Are we really supposed to buy the $80 price increase is because "games cost more to make" from Microsoft?

TintoConCasera said:
Yeah, but I though it would also be 80$. I don't play all the new games so the new DOOM is the first one I notice being 80€. Indiana Jones for example is 70€.
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EU pricing includes VAT. US price doesn't have tax rolled in since that varies based on State/County/City.
 
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Well, a lot of people defended Sony going from USD$60 to USD$70. I said it was bullshit then, and I say it's bullshit now.
Fewer people then defended Nintendo going from USD$70 to USD$90. I said it was bullshit then, and I say it's bullshit now.
The same people who defended Sony are now attacking Microsoft for going from USD$70 to USD$80. I say it's the same bullshit it's always been.

I've said in a different thread but I'll repeat it here: video games have entered the extraction phase of the enshitification process. These companies - Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony - aren't charging more money because they have to. There is no pressing survival need to charge AUD$130.00 for a fucking video game. Sony in particular are making record profits. No, they're charging more money because they have to show growth in revenue every quarter. Forever. If more people aren't buying their stuff - and there isn't because the industry has stopped growing - they now have to jack up the prices to make more revenue. It doesn't matter if fewer people buy their shit - it only matters if they make more revenue for this quarter. And then when a new game launches and it sells less because they've priced a percentage of their audience out of the market, they'll layoff developers to keep their profit margins up, jack up the prices again, and repeat. Sony started it, Nintendo followed them, and now Microsoft is jumping on board.
 
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Many factors in price increases. Weaker currency across the world matters too. They never adjusted to the inflation from the COVID years. While other goods and services have. So it is a normal adjustment in my mind.
 
th4tguy said:
Time to go back to my no new games rule.
I don't buy games at full price. I won't buy anything until I've beaten at least one thing in my backlog (1 out/ 1 in).
I have a switch 2 on preorder (mk bundle). That combined with my ps backlog, I'm good.

Am a bit bummed about the Xbox system prices. Was wanting to get a series x at some point to play some of the old Xbox games with better res and performance. (Blue dragon and lost odyssey)
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Get XSX used now on eBay, probably still consoles based on old price.
 
This industry needs to start taking lessons from a game like Expedition 33. Why is it a game of that quality that is both a critical and( as currently trending) commercial success able to be developed and sold at a $50 pricepoint, but these AAA budgets ballon more and more out of control to where games jump from $60 to $70 and now to $80 within 5 years? There is a point where you simply cannot squeeze any more blood from the stone. Budgets need to rein in and gamers are going to have to temper expectations, or this whole thing is going to blow up. It feels like we are inches from crossing that line.
 
Hopefully key sites keep coming with the good deals on pc because 80 bucks for something that'll most likely be mediocre is a tough ask.
 
It's all about greediness and testing waters right now.

And it's not even about the 90€ games, i already hope that 80€ Doom game on Steam flops hard, anything under 100k CCU would make me happy
 
SJRB said:
Fuck Microsoft, nothing but L's for those fucking losers.

And FUCK NINTENDO, THOSE STUPID FUCKS for setting the bar with their early PS4 looking dogshit games going for 80 bucks, greedy cunts.


a70q0pbkq9j91.gif
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But thank Sony, right?
Episode 4 Kiss GIF by Portlandia
 
DeltaPolarBear said:
Tariffs don't care about the free market. The reality is that we are going back to the bad old days and you should get used to it. Free trade existed for a reason, and now it is dead. Have fun.
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I don't know how you can look at the conditions on the ground from when free trade started to now and think it will be missed. It did not serve us well. Made us fat, spoiled and lazy. Good riddance. It's exactly how everyone in the country got their insatiable appetite for plastic tchotchkes. How long are less liberal countries going to kick our ass before people start to question our way of doing things? Literally coasted on 70 years of Marshall Plan economics while proving ourselves untrustworthy to anyone who dare enter an agreement with us.
 
DryvBy said:
If GTA 6 is $70, I'm going to fall over dead from laughter. Thankfully T2 owns them so I'll probably still be alive
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You know Zelnick is like, "$80 you say, how does $100 sound?"

They already put out the astroturf articles not that long ago to gauge public reaction ;)
 
I played 2 games tonight that came out for last gen. I didn't worry about the lack of raytracing, etc. They played well.

If they can't make current gen games without raising the price, just make them like previous gen.

But, as for this (what will be across all platforms) price rise, I think there's every reason to think that the developer layoffs that have been going on for the past couple of years would indicate that development has become more expensive.

Either way, if you'd told me ten years ago that £80 games would be normal this year, I wouldn't have believed you. I just checked what came out in 2015 and I got Arkham Knight on launch day for £35.95 delivery included.

Games with DLC will now cost more than £100, pretty much every time. Crazy days..
 
