Not too long ago, there was a time when the standard retail price for video games on consoles was $60. You remember it, I remember it. Walking into your local GameStop on the day of a new game launch and going up to the counter with your new game and the right amount of cash in hand. You always knew how much it was going to cost you. Your parents and their wallets probably knew, too.
It’s been nearly three years since everyone’s favorite video game developer and publisher, 2K Sports, announced in September 2020 that their release, “NBA 2K21,” would be the first to deviate from this fifteen-year-long tradition with a shiny, new $70 price tag. This announcement caused outrage among the gaming community. Not because 2K Sports and it’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, already have a controversial history when it comes to moves aimed at trying to maximize their profits. From lawsuits accusing them of exploiting children with microtransactions, to trying to profit off Kobe Bryant’s death with overpriced special editions of their games.
While 2K Sports took the brunt of the heat, the rest of the industry was already preparing to follow suit with a $10 price increase to their new games. Only a couple of months after NBA 2K21 came out, Activision dropped its annual “Call of Duty,” “Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.” While the game’s Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions were released for $60, the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 versions were released for $70. In the same month, Sony dropped its PlayStation 5 exclusive “Demon Souls” for $70 and later dropped “MLB The Show 21” for the same price. Since then, every new video game release for consoles has come at this new standard price.
While gamers may accuse video game publishers of taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to increase their prices, when millions of people lost their jobs and were shuttered inside their homes with nothing else to pass the time but video games, it can be argued that this change was a long time coming. While on paper, the prices of games have increased, we can’t forget about this little thing called inflation.
According to the article, “$70 Video Games: Is This The New Normal?” written by Ben Stegner of MakeUseOf, the price of a $50 PlayStation game in 1995 is about $87 in 2021, and a $60 Xbox 360 game in 2005 is about $81. Video games today, even with the massive improvements in technology, graphics, storage, and memory, are technically still cheaper than a PlayStation game. Let that sink in.
So what do we make then of the recent rumor making the rounds on the internet saying that “Grand Theft Auto 6,” the long-awaited sequel to 2013’s “Grand Theft Auto 5,” will cost gamers $150? First, let’s get a little background. “Grand Theft Auto 5” was released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 all the way back on September 17, 2013, and unless you have been living under a rock, you know about it or have even played it.
Currently, the game is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Back then, no one had any idea that ten years later, it would go on to become the most successful entertainment product ever created, selling over 185 million copies worldwide and earning an estimated 8 billion dollars in revenue. We also didn’t know that, ten years later, we would still be waiting on its sequel.
But with all the cash that “Grand Theft Auto 5” brought in, it makes sense that its developer, Rockstar Games, would want its next installment in the series to be even bigger and even better, and with all the hype surrounding “Grand Theft Auto 6,” it is almost a foregone conclusion that it will bring in even more revenue for Rockstar Games than “Grand Theft Auto 5” ever did. But for that to happen, Rockstar Games will also have to spend more money and time creating its next game than it did on “Grand Theft Auto 5.”
Another massive title by Rockstar Games, “Red Dead Redemption 2,” which was released in 2018, took eight years to develop and cost anywhere between $170 million and $240 million to create. “Grand Theft Auto 5” itself took five years to develop and reportedly cost $265 million to develop and publish. The next “Grand Theft Auto” will be expected to surpass these previous games in cost to develop and publish.
Now let’s get back to price. Why? Why do all video games cost the same uniform price? Is it fair that a game like “Super Mario” on the Nintendo Switch should cost the same amount as a game like “Red Dead Redemption?” According to an article titled, “Here’s the reason most new console video games cost $60,” by Michelle Yan Huang and Ben Gilbert of The Business Insider, “The $60 price is mostly due to consumer expectation, so if you’re Nintendo or you’re Sony or Microsoft or any of the other game publishers out there if you released your game the base level price being $70, $80, more than that, it’s a strong possibility people just won’t buy it.”
But shouldn’t a game that has been in development for nearly a decade, being worked on by thousands of employees, and costing hundreds of millions of dollars to create be worth more than another game that took less time, less manpower, and less money? This is the dilemma many video game companies are having.
There’s a reason not all TVs cost the same. What would be the point of making a high-end TV that’s thinner and lighter with high-quality pictures, smart capabilities, and a larger screen if a basic TV costs the same? There would be no competition, and everyone would make their TVs as inexpensive as possible. The same concept should exist for video games. Some games shouldn’t be worth $70, some should be worth $20, some games should be worth $60, some should be worth $120, et cetera.
A game’s price should fall in the sweet spot between what the consumer is willing to pay for it and what the developer believes that it’s worth, and I believe “Grand Theft Auto 6” will be responsible for ushering in this change. A consumer may be willing to pay $150 for a new “Grand Theft Auto” game because they know what to expect. They expect a massive and immersive game with photorealistic graphics and a long, interesting, and creative story that they’ll delve hours of their time into, created by one of the most renowned studios in Rockstar Games, the same way they would pay more for a brand-new Samsung TV than they would a huge early 2000’s Projection TV.
While we should all take rumors, especially those about “Grand Theft Auto 6,” with a grain of salt, we should also be mindful that whether or not “Grand Theft Auto 6” releases for $70 or $150, it is sure to be a massive success. All the hype around the game, all the love for the previous games, the excruciating wait, and all the rumors, leaks, and secrecy surrounding it suggest that this will be Rockstar Games’ largest game yet. It’s sure to shatter records and transform the gaming landscape when it does eventually come out.
