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"Our business is very different today than it was even just 10 years ago," says CEO
Publisher/ developer EA has confirmed it has no plans to raise the price of its games even as the likes of Microsoft and Nintendo jump to $80.
Addressing investors in its latest financial call, CEO Andrew Wilson said the company's focus was to "deliver incredible quality and exponential value for our playerbase," such as its hit co-op adventure Split Fiction, which has now sold 4 million copies.
"In terms of pricing power, our business is very different today than it was even just 10 years ago," Wilson explained. "In a world where everything we did 10 years ago was about selling shiny discs in plastic boxes in retail shelves — well, that's still a part of our business, it's a significantly smaller part of our business, and we now have pricing representing everything from free-to-play all the way to deluxe editions and beyond.
"At the end of the day, whether we're doing something that costs a dollar, or we're doing something that costs $10, or we're doing something that costs $100, our objective is always to deliver incredible quality and exponential value for our playerbase," said Wilson. "And what we've discovered over the course of time is [when] we can marry quality and value together, our business is strong, resilient, and continues to grow."
"From a guidance perspective [...] we have reflected no changes in our current [pricing] strategy at this point," added CFO Stuart Canfield.
It'll be welcome news to some, given just last week, Microsoft confirmed it was raising Xbox prices as well as increasing the cost of controllers, headsets, and some games. The price hike for consoles and accessories has already taken effect, and while game prices will stay the same for now, we should expect to see Xbox charging $79.99 for new, first-party games around the holiday season.
It follows a broader trend in AAA gaming that has seen prices jumping from $60 to $70 in just the last five years, and Nintendo going with $80 for upcoming Switch 2 exclusive Mario Kart World and some other Switch 2 Edition games. The Switch 2 itself was recently revealed to be launching at $450, a price that drew criticism from Nintendo fans even as analysts admitted such a high price was likely inevitable amid current economic conditions.
Given EA's comments, we can expect the next EA Sports FC, Madden, and Battlefield games to stick to the $70 standard edition pricing.
Last week, IGN reported EA cut around 100 jobs at Apex Legend developer Respawn Entertainment, as well as making wider cuts across its organization, impacting around 300 individuals in all.
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