Video games are an expensive business nowadays. It used to be exorbitant prices were relegated to fancy collector’s editions. But in 2020, some publishers started to sell their games for $70, a ten-dollar increase from $60, which was the industry standard for years. Take-Two started the trend, and now companies like Nintendo and Microsoft are getting on the bandwagon. Now, Sega is considering raising its game prices to $70, as well.
According to a translated Q&A session via VGC, Sega stated, “In the global marketplace, AAA game titles for console have been sold at $59.99 for many years, but titles sold at $69.99 have appeared in the last year…we would like to review the prices of titles that we believe are commensurate with price increases, while also keeping an eye on market conditions.”
Last year’s Sonic Frontiers sold at $59.99 and moved over 3.2 million units. It will be interesting to see if Sega will see the same kind of sales when it inevitably raises its game prices.
Personally, I think $70 is too high a price point for video games. Sure, when I was a kid, that was the standard. But I believe gamers and people in general are struggling more with the economy in our current climate. I will stick with waiting for price drops for any AAA titles I think are intriguing. I have enough of a backlog to get through, anyway.
