 rather than £55/60 then i don't know what the fuss is.
News: "they" wanted to raise prices higher than $70. sources want to stay anonymous, cause its an unpopular idea. The executives will deny ever discussing this.
How is this even journalism? Sounds like conjecture.
@DekuGotNext if you wait long enough you can get great sales though. I don't own a switch even though I'd love to play Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey but not when they are still full price years after release, otherwise I'd invest in one!
Aaa games this gen have generally been over £70 release day if you want the full package (ie the season pass). Prob best to stick to that model, making the entry point more attractive.
Also, if everything becomes subscription based, then i imagine a grim future for gaming. Multiple subscriptions, a severe drop in quality of the games, indie games only appearing if someone in charge of the subscription likes it.
Though capitalism embracing a form of socialism is amusing.
@LiamCroft Nope, the whole point of journalistic reporting is to report accurate information. When they report that Trump said or did x, a journalist's words or "sources" won't cut it. That's why they show the video where he (Trump) actually says that afterwards. That's a source. And as a viewer, I know that I can trust it, because it's a primary source.
Anyone can come up with any kind of BS if they don't cite their sources.
@oldschool1987 well, had he cited his sources in this case, I'd agree with you. But Bloomberg has been wrong one too many times lately, so I don't trust their writers when it comes to their reports about Sony.
@naruball That's completely different from these types of investigative stories though. What you're referring to is something that happens in public.
In the case of articles such as this that reveal something happening behind the scenes, you protect your sources. Journalists can go to court and they still do not reveal their sources. It is quite literally one of the very first things you learn studying the subject.
They are taking the piss
@TG16_IS_BAE incorrect, it's a £20 increase. Not everyone lives in America. And if they want to increase it past £70 then it will be a £30 increase.
I'll vote with my wallet. I stand by my arrogant comment, especially in comparison with Xbox. Thank you.
To put it in to relation to other forms of entertainment. My local cinema charges £12 a ticket, and assuming a film is around 90 mins, that's £8 an hour.
Spider Man Miles Morales is expected to be around 12 hours gameplay for £70. That works out at under £6 an hour.
It is expensive (in my opinion), but then so are a lot of entertainment activities.
@naruball I'm soured on Jason Schrier anyway lol. He does some good reporting sometimes, but he's leaning too much into activist journalism for my liking.
Wait a month after the game is out and retailers will have it for 40-50% off. Happens all the time.
@oldschool1987 I’m sorry, but I can’t do price conversions for literally every region in a mere comments section, because not everybody who comments here is ONLY from European regions. It’s a world wide website. I’m sure you can figure out the middle ground between all the price differences, but my point still stands. World-wide inflation is a thing, and gaming hasn’t increased its asking price basically until the PS5, so I’ll give you another chance at being constructive, for the sake of benefit of doubt. How else should they handle increased development costs, and inflation? You claim to be old school, so I’m assuming you have been around long enough to see that a AAA game at launch today costs around the same as NES/SNES games did at launch in their respective time-periods.
Try softening the blow by saying you should feel lucky...... we were going to charge more.... jog on!
@TG16_IS_BAE give me another chance? 😂 I like how you feel I owe you an explanation for my views... I don't. You disagree with me, that's fine, I don't care. I stand by my statement that Sony are arrogant, especially when Game Pass is a thing. But I expect microtransactions to be done away with if they're not needed anymore to pay for inflated costs lol.
And Old School is my military nickname, its not meant to be taken literally, no idea why you did.
@oldschool1987 It’s to pass the ignore test, and you failed. Thanks for at least making it easy. You put “old school” and a year, 1987, so it’s a fair assumption. But I’m guessing you just want gaming to be cheap or even free, regardless of labor/development cost. I would rather reward good effort where it’s due. Have a good one, may I never have to speak to you again
@TG16_IS_BAE OK, kid.
Imagine thinking above £70 is cheap 🤡 especially in a world with Game pass. Where did I claim I want games to be free or cheaper? I suppose when you lose the argument you resort to strawman arguments instead.
And I just have a different opinion, as do most here, but you're a Sony shill. I love how you think I should explain myself to you 😂🤡 go away, kid. You lost.
I'll stick with PC for now, 70 is a bit much and more than that is a no go.
