OK. It's done. The floodgates were holding as much pressure as they could. The pot was ready to boil over. The One Ring with its ancient elven dollar signs was too tempting for the big boys in suits. Triple-A games have just had another significant price jump. The catalyst? Plumbers. Mario Kart World, the long-awaited follow-up to Mario Kart 8 is $80. We just needed someone to do it someone to step up, and now others will follow.
This Isn’t the Start or the Finish It’s Something Bigger
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| Credit _GTA 6 |
The protagonists of Grand Theft Auto 6 are wearing bandanas while brandishing guns as they enter a shop There's been a conversation about game prices for some time now, particularly surrounding Rockstar's next behemoth, Grand Theft Auto 6, and the value of the game to consumers. In 2020, with the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X we saw the price of games rise to $70 as standard, and in the following years most triple-A titles were doing the same. Games like Demon’s Souls and Spider-Man Remastered set the stage, and from Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart to Assassin’s Creed: Shadows our pockets started to loosen up a little more with each new game release.
Just this year we have analysts saying publishers are hoping GTA 6 will set a new standard of costing $100, so they can follow suit and demand the same for their games. Since then it seems there’s been a standoff at corporate level, a confrontation with their six-(figure)-shooters at noon to see who bears the brunt of pushing prices up.
Well, Nintendo did just that. Casually. With Mario.
We Speak They Don’t Listen: Why Our Concerns Don’t Matter
No matter how much we complain and worry about it it's going to happen. It was always going to happen. We have no choice.
Let's not fool ourselves into thinking that people will retaliate and boycott anything - do you really think people won't buy the Nintendo Switch 2 and the first new Mario Kart in ten years? That people won't pay $80 for another crappy Pokemon game? And yet, do you really think people won't pay $100 for GTA 6 and abandon what is probably one of the most important franchises on the gaming food chain?
We’re Just Consumers And It is Costing Us More Than Ever
While there are discussions about how much it will cost to make a game at least when triple-A publishers are fully involved with the necessary budgets and how many years of work will be put into them I don’t doubt that Pokemon, Mario or Grand Theft Auto would struggle to break even at half the price.
It might take longer sure, but GTA 5 is considered the highest-grossing piece of media ever made. It hasn’t sold nearly as many copies as Minecraft has, but it holds that title thanks to triple-A pricing and the many forms of microtransactional income in GTA Online. I give GTA 6 two years maybe even less before it takes the throne from its predecessor. Hey at $100, let’s play it safe and call it a week.
In an industry that is so unstable and lacks job security despite being a leading form of fast-growing media seeing $100 or even $80 is never going to be considered good. If we could ensure that games were launching with more consistent quality or that various factors were properly taken into account in regards to price or even if the additional funding was going directly to the developers and the people who put their heart and soul into the work it would be an easier pill to swallow.
But it isn't. There will still be layoffs. There will still be abuse. Except that now, consumers will be poorer developers will be put under more pressure and the men in their suits will get bigger bonuses to pat themselves on the back while their rising salaries will continue to be the only thing signifying any success in this industry.
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