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[Draugoth]

After today’s Take-Two earnings call, IGN asked CEO Strauss Zelnick why they priced the newly announced port the way they did, especially given the backwards compatibility situation for Xbox.

“That's just what we believe is the commercially accurate price for it,” Zelnick responded.

Take-Two’s EVP of Finance, Hannah Sage, also pointed out that the port isn’t just the Red Dead base game, but also Undead Nightmare. When asked if Undead Nightmare was the reason for its $50 price, Zelnick said the add-on “was a great standalone game in its own right when it was originally released, so we feel like it's a great bundle for the first time, and certainly a great value for consumers.”

IGN did ask him about a potential PC release, but Zelnick left it vague, saying he leaves game release announcements up to the developers. Pressed further about the logic behind ports vs. remasters vs. remakes, Zelnick said:

"It depends on the vision that the creative teams have for a title, and in the absence of having a powerful vision, for something that we would do with a title, we might bring it in its original form, we've done that, and in certain instances we might remaster or remake, so it really depends on the title and how the label feels about it, the platform, and what we think the opportunity is for consumers.

---

Take-Two Interactive revealed that Red Dead Redemption 2's global sales has sold 55 million copies worldwide during an earnings call.

Furthermore, during the first quarter of 2024 the game achieved an additional milestone by selling over 2 million more copies.

source

 

[Hero_Select]

"people are going to buy it at this price, so we'll sell it at this price"

 

[Eotheod]

Wait, so is it 55 or 54 million copies sold? Also their pricing isn't market accurate, it's being high for the sake of a supposed "premium" port. And people will pay.

 

[Kadve]

Do people really give a crap about Undead Nightmare? Hell do they even remember Undead Nightmare? Always dismissed it as something just riding high of the Zombie craze of the late HD era and nothing more.

 

[AJUMP23]

I already have it on my xbox if I want it.

 

[Stardust_Dragon]

I wonder, will this PS4 port become one of PlayStation's PS Plus Essential tier monthly offerings sometime in 2024 or 2025? Either way, I'm more than happy to play the waiting game, either for this to drop to $10 in a sale or wait until it gets added to the PS Plus Essential tier.

 

[FoxMcChief]

 

[Saiyan-Rox]

CEO after that call

 

[violence]

Maybe it’s a little high, maybe it isn’t. Wait a year it’ll be $15 $30

 

[Doom85]

Take-Two’s actual response when being asked why the price is what it is:

 

[Mokus]

What else could he said? His job is to milk every drop of cent from us without shame.

 

[Giallo Corsa]

That'sanoformedog.jpg

 

[Ristifer]

Do people really give a crap about Undead Nightmare? Hell do they even remember Undead Nightmare? Always dismissed it as something just riding high of the Zombie craze of the late HD era and nothing more.

I’ve never played it, but every time I see someone talk about it, they rave about it.

 

[T-0800]

"people are going to buy it at this price, so we'll sell it at this price"

Can't blame them really. If I was rewarded for doing nothing.....

 

[KuraiShidosha]

I love not giving this company anymore money.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

The market always determines the price.

 

[Hip Hop]

"Commercially Accurate"

new buzz PR speak I shall be using now.

 

[Robb]

Considering the GTA Trilogy sold 10M copies in like 3 months (?) despite all of its issues they’re probably right.

 

[DeepEnigma]

So where's the current-gen patch for RDR2 then, bitch?

 

[Northeastmonk]

Yes, Mr. Millionaire CEO sir. I believe you know more about this than we do.

 

[R6Rider]

So where's the current-gen patch for RDR2 then, bitch?

The world is not commercially ready for such a thing.

 

[TransTrender]

We are convinced that we are probably from an industry view undermonetizing on a per-user basis. There is wood to chop because I think we can do more, and we can do more without interfering with our strategy of being the most creative and our ethical approach, which is delighting consumers.

 

[DeepEnigma]

The world is not commercially ready for such a thing.

Too big to fail hubris.

 

[Fbh]

Can't really blame them, they know people will buy it for that price so why charge less?
Worse case scenario it under performs and they can just put it on sale, it's not like there's any pressure to recoup the investment of this old game. And the low effort port probably wasn't too expensive to make anyway.