@TG16_IS_BAE Way to be rude and an awful person to someone who's literally just commenting what they think. That sort of mentality is that of a bully to drive someone to what they don't want to do.
This is why Microsoft regaining a foothold is a good thing. Competition keeps this kind of greedy thinking in check.
Hope it’s a 50/50 split this gen so Sony realise they have to pull their socks up and stop resting on their laurels.
Looks like I’ll be waiting for games to go on sale then. Or give Game Pass a try.
@Cheems Where the hell do you life in Europe ?
@AllTheReddist I ignored the other poster, therefor I removed myself from the conversation. That’s pretty much the opposite of bullying. Do you need anything else?
Can we stop using Bloomberg as a source of credible information? Cause so far all I've been seeing is them being wrong over and over when reporting *****.
I just need to tell my brain that a release date for a game is 3 months after the real release date. Will save me hundreds in the long run.
@AllTheReddist thanks, man
@TG16_IS_BAE Go ahead and kill the market then. That is what will happen. Lots of us wait for games to go on sale as it is.
I don’t really even wanna pay $70. I probably would’ve been skipping PS5 if the games went any higher than that.
The one thing that always gets me when the cost of game development comes up, why do they have to be so expensive? Do you need contracting horse nuts? Do you need individual eyelashes rendered? Do you need hours upon hours of cut sevens a with full motion caption animations? And when you consider many top tier games nowadays have special editions, pre-order bonuses, sponsorship deals, DLC and micropayments, you have to wonder how a profit can not be turned unless the base price is increased on top of that?
I hate turning cynical but sometimes I feel it is possible to make a good game on budget, it’s just publishers choose not to and drive the excess to make it look like a price hike is needed. And with some big budget games posting record returns already, why do we need to raise it further?
I will be interested how this turns out. I remember a similar situation when the 6th Gen started but then prices dropped back down. The market will decide what the base price will be.
PS5 Physical edition = Rent, Amazon Warehouse, Trade with cousins.
All good here
My solution is - ONLY SEQUELS GET HIGHER PRICE.
I bought first games months after launch half price and their sequels i payed more and then launch day price and then even merch because i then knew what i am getting and really wanted to support developers more.And if games gave demos then maybe price increase would be easier.Then we would know better what we are getting.
@DekuGotNext I'm pretty sure Nintendo have discussed such things as well. It's just not mentioned nor should it really since people are easily triggered.
...and the poor get poorer. Sad to see companies test the patience of the consumer knowing they will get away with it. Entertainment isn't necessary but it would sure be nice to live in a world where it's at least affordable. At least these days we have more choice than ever! I'll stick to PC.
starting to think someone is running negative stories on Sony maybe with a motive.
gamepass cannot cover the cost of gaming it would die on the hill with it.
@SurvivorGirl1 I don't think they care. Lol. As long as the majority are buying their games, they'll continue to keep it $70. The cost of game development has gone up. I'm sure Sony and other companies know not everyone can afford $70 games all the time, but they are a business, and they are going to protect their bottom line no matter what. I don't like it either, but it's inevitable that game prices will continue to increase over time. The only hope is that wages increase as well.
@David187 Hard to say, but I do find it a bit odd that this story came up just a few days before launch. Especially with the fact that Series X launches tomorrow makes it even more suspicious.
I wonder what the Cex trade in value will go for on a ps5 title 😂😂
I'd be very reluctant to pay more than £70 for any game. Even at that price, I'll probably wait for a sale.
@naruball but what do those previous occasions have to do with this article? are people really doubting this particular report?
Also I'd argue they've probably not made any stories up but rather listened to the wrong sources.
@DekuGotNext LOL,Nintendo is no different,they do not even drop their price.
@LiamCroft If they don't reveal their sources, then how do you expect others to believe it? Lol. If anything, it makes it seem that have something to hide than simply being honest. Not to mention journalists these days do have a knack for sensationalizing. I take anything a journalist says with a grain of salt until there is actual proof of said sources.
@InsertUsername You're free not to believe them, but this is how investigative journalism works. It's how it has always worked. You do not reveal your sources.