DryvBy said:
- Microsoft has spent close to $100 billion dollars in acquisitions with Activision and Bethesda in the past 5 years.
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By that logic, everything Microsoft makes should be free because they have a lot of money.

The increase in price sucks, but the reality is costs have gone up. And not as much as they should - realistically. It would be nice if these companies continue absorbing those costs, but that goes against the whole "corporate greed, high margins above everything else" philosophy businesses run on.

Everything sucks right now and everything is about to get a lot more expensive, unfortunately.
 
Microsoft will look real dumb when GTA6 will be 100$ and then they will have to increase their own prices again.
 
I'm already not really buying the $70 games. Not a chance I'll ever touch an $80 game. I don't care about "but inflation". I don't care about "muh dev costs". I do not care. Fuck off.

I'll find something more moderately priced in the indie scene. I'll work on the endless backlog. I'll spend my time on f2p gacha games selling $30 bunny girl jpgs before I support "big budget AAAA" games and their rapidly rising prices.
 
They're definitely in the weakest position to be asking for this markup....but that's THE reason I was annoyed with Nintendo doing it. You're just training me to wait for discounts, and support smaller devs more.

It's also why idiots trying to bring up the inflation calculator (ignoring purchasing power + stagnant wages) to justify their favorite corpo game maker raising prices was infuriating.

You know if the company making the lowest budget $70 games is raising the cost, that the companies spending way more each game would follow.

The only thing weird with Microsoft doing this is how cheap game pass still is, and how Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is making bank for a 30 + contractors AA production.
 
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Azelover said:
It's the currency, It's inflation. The prices are going up across the board. It's not just games. Only a miracle will prevent Sony from following suit. They would have to burn money, and for what.. calm down people. This is bigger than you think.
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I could see the hardware pricing would make them burn money, but for software he'll no. We had expedition 33 costing 30 bucks less than AAA games in Europe.

Game pricing has a ceiling and I don't think they will make more money that way.
 
Here's an idea: buy only the games you really, really want. Pay what they want or don't. Wait for a sale. Touch some grass. Find another hobby.
 
Does it matter if anyone will buy that or not?
You either agree to pay the price or not, the rest is irrelevant.
 
Meh. Just be more refined on what or when you buy. Maybe wait for a sale. Buy used. Options exist.

I buy like 2-3 games a year at full price if I can help it. Everything else is wait for a sale.
 
ZehDon said:
Well, a lot of people defended Sony going from USD$60 to USD$70. I said it was bullshit then, and I say it's bullshit now.
Fewer people then defended Nintendo going from USD$70 to USD$90. I said it was bullshit then, and I say it's bullshit now.
The same people who defended Sony are now attacking Microsoft for going from USD$70 to USD$80. I say it's the same bullshit it's always been.

I've said in a different thread but I'll repeat it here: video games have entered the extraction phase of the enshitification process. These companies - Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony - aren't charging more money because they have to. There is no pressing survival need to charge AUD$130.00 for a fucking video game. Sony in particular are making record profits. No, they're charging more money because they have to show growth in revenue every quarter. Forever. If more people aren't buying their stuff - and there isn't because the industry has stopped growing - they now have to jack up the prices to make more revenue. It doesn't matter if fewer people buy their shit - it only matters if they make more revenue for this quarter. And then when a new game launches and it sells less because they've priced a percentage of their audience out of the market, they'll layoff developers to keep their profit margins up, jack up the prices again, and repeat. Sony started it, Nintendo followed them, and now Microsoft is jumping on board.
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This is accurate as fuck. The losers here are developers AND gamers. These monolithic companies feel the need to constantly make MORE money. As a wise man said it isn't enough to make money, no they want ALL the fucking money and then will somehow blame consumers for their faults. I have gamepads paid off till the end of 2027 Plus as well. I'm going to be choosy as hell in what I actually purchase and these companies can do fuck themselves when they see the bottom drop out.
 
Fabieter said:
I could see the hardware pricing would make them burn money, but for software he'll no. We had expedition 33 costing 30 bucks less than AAA games in Europe.

Game pricing has a ceiling and I don't think they will make more money that way.
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Let's wait and see. I think it's all going up. I'll be happy to be wrong, but we'll see.
 
Azelover said:
Let's wait and see. I think it's all going up. I'll be happy to be wrong, but we'll see.
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Well I didn't say they won't go up but the point about burning money is wrong imo but we will see.

I can say that I am buying less and less games day one with all those price hikes, let's see how it goes for them in this garbage economy of today.
 
Elginer said:
This is accurate as fuck. The losers here are developers AND gamers. These monolithic companies feel the need to constantly make MORE money. As a wise man said it isn't enough to make money, no they want ALL the fucking money and then will somehow blame consumers for their faults. I have gamepads paid off till the end of 2027 Plus as well. I'm going to be choosy as hell in what I actually purchase and these companies can do fuck themselves when they see the bottom drop out.
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Been saying this for a while. All these companies suck fucking dick. It's not just big and bad ole Nintendo and monster Microsoft. Sony is just as guilty in all this as we've seen with their pricing already. They are all just gouging us for all we're worth if they can.

