Those who want the latest Call of Duty for PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X pay 80 euros at major retail chains such as Game Mania. That while the version for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One costs ten euros less.
A similar price increase can be seen with the recently released Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: the version for old consoles costs 65 euros, while the latest hardware is charged 70 euros. Stores seem to be measuring whether they can increase the price of their games a little bit in 2020.
First rise in 15 years
This increase is not due to the stores. According to Bloomberg game publishers worldwide have launched an initiative to push the game price up to a US price of $ 70. In the Netherlands, prices will rise from 60 to 70 euros, or even to 80 euros for larger titles.
It is the first time in 15 years that prices have risen so systematically. According to the makers, this is a necessary evil, because the production price of games has increased over the years. Studios would lose three to four times more than in 2005. At the same time, nothing would have been done to compensate for the rising inflation for years.
Gambling under attack
In recent years, companies have tried to compensate for those inflation costs in other ways, for example by selling extras in a game. Consider, for example, a few euros for a dance that your gaming hero does, or a skin for a special weapon. In FIFA, a gambling system has been added with Ultimate Team to entice players to spend more money on their game, something that more and more other games are also doing.
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These revenue models have been under attack in recent years. Parents complain that children spend tens to hundreds of euros on some games. Gambling systems such as in FIFA are regulated by gambling authorities that are increasingly banning the practices. Companies that trust this to cover the extra costs, therefore, risk getting into trouble as soon as stricter regulations are imposed.
Prices go up
That is why there is only one thing to do: raise prices. It means that gaming is a slightly more expensive hobby, coincidentally just in the month that many fanatics also spend up to 500 euros on a new game computer.
It just doesn’t mean that every games gets more expensive. Publishers of major titles are now experimenting with a price increase, but smaller game makers are in a completely different situation. There are studios made up of just a few developers and designers who can still recoup their investment at a low price.
Consider, for example, the maker of the farm game Stardew Valley. For years he worked alone on his game, which he then marketed for around 20 euros. Four years later, the game has been sold more than 10 million times.
Small games from giants
At the same time, large companies are experimenting with small projects. Sony released a slightly smaller Uncharted game in 2017, which was in stores for about 50 euros. A trick that the company is now repeating with a Spider-Man title about Miles Morales – who, by the way, is sold here for 60 euros despite the US price of 50 dollars.
It is inevitable that we will pay even more for a new FIFA, Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed, but thanks to those more flexible, small companies there is fortunately still a lot of fun to be found for a modest price. And nothing will change about that either.
Bastiaan Vroegop, editor Bright
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