@zupertramp I think it's more so that there is no sources proving it to be true. Journalists say a lot of things, but like to "protect" their sources. That for me at least, makes it harder to believe them. Until Sony or someone affiliated with them comes out and tells the truth themselves, I'll simply take it with a huge grain of salt as I normally do.
Reading everything about the ps5 i have done over the last month has been an eye opener to say the least. Im so glad i didnt pre order one for launch. Thats not to say i dont think it will be great and i want each and every person who gets one on launch to enjoy their new console, you deserve to. This will be more or less the 1st console ive owned not to be purchased at launch, or very close to it and to be honest.... I feel ok about it. This will be the first time that i vote with my wallet as opposed to my "getting everything on launch" addiction.
@InsertUsername Oh i'm sure they don't care about me but if enough people feel the same as I do and buy far less games and their sales drop by thousands or millions of copies then they'll care.
@LiamCroft Oh I know how it works, Liam. Which is why I don't take them too seriously until the truth is out. I'm not one who simply jumps on the bandwagon and believes everything I read. That's the odd thing about journalism. Many claim to have sources, but can't reveal them. So it's there either is truth in it, or simply a fib to get more eyes on their articles. Pretty much a rock stuck in a hard place.
@SurvivorGirl1 Of course they'll care if there is enough out there doing what you're doing, but what are the odds of that? If we're being honest, the odds wouldn't be favorable. As much as people complain about price hikes, they eventually accept it and move on. Just as Nintendo almost never lowers their game prices down, yet, people still buy them. There were many who were vocal about Super Mario 3-D All-Stars, but seeing as the sales for that compilation are strong, it didn't really hurt their bottom line. Truth is, those same people tend to cave in because they can't wait for a price drop and buy it anyway. But hey, you never know. Maybe one day, you might see such a unity.
@InsertUsername It's barely even information that one couldn't have assumed on their own, that's why I'm confused. We really need named sources before we'll believe they considered charging more but ultimately didn't?
@naruball First, I can't believe you are on a games website and don't know who Jason is.
Secondly, the context around Jason's reports pretty much demands he not reveal his sources.
I mean, if you're going to dump on the guy, you should at least check out his work, learn who he is, and understand what he's reported on first.
Many of his reports come from people who work/have worked for X company and want to bring to light cases of abuse, misconduct, poor working conditions etc, but want to do so without drawing too much heat on themselves. Which can be a very reasonable thing to want when having your name being public could bring even more mistreatment your way.
Seeing as the ps5 is launching at a very reasonable price point £70 whilst steep is just about my limit on new games...but the prices will drop and there are always sales to take advantage of..i am lucky that both myself and my wife are considered key workers and have been very lucky to have not lost anything or anybody due to the coronavirus and i offer my sympathys to the people that have but this is how it it is now and for the time being games are going to be expensive..i feel sorry for the people that buy the digital only console as the games on the psn store are going to cost even more...thats disgusting if the prices are hiked up..
@DekuGotNext I can understand that if you're talking about ***** greedy companies like Activision, EA, and 2K, but right now Sony is one of the few big companies that haven't abused players with nasty microtransactions in most games, most of the games they do are top notch single player story driven games that you can fully enjoy without paying more afer you pay the price... I'm not going to say I like the price hike, but I'd rather pay 70 USD for a masterpiece like GoW or Horizon, than pay a Gamepass subscription every month for the promises of huge Triple A games, which are very likely to end up filled with microtransactions... But that's just me, as long as PlayStation keeps giving me the experiencies I want, I'll keep playing there, if the prices goes up, I'll just wait por a sale.
@DoctorP042 I don't really buy the "it could always be worse" line of thinking. If Sony plans to do this it will still be bad regardless of what other companies are doing.
The funny thing is that the first party games especially go down in price pretty quickly, usually within 6 months. By a year it’s typically half price and by two years it’s often 60-70% discounted from the launch price. So I can be patient. I’m still waiting for TLoU2 to drop in price though. 😒
Doesn't effect me at all i always wait for sales.but raising the price even more is stupid.come on sony.wtf.word up son
Every other week bloomberg come out with something negative about sony/playstation
@Snick27 It will hardly kill the market. Inflation is a thing, get smarter about it, instead of complaining!
I've got a ps5 on pre order but I can say for certainty that I won't be paying £70 for any games that I pick up.