Like I said in a previous thread: fuck 'em all.
 
adamsapple said:
Eh.

Dev costs and time have gone up across the board. Nintendo is now in the era the others were at almost a decade ago so you can imagine how much the average AAA game with 4k authored assets would cost.

Some of us knew this was inevitable the day Nintendo announced $80.

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Man, O onQ123 will be proud if you
 
If the demand isnt there for 80 dollar games, the price will adjust itself. Also, there's always used or things being on sale if it doesnt meet sales projections. It sucks yes, but it just means I'll have to be more patient.
 
diffusionx said:
It's just reality. It's why people hate inflation.
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It was simple market inflation, wages would be keeping pace, leaving people with a largely net even buying power. Buying power, at least in most western countries, has been decreasing annually for several years now. Yet, profits continue to climb. Why? Companies are charging more for less, paying the same, and laughing all the way to the bank as people mutter "inflation, whacanyado?".
 
All of the things you listed to show that they have a lot of money to throw around are not indicators that they can afford to be charitable and keep running on lower prices. They're exactly the sort of reasons why they're jacking up the prices.

Don't forget to add on tariff uncertainty too. Sure, Xbox might be excluded when the finished product enters the US, but tariffs will still affect the supply chain within China. That can easily add to manufacturing costs, which are passed on to Microsoft, which are passed on to consumers.

Azelover said:
It's the currency, It's inflation. The prices are going up across the board. It's not just games. Only a miracle will prevent Sony from following suit. They would have to burn money, and for what.. calm down people. This is bigger than you think.
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Bingo.

John Doe's wage has increased and he has more money to spend. But the price of goods has also gone up about the same due to inflation. So when he buys those goods from a company, that greater price is going to be reflected on that company's balance sheet.

I'd be very concerned about the condition of a company in this economy if number wasn't going up.

Fabieter said:
Did wages kept up with inflation? Inflation doesnt burn money, it's just goes to fewer people which makes the masses poorer.
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Wages have not just kept up with inflation but outpaced them. For all the complaining about "muh record breaking profits", there are record breaking wages to go with it which is pumping more money into the system.
 
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diffusionx said:
It's just reality. It's why people hate inflation.
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It's not inflation. They just found the excuse the needed. Nintendo literally opened the floodgates to this BS. GPUs are tariff exempt they have increased by thousands. Development teams are full of worthless bloat. How about using smaller/more strategic teams. Also, how about not operating out of California, the most expensive state in the country to run a business.

Claire Obscur proves you wrong on every respect. A 30 person teams made one of the best RPGs in years and listed it at $50.

Ask yourself why these comapnies are making record profits, yet they need to do these increases. It makes no sense whatsoever.
 
Killer8 said:
All of the things you listed to show that they have a lot of money to throw around are not indicators that they can afford to be charitable and keep running on lower prices. They're exactly the sort of reasons why they're jacking up the prices.




Bingo.

John Doe's wage has increased and he has more money to spend. But the price of goods has also gone up about the same due to inflation. So when he buys those goods from a company, that greater price is going to be reflected on that company's balance sheet.

I'd be very concerned about the condition of a company in this economy if number wasn't going up.



Wages have not just kept up with inflation but outpaced them. For all the complaining about "muh record breaking profits", there are record breaking wages to go with it which is pumping more money into the system.
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This really just makes you sound like a corporate bootlicker. People are angry about being priced out of thier hobby and you are sitting here defending massive price increases.
 
(1) does anyone actually buy games on Xbox

(2) this seems like a really feeble/transparent way to say look at the "value" you get with gamepass $80 games for "free"
 
Killer8 said:
Wages have not just kept up with inflation but outpaced them. For all the complaining about "muh record breaking profits", there are record breaking wages to go with it which is pumping more money into the system.
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Highly doubt that if we factor out tech jobs. Real wages increases for a lot of sectors are flat or negative.
 
Greed, need to recoup losses, and need to pay for acquisitions.

The money they make on CoD mtx can cover their new costs without breaking a sweat I bet.
 
Eventually they'll all be charging $80-90 for their games. And I'll start a GameFly subscription or buy used. We're five years into this gen and there hasn't been a single AAA game from MS or Sony worth $80 or $90 imho. Same for Nintendo. The MK bundle is an extra $50, so I got it. I'm barely going to be buying any Switch 2 games.

God bless GamePass
Austin Powers Movie GIF
 
ZehDon said:
Sony in particular are making record profits.
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The whole post isn't financially literate, but this is a very annoying point to see continually made.
Record nominal profits != record real profits, and profit margins are trending at 40-50% lower than the PS4 gen.
 
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