I actually think Rockstar is one of the true AAA studios that can justify this kind of pricing, they have such a huge dev team for rockstar flagships and on top of that the quality is unmatched throughout the gaming industry.
We are not talking about Bethesda here, RDR2 was basically a masterpiece.
Counterpoint: they also make more than enough money from GTA online to subsidize the base game cost. They will make many many times over what they spent on game dev and marketing with their online pricing model. So it’s just a further money grab really.
I will get downvoted to hell probably, but I agree. I also think gaming pricing is out of date. $60 was set in the 90s. Maybe earlier. It has not kept up with inflation, while games have only gotten more expensive (albeit qso more popular). Not saying every game should be 100, but if it’s worth 100 I’ll gladly pay that much.
RDR2 was a masterpiece. It was worth 100 - maybe even more for how many hundreds of hours of enjoyment I got out of it.
Ubisoft on the other hand, makes what I put in the mid tier list. They’re a fine way to waste time, but a far cry (get it) from a masterpiece. In a 60 world they’re worth 40, in a 100 dollar world they’re worth 60 I guess.
Why does the price have to increase? As you said, if rising sales covers the rise in development costs, then also raising the price on a digital good that is infinitely reproducible at no extra cost is just double dipping. These game publishers make crazy profits. Prices for everything don’t have to just keep rising perpetually.
First point in favor:
I actually think Rockstar is one of the true AAA studios that can justify this kind of pricing, they have such a huge dev team for rockstar flagships and on top of that the quality is unmatched throughout the gaming industry.
We are not talking about Bethesda here, RDR2 was basically a masterpiece.
Counterpoint: they also make more than enough money from GTA online to subsidize the base game cost. They will make many many times over what they spent on game dev and marketing with their online pricing model. So it’s just a further money grab really.
I will get downvoted to hell probably, but I agree. I also think gaming pricing is out of date. $60 was set in the 90s. Maybe earlier. It has not kept up with inflation, while games have only gotten more expensive (albeit qso more popular). Not saying every game should be 100, but if it’s worth 100 I’ll gladly pay that much.
RDR2 was a masterpiece. It was worth 100 - maybe even more for how many hundreds of hours of enjoyment I got out of it.
Ubisoft on the other hand, makes what I put in the mid tier list. They’re a fine way to waste time, but a far cry (get it) from a masterpiece. In a 60 world they’re worth 40, in a 100 dollar world they’re worth 60 I guess.
Why does the price have to increase? As you said, if rising sales covers the rise in development costs, then also raising the price on a digital good that is infinitely reproducible at no extra cost is just double dipping. These game publishers make crazy profits. Prices for everything don’t have to just keep rising perpetually.
Don’t forget the drop in necessary production costs, tools have only gotten better and cheaper while corpos have valued less and less.