The few I have ordered are around £50 which is reasonable. Any games I want above that price I'll wait for a sale
No one complained when Nintendo was charging $70 - $80 for SNES games. I remember paying $84 for games such as Street Fighter 2 and NBA Live.
@pepsilover2008
Me to 70 pound for a game most of mine will be games in the sales not many games i can say worth that kind of money
I think if they reduced the price of the pre-order and maybe the first week or two, they'd make more money. I say this because there is likely a lot of people who would buy it at a reduced price at launch, but seems they have/want to wait for the first sale, they don't buy it. Many people, I believe, would also get to that first sale and think, I can wait for a better sale, I've waited this long. I did it with Horizon Zero Dawn and kept waiting and waiting, then thought, just buy it at the current promotional sale price (half of the current price), it's pretty good and you'll enjoy it.
This idea might not work for all games, but I'd like to see if it could work. What if many that buy the game at 70%percent off, would have bought it at 15-20% off at pre-order/launch, but waited and then decided to wait more. No idea what the numbers would be, but it'd be nice if they experimented with this.
Glad I've gone digital - it saved me £90 on the console because I haven't used discs for years, I get around 25% discount off my PSN credit so cheaper than physical too.
Combine that with psprices notifying me of games on my wishlist going on sale, along with ps+, it's not too bad.
@oldschool1987
You talk like paying 15 dollars for grounded for a month is a better offer than demon souls at 70 dollars and play it whenever. Yes, you can play Nier Automata for a month for 15 dollars. Bought it for 20 and a month has passed and still playing it.
Hell, even if grounded was forever, the majority would go for demon souls. Just wait for a sale if it bothers you. You are talking about switching permanently. Then go. Nobody will miss ya.
I do not know how Phil managed to brainwash people into thinking bad games and a few old good games rental service is better than games that take hardware and game creation to the next level. If the xbox community do not demand better games, the console will fall, and then sony can easily charge 80 for games. Easily. and we will pay, because there is no competition for the home console.
Just like the 3ds and switch destroyed any reason for a playstation portable to exist, and like pushsquare buddies said. Nintendo games do not drop in price because there is no competition, because vita had no games.
Definitely a sensitive subject, especially while reading the comments. People are not happy and I definitely understand, more important things in life that £70 can buy. I will refrain from commenting myself and just say I will reluctantly accept this for now as see how it goes but I, like many, do have my limits.
@AllTheReddist The guy is commenting hahaha sony greedy on every thread, hahaha I am paying 15 dollars for games on xbox
and you are calling him a bully for calling that out?
Anyways I am logging off. Keyboard warriors are a waste of my time
@Eadgar Yes. Not just sony, but third party too.
I have a list of 18 games I want to buy after 2021.
@Flaming_Kaiser Bulgaria
@LiterallyDoNotCare So if it's a waste of your time, why reply with being rude like others? That just doesn't make sense to me, someone posts an opinion on the article and we attack them without want of discussion? That's childish.
@Only1PJA You make a good point. Having the 10 extra for future content. Might not be for everybody though.
@DekuGotNext lmfao Nintendo is the worst out they rarely have sales
@AllTheReddist Because everyone is rude online, dude. Nobody gives a damn about your opinion and just want to force theirs into others, and nobody stops and listens. He is exactly like that, and have seen various arguments of him vs others.
These console oriented sites are one-sided. On reddit nobody listens. On youtube and Twitter people promote console wars.
Even that Japanese site has weirdos crying about sony censorship. Look at the tlou 2 fake outrage.
Most gamers who spend their time arguing online are losers. Read again, most that SPEND THEIR TIME ARGUING ONLINE. Not gamers in general. Most are casuals and do other things.
I have discussed topics with him. He only cares about himself and has tunnel vision.
Fact is. He should just shut up and live with the fact that xbox is the least wanted console, yet again, because they have no games until 2023. All xbox fanboys cry about is gamepass gamepass gamepass. Phil completely brainwashed them.