So where's the current-gen patch for RDR2 then, bitch?

I really don't get it.
It wouldn't even have to be free. This being Rockstar they could probably enhance the framerate, improve the visuals a bit here and there (compared to the OG console release) and sell it for $60. Everyone would complain but then it would probably go on to outsell most other games this year.

 

[newtypepilot]

"you'll pay whatever price we set, because you like getting fucking in the ass!! We are still LMAO how you fell for the Defective Edition hahahaha!!!"

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

Is the xbox 360 copy I bought for $7 from my game store 10 years ago the exact same game?

 

[Denton]

I mean, the price is ridiculous, but it is completely up to customers whether that price is gonna last and how long. Just don't buy it people.

 

[ManaByte]

Is the xbox 360 copy I bought for $7 from my game store 10 years ago the exact same game?

Yes.

 

[The Cockatrice]

"people are going to buy it at this price, so we'll sell it at this price"

"people are idiots so we'll take advantage of that"

Spoiler

100% a lot of gaf members will buy it, just like they did with the gta trilogy

 

[proandrad]

Now this could be a boycott I can behind.

 

[adamsapple]

“That's just what we believe is the commercially accurate price for it,” Zelnick responded.

They're 100% going to increase the price on Xbox as well, get it while its still cheaper.

 

[Three]

What I want to know is how much effort they've put into this release. Framerate, res, added effects etc. They have not released any official information on that whatsoever and they expect people to just buy it.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Fuck take two, i ll be playing this for free

 

[AngelMuffin]

Wait, so is it 55 or 54 million copies sold? Also their pricing isn't market accurate, it's being high for the sake of a supposed "premium" port. And people will pay.

If people will pay then it’s market accurate, no?

 

[Rival]

I paid like $7 years ago for this to play on series x. I’m good.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

He isn't really wrong.

 

[brian0057]

It's amazing how angry people get at basic economics.
It puts all of the world's problems into a sharper focus.

 

[fatmarco]

But didn't they remaster (attempt to) GTA Trilogy, which also had three games, at the same price?

 

[rhodesianshepard]

As long as GTA 6 I'd filled to the brim with single player content, I'm not going to complain too much. Rockstars budget for GTA 6 will most likely be twice as expensive as any game in history

 

[Goalus]

Agreed.

 

[Synless]

Well, I assure you I won’t be buying it at that price or rather, any price. I already own it on Xbox anyways.

 

[ManaByte]

Take Two CEO is smoking crack.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Commercially accurate if it’s a full on remake
This is going to be a cheap port job, that’ll likely have issues.

 

[EDMIX]

Commercially accurate if it’s a full on remake
This is going to be a cheap port job, that’ll likely have issues.

agreed, but if this was a remake I'd argue even full price 69.99 would still make sense.

but $50 for a port? Not even a remaster, A PORT! This is unheard of (well....maybe not for Nintendo lol) but most publishers don't do weird shit like this with ports.

 

[I Love Rock 'n' Roll]

So wait guys, guys, you're going to pay 50$ for the exact same carbon copy xbox 360 version (same resolution, same FPS count... not shure for the Switch) from 2010 (with a few new (other) fucking ugly lightings) in 2023! Really? A 360 and the original RDR cost less than 50$ and you can play Daytona USA on the same hardware!

I've got the 360 version, not gonna pay again for the same assets at the same resolution and same FPS count again.And where is the PC version... And no, emulated versions don't count.

 

[dreamstation]

Not accurate at all. I won't be paying anything for it thank you very much.

 

[tusharngf]

He doesn't give a fuck. He knows people are going to buy whatever shit they can make. That shitty Gta remaster sold 10 million copies while good studios went bankrupt because they did not meet the sales goal.

 

[ZehDon]

 

[Bonfires Down]

"people are going to buy it at this price, so we'll sell it at this price"

That is indeed how capitalism works.

 

[rabbity-thing]

"people are going to buy it at this price, so we'll sell it at this price"

The market always determines the price.

If people will pay then it’s market accurate, no?

He isn't really wrong.

That is indeed how capitalism works.