Activision recently announced that it was going to up the RRP of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to £55 GBP in the UK, owing to the weakening pound and the need to recoup development costs quickly. The news didn't go down too well, but Chris Deering thinks it may not be enough.
The ex-Sony Europe CEO and current Codemasters board member, known to some as the Father of the PlayStation for the way he pushed the platform to dominance in Europe, has speculated that games may well rise to around £70 GBP ($110 USD)in the UK soon as developers are forced to spend more and more money pursuing the best graphics.
Chatting to MCV, Deering said that upping prices would be essential for publishers if they wanted to recoup spiralling costs - though consumers would obviously not be happy about the change.
“In order to price these games at a level where they would support an industry [as strongly as] they did ten years ago, they’d have to be sold at £70. But people just don’t have that kind of money, there’s a psychological glass ceiling," said Deering.
“Consumers won’t spend more, but to write the game, publishers are having to spend more than ever before. That’s the key problem...there are lots of things you can get for less than the relative value of paying 50p an hour for a very high end game.”
Valve meanwhile has been toying with the idea of community-funded games, perhaps as an antidote to escalating development costs.
Let us know your thoughts on videogame pricing in the forums.
The ex-Sony Europe CEO and current Codemasters board member, known to some as the Father of the PlayStation for the way he pushed the platform to dominance in Europe, has speculated that games may well rise to around £70 GBP ($110 USD)in the UK soon as developers are forced to spend more and more money pursuing the best graphics.
Chatting to MCV, Deering said that upping prices would be essential for publishers if they wanted to recoup spiralling costs - though consumers would obviously not be happy about the change.
“In order to price these games at a level where they would support an industry [as strongly as] they did ten years ago, they’d have to be sold at £70. But people just don’t have that kind of money, there’s a psychological glass ceiling," said Deering.
“Consumers won’t spend more, but to write the game, publishers are having to spend more than ever before. That’s the key problem...there are lots of things you can get for less than the relative value of paying 50p an hour for a very high end game.”
Valve meanwhile has been toying with the idea of community-funded games, perhaps as an antidote to escalating development costs.
Let us know your thoughts on videogame pricing in the forums.
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