Nobody complained when fast food went up but when quality games go up it's an issue lol. Considering the deluxe editions and collectors editions haven't gone up I'm not worried if I buy on launch or pre order I got the $100 edition anyway tbh look at nba 2k21 for $10 more you get an entire city rather than just 1 neighborhood
@AllTheReddist and it took time for me to realize, what I am doing now, it is a waste of time. Since 2016 I have been learning how to debate about gaming, and made me realize how nasty and self centered gamers are. Everyone here, or most of us here, in this site, keep arguing to make ourselves feel better, that we know about gaming. It has sicken me.
and look at my name
No way! If I wanted an import now that’d be completely different especially if it was an All Region Blu-ray game disc with an art instruction booklet!?
@LiterallyDoNotCare yep, it is. In one month I played Gears 1 - 5, Halo 1 - 5, some of the Outer Worlds, Fallout 76 off and on, Hellblade and some others, what a bargain. When there's nothing I want to play, I'll cancel the subscription. Better than paying £70 for a remake I've already completed on PS3.
I already said I'll wait for a sale.... Why are you so upset that I don't think a £20 price jump is justified? It's my opinion, no need to take it so personally, do you work for Sony?
"tHeN sWitHc, nO oNE WiLl mIsS you"
OK, calm down. I don't owe any corporation my loyalty, I'm sorry you think I should.
I think you should self reflect on why it upsets you so much that I have a different opinion to you. You want to pay for Demons Souls? That's great, I really hope you love it. I don't want to, and you're going to have to get over it, I guess.
For someone who claims to literally not care, you seem awfully invested in what I choose to spend my money on. Why not try to talk to me like a grown up, instead of that childishly, passive aggressive comment of yours?
And I don't force my opinions onto anyone 😂🤡 I state my opinions only, I can only speak for myself, and that upsets you for some reason. There's a lot of projection going on with you.
@LiterallyDoNotCare why are you so upset? 😂 I'm go where I choose to, you can get over that as well.
No, I don't care if people want to spend £70 on a game, I literally just said you buy that if you want, and that I hope you love the game🤡can't you read? You spend your money however you want, I don't care. You however seems incredibly upset that I won't spend my money how you demand lol. Why do you care so much? You do you.
Just calm down, kid. You're getting so incredibly upset and abusive for no good reason, and telling me to F off is just childish. How old are you?
"Keyboard warriors are a waste of my time"
You're the only keyboard warrior here, my dude. You're abusing everyone from the safety of your keyboard.
@LiamCroft any chance you could stop this troll attacking everyone that disagrees with him. No need for this type of abusive behaviour.
@LiterallyDoNotCare thats all very well saying im paying this on xbox games we r on about Exclusives xbox has more consoles out then Exclusives and the 1s they have brought out has been poor and I mean more broken then Donald Trumps heart
When you see games coming out on a yearly basis is hard to justify that this games have a big budget and costs have gone up (NBA 2K and soon maybe EA Sports also) and after paying the full price for the game is still full of MicroT. I think this yearly based games should just move to a Game as a Service. I understand to support developers which have been working for 3-5 years on a game but not those kind of games, they are not worth it. Also new game prices in Romania for ex is about 100$, I don’t argue with the price increase ... but the difference between $ € £ it’s not equal in any way.
@LiterallyDoNotCare "It seems people want to spend 70 for great games"
Yeah but who are these people ? And how many many of them are there?
Even if that were true, are these reasons for companies to raise costs? You could say that games are more expensive to make now, it's normal for inflation to happen, etc. I don't doubt that is true but I also question why these 10 potential extra dollars should be allocated to the consumer. Especially when you consider that extra money is not likely going to the salaries of the increasingly overworked videogame developers. I wonder how much Sony CEOs get paid.
You might say it's too radical to ask that last question or that I'm being too naive for the sake of politics but what else am I seriously supposed to say when a pandemic is ravaging the planet and millions have lost their jobs while it's a proven fact the richest have benefited. Yet we are expected to pay more and the entry barrier keeps on getting higher. If sales and deals were the only saving grace, then it would make this less of an issue. But what happens if this is normalised in the industry and companies like Nintendo who never lower their prices come along. Must be a bitter pill to swallow considering you are pretty much forced to upgrade at a high price if you want to play these new games. Much cheaper to maintain my PC than it is to buy a PS5. But that's another conversation; console's glory days ended after the PS2-era.
I sincerely wish to know why you are so strongly defending a corporation of this size without a touch of self awareness. I expect a reply that is more insult than conversation.
@PotatoTheG
I am going to reply because I like the way you write.
1. I don't like pc.
2. Sony is hiring more people, so they need more money to pay the devs. Games are getting expensive. Marvels avengers sold 3million, and still lost money. 3m is a lot.
3. I expect upmost unprecendented quality from these sony games. So far, so good. If I have to pay $10 more for tlou 2 quality, fine. I do not want more ps4 games on ps5. 1/3 of the games I bought this gen were exclusives. If they are mediocre, you will hear me talk negatively about it.
4. These people are the same people who buy games day 1 and cannot wait, get spoiled etc... Nothing has changed. Some may wait a bit, for a sale, but that's it. Demon Souls will sell at 70, or at 60, or at 50.
5. That's nintendo's problem.
6. I am not defending. Just understanding that if I want even greater games, I need to pay. Xbox still has not said anything about their prices. They would like to it too. The only excuse they have is gamepass, and quite frankly, Idc about gamepass for 2 or 3 exclusives per year.
@PotatoTheG That doesn't have anything to do with what I said. Somebody said thay Sony "will raise the price while keeping their games full of microtransactions", and that's not true, almost all Sony exclusives are fully fledged and polished games that do not require you to pay a lot more after you paid the game. In an industry that every day becomes more plagued by games as a service and online casinos, I can appreciate that. I do not like the price hike to 70 USD per game, but if that's going to guarantee the quality I'm after, I'll pay them (or wait for a sale, I'm a patient person).
Stupid sony we are living in coronavirus times a lot of people don't have money Foods going up in price and now this you are *****
@Cheems Its expensive i feel sorry for you mate.
@PotatoTheG I would gladly pay that amount if they keep the MT out of my first party titles and so far it seems to stay away.
The first party titles on MS are stuffed with MT so ill wont complain too much.
The arguments and insults stop now.
I obviously don't want to pay more for games, but the cost of games for the Nintendo were $60 in the 80s, while we expect more and the cost of production had increased significantly. Adjusted for inflation, we should be paying about $130 USD for a game. The only thing keeping costs down for a new game are microtransactions and the fact that games can now be sold without physical production, shipping, shelf space, etc. eating into the cost thanks to digital marketplaces.
@Athrum. Except the ps store has better deals than gamestop and other places. The games dont take that long to drop either
Good news is i don't play AAA games on Sony machines. 😉
I play a lot of casual and kids games with price under $50 on PS machines.
@LiamCroft i agree with you and the insults need to stop..the arguments however will continue because most people can only discuss topics rationally for so long before frustration takes hold and somebody loses their grip and lets fly with an out pouring of emotion..this is human nature and requesting people stop this practice just isn't going to work.this article was published and whether you like it or not it provoked people into revealing an awful lot about themselves so maybe the article itself was the catalyst here and maybe a bit of thought into exactly what you are asking of your audience in future articles is needed..nobody will ever agree 100% and not everybody has the communication skills to express themselves without some form of confrontation..i love this site and the work thats put in and i enjoy a healthy debate as much as anyone but sometimes i do wonder if the topic in question could be seen beforehand as a powder keg waiting for somebody to light the fuse..
$70 games is a huge experiment! We'll see how it pans out...personally, I'm not going to support it, which is easy for me to say because I'm not planning to get a PS5 this year, lol.
Sure, games have much higher production costs nowadays, due to graphics technology, but is that really worth it? So far, I've seen prettier and more realistic environments, but it's what we've seen on PC for years, for $60!
The only REAL next-gen stuff we've seen, IMHO, is the Unreal 5 showcase, but underneath it's the same ol' third person exploration game we've been playing since Uncharted 1. Where's the advanced A.I., the interactive environments, the new gameplay systems? These are things that I might be willing to pay $70 for. But the same old games with better graphics should be THE LEAST we get for $60 in 2021 and beyond!
Also, I'd much rather have 8-12 hour games for $60 than some bloated 30-40 hour experience for $70. Devs need to work within their means. $60, 60 FPS, 4K...these things should be standard for every game.
@S1ayeR74 out of curiosity what Sony Exclusives had microtransactions? I'm legitimately struggling to think of any games with Microtransactions that aren't also on Xbox.
Ever reliable Bloomberg and Mochizuki. Quite a combination for lovely headlines.
You guys don't know how good you have it!
Here in Australia, Demon Souls is $125, Miles Morales $99, Sackboy is $110!
Noodles for the next fortnight I think.
@LiamCroft
And this is exactly why some people are reliable are some arent. Jason is reliable and proved it many time.
Mochizuki is a fraud and was exposed many times.
Edit
This rumour has nothing to do with Jason, right?
@Ichiban
Demon souls is no more expensive for you than it is in the uk
@LiamCroft Too late. I Already blocked him. The article had nothing to do with xbox but people have to compare and mock. Second, you promote and mention the competition in your articles, even in reposts.
Just block the word xbox.
It's not just Sony, Microsoft is doing the same pricing. So if you're mad at Sony and saying you'll get an Xbox instead, do some research.
I don't see the trend lasting too long. Guess more people like myself will wait for the prices to drop before getting the games.
I do remember back in the late 90's when Atari tried this. The jaguar was expensive and each game cost $100. Yup, that turned into a failure! Let alone, doesn't Sony remember what happened when the PS3 launched at a high price...it hurt the console for a while. Hey, it also happened with Nintendo when they released the 3DS. Sometimes, money hungry is not the answer...to be fair, I'm not even getting either of the consoles at launch, but that's also because I still have yet to play many of the games I own on the PS4, but I just feel that the price is a little too high, and the fact that to get the console, a game and an extra controller, you're already over $700. A lot of money. But, waiting, the bugs are out of the console by then, games start going down in price, more games are out and possibly a good console bundle by then. I'll wait until into next year for it, sorry Sony. I'll have the system, but start dropping the prices in the games.
I do see that if the games sell at $70, that some where and somebody will try to go higher. Hey, everyone is money hungry, so why not!!!
@TG16_IS_BAE sorry you sound like a mouthpiece for the gaming industry suits.
Games companies are making more than ever with billion pound takeovers, appalling crunch conditions and in many ways cheaper labour than in the 80s as more people have game making skills. The money isn't being used to fund development. It's used to buy a Ferrari for a stock holder who wouldn't know Aloy if she shot an arrow up their ass.
Console games were overpriced in the 80s and 90s, in part because carts were themselves expensive to produce. A fairer comparison are games shipped on floppy disc which were £10-£20 at release. Stop being an apologist £140 for 2 games is just insane during the biggest recession of our lifetimes.
I would be happy for AAA games to be 20% shorter and remain at the current price point might actually get round to finishing them.
@Richnj why would I know who he is? I play video games. Anything else is irrelevant to me.
@LiamCroft you mean like gossip magazines that protect their "sources"? Like Bloomberg protected their sources in the previous article about a faulty ps5 component affecting production which forced Sony to come out and say it's not true?
That's why serious newspapers/magazines, etc refuse to publish anything unless they have proper sources to back up their claims.
@LiamCroft "In the case of articles such as this that reveal something happening behind the scenes, you protect your sources. Journalists can go to court and they still do not reveal their sources. It is quite literally one of the very first things you learn studying the subject."
That's not true at all. If it were, anyone could write anything about anyone with zero consequences. You should look up all the lawsuits that celebrities and companies have won against others.
Some journalists have even gone to prison to protect their sources.
It's no surprise that gaming journalism is at such a sad state. One websites reports something and then BAM, the rest run the same story with close to zero investigation.
@zupertramp if they listened to the wrong sources, at what point do we stop listening to them? At some point, they lose credibility. For me, they already have. For others, it may take a dozen more.
@naruball With all due respect, you don't know what you're talking about. I'll leave it there.
@naruball Because the video games we enjoy are made by real human beings and their health and happiness are as important as our own, and not all of them are happy and healthy in the jobs they do, and Jason, while not the only voice out there, has been probably the most important one tackling poor working conditions. So just general education of yourself about what the human cost is for the content you enjoy is advisable.
But also, as an example, Jason Schreier and Neil Drunkman have had a very public spat over twitter, which I'm sure was covered by this very website. And his name comes up quite often in other articles talking about the industry practices. So even if you weren't going out of your way, just visiting these sites gives you a decent chance of coming across his name and work.
If nothing else, just understand that Jason and his work are pretty well respected.
@0851D14N Not 100% but I think TLOU2 has some? I’d have to double check, not many it’s mostly the third parties, especially EA, who will want their cash. I guess we need to wait and see if all games are increased to 69 or if it’s just first party ones?
@themcnoisy Not at all. I would hardly say this is the biggest recession, a big one, to be sure, but not the biggest. It also depends on which country you live in, it's not wise to use your experiences in your country to explain that of others.
Yes, CEO's spend money. They drive their companies forward, doing the most work in terms of planning (assuming they are doing things justly) so it makes sense that they get the biggest cut. No boss in history has ever made less wage than their employees.
Like I keep saying, gaming prices haven't changed in 40 years, but people like to conveniently ignore that because they are addicts to their games, and have no will power to say "no" to something. That's something you should be paying more attention to than anything else, because the industry of gaming wants you addicted, so that you will pay any price. It's the reason I personally boycotted EA and Ubisoft, and a few other companies. I disagreed with their vision of gaming, so I moved on from them, haven't purchased something with either of those labels on them in 20 years. If you don't like something, put aside your addiction to the medium, and just say no.
I guess I'll just buy discounted games and used CD Disk games
VOTE WITH YOUR WALLETS
If they wanted a "reasonable" way to keep up with Inflation they could raise the price as a one time thing, but do away with microtransctions. But they want it both ways, avg person is t making any more either. Already was iffy buying day 1 @$60 guess I'll buy 6months to a year later from now on.
@TG16_IS_BAE fair enough if you live in Country not in recession. I mentioned it was £140 for 2 games that clearly indicates I'm in the UK or a few satellite countries within our political orbit like Gibraltar or the Falklands.
It is the worst recession since the second world war. I'm unsure how safe in your job you personally are but things have got spikey here and taxes will inevitably rise to pay for the various schemes and expenditure incurred throughout the crisis. We have the highest unemployment since 2016 and it's being propped up by furlough schemes, without them it would be back to the 80s.
You equally compared a CEO to a stockholder. They are different. As a silent partner or public investor they do significantly less work than a worker. As they don't do a dot other than a financial transaction. I know I am one and it's spare cash other less fortunate people don't have.
Also game prices have changed. I keep hearing chuff of how games were £60 back in the day. This was an extreme price in the 90s. Most cartridges were under £40 usually less, until the heavy meg carts were introduced and Nintendo were taken to task for price fixing and rightfully fined. Disc based games were always cheaper - highlighted when the PS1 released and games were £30 for the latest games. Activision have less employees and less aftercare (shutting the Irish help centre as an example) than 5 years ago. Demon Souls is a remake - so the source material is already there, no need for researchers, writers, mechanic developers and character designers - just money for usually cheaper artists and graphical designers. Bluepoint has around 90 staff, if they all averaged £40,000 (way over the average UK employee) a year it would equate to 7.2million over 2 years. To make the money back they need to sell 120,000 copies at £60 a pop. That's it. If it goes on to sell a 3 million copies its grossly in profit to the sum of £172,800,000 at £60 a game.
Now you tell me why I need to pay £70 a game?
To be fair. They were due for an increase of rate even last generation. But because of how bad PR was for PS3, Sony decided not to bring it up during the PS4 lifecycle. While I sympathize with devs and do agree they need a price increase, because of the terrible economy in Canada, I will literally only buy games on sale moving forward. I cannot afford full priced pre-orders.
Although people like to point out inflation, games made too much profit back in the early days. A small team of people literally made millions of dollars in profit. Today many games can have a ton of people making them but turn out bad. So to be honest, I would say if you make a game, it better be good. Don't expect to make up for it by raising the price of games because you want to rush out too many. As it is, the market is over saturated with lackluster titles. Even at $50 per game, if you sell 100,000 copies, that's a lot of money. Even a small team of people can make great games at a profit. Even though today's games look more intense, many tools are used to ease the process.
Costs $90 here.
What's potentially more annoying is that the price of some PS4 games have gone up drastically - presumably to subsidise PS5 development costs?
Higher game prices won't push me to Xbox. It may lead me to purchase less for PS. I bought two games on PS4 day one - Ace Combat 7 and something else. Everything else generally 40% or more off in PS Store sales.
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