Price and accessibility. $70 games versus $40 games, does price really matter? Anything higher is absurd.

[Gamernyc78]

No, not another Helldivers thread but granted it is a prime example of price and accessibility. It is on an upward spiral, breaking some Sony records and getting in the hands of many gamers and alot has to do with the quality, word of mouth but also price point. Same can be said with FTP games such as Fortnite.

With alot of big budget games selling for $70 and a good amount failing, do you think some companies seeing Helldivers 2 success and it's price point will reconsider their budget/pricing strategy?

(devils advocate, Pay Day 3 was $40 but bombed but we all know why).

 

[John Elden Ring]

$70= Likely physical game. You own it and will forever keep it
$40 = Likely digital game, more accessible but it can be taken away

 

[Gamernyc78]

$70= Likely physical game. You own it and will forever keep it
$40 = Likely digital game, more accessible but it can be taken away

Helldivers was both physical and digital. Some $70 lately have been just digital so it doesn't really hold bearing to whether a game is going to be digital or physical nowadays. We were fed bs ages ago that digital games would be cheaper but it's all been bs. As a matter of fact with the digital cuts being higher most of our $70 games will end up being just digital.

 

[ethomaz]

The biggest issue is.

You need to sell 75% more copies at $40 to cover a $70 release.

That means a game if a game at $70 sold 1 million at launch then at $40 it should sell 1.75 million at launch.

Most games can’t do that so games at $40 become impossible to developers unless it is games that use the whole base developed for another game like standalone DLCs.

Helldrives is making success for it type and budget of game but it is still not selling what you need for a $40 game.

You can say it is building a bigger user base and I agree but developers/ publishers needs to think in the cost/return side of the things too.

Accessibility without profit returns can kill a Studio and franchise.

 

[Gamernyc78]

The biggest issue is.

You need to sell 75% more copies at $40 to cover a $70 release.

That means a game if a game at $70 sold 1 million at launch then at $40 it should sell 1.75 million at launch.

Most games can do that so games at $40 become impossible to developers unless it is games that use the whole base developed for another game like standalone DLCs.

That's all about budget which is why Helldivers 2 can sell for $40. Helldivers i guarantee does not have a AAA type budget or a highly inflated one. They are very verbal about how 1 million sold already is a success this game probably didn't even have to cross 2 million sold to be profitable. Part of $40 strategy would obviously include cutting bloat and lowering budgets.

 

[ethomaz]

Helldivers was both physical and digital. Some $70 lately have been just digital so it doesn't really hold bearing to whether a game is going to be digital or physical nowadays. We were fed bs ages ago that digital games would be cheaper but it's all been bs. As a matter of fact with the digital cuts being higher most of our $70 games will end up being just digital.

Digital games are not cheap… that was never the point of developers and publishers wanting digital.

Digital reward more developers and publishers… they get more money and so can pay the bills and make profit faster.

Digital is more healthy to developers and publishers.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Digital games are not cheap… that was never the point of developers and publishers wanting digital.

Digital reward more developers and publishers… they get more money and so can pay the bills and make profit faster.

Digital is more healthy to developers and publishers.

Of course it was a ruse when certain talking points were "we can sell digital cheaper because we don't have to do physical print" it was all about their bottom line.

 

[ethomaz]

Of course it was a ruse when certain talking points were "we can sell digital cheaper because we don't have to do physical print" it was all about their bottom line.

But that was a business talking point (a developer or publisher said it).
Or consumers expectations talking point?

I don’t remember reading developers/publishers will repass part of the difference to consumers.

 

[Gamernyc78]

But that was a business talking point (a developer or publisher said it).
Or consumers expectations talking point?

I'm sure it was consumer expectations and maybe no Corp actually said tht but I know it was the narrative being pushed by social media all over.

 

[Gamernyc78]

The only time you'll see me quite this chick but she's right about social media and it's reach and going there to reach the masses.

 

[AllBizness]

This thread makes me think of Exoprimal from Capcom, released a few months ago, they had a beta I played in as well. Capcom stupidly priced the game at $70. The quality sucked, it wasn't worth anywhere near $70 and flopped hard.

 

[Hezekiah]

I hope (and think) they maintain this pricing structure for Concord and Fairgame$. Not sure what Marathon will be though.

 

[Gamernyc78]

This thread makes me think of Exoprimal from Capcom, released a few months ago, they had a beta I played in as well. Capcom stupidly priced the game at $70. The quality sucked, it wasn't worth anywhere near $70 and flopped hard.

What was tht other game too tht was four player coop which was similar situation ohhh yeah Anthem.

 

[Bryank75]

Well, in Ireland it's like this... PSN new games are 80 euro and at retail here, I can often get them for 70 or even 65.

I will be buying FF Rebirth at retail for instance.

I honestly don't think Sony benefited that much from increasing prices on games, volume would have been higher if they kept them around 60 IMO.

R&C Rift Apart should have been a bit cheaper than 70-80 euro too, it would have sold so much better.

Gaming was always most successful when it was affordable and considered recession proof in the past because of that.

 

[Nhomnhom]

Gimme $100 games if they are as well made as TLoU Part 2, RDR2 and BG3.

I think there should be more flexibility with pricing going both ways.

Remakes for example should be at most $40.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Well, in Ireland it's like this... PSN new games are 80 euro and at retail here, I can often get them for 70 or even 65.

I will be buying FF Rebirth at retail for instance.

I honestly don't think Sony benefited that much from increasing prices on games, volume would have been higher if they kept them around 60 IMO.

R&C Rift Apart should have been a bit cheaper than 70-80 euro too, it would have sold so much better.

Gaming was always most successful when it was affordable and considered recession proof in the past because of that.

Exactly in terms of volume. They raised prices and at least for me that has caused me to buy less games and wait till they go down to like 30/40.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Gimme $100 games if they are as well made as TLoU Part 2, RDR2 and BG3.

Neo Geo baby!

 

[Danja]

Well GaaS Games should never be $70 in my book no matter who is producing it or the budget it has.

Anywhere between $30 - $60 and I will bite. The sweet spot should be capped at $50 once you have MTX and other micro transactions ready to go day one and a Battle Pass.

Sony was always the champions of Dynamic pricing, it's a shame they let greed go their head this gen and kinda ditched it in a sense.

I remember when they were trying to sell Destruction Allstars for $70 too lol

But $70 should be for games with huge budgets like Spideman 2 / TLOU.

Games like Ratchet: Rift Apart/ Returnal / Ronin - Should have beeen / be $60

 

[Gamernyc78]

Well GaaS Games should never be $70 in my book no matter who is producing it or the budget it has.

Anywhere between $30 - $60 and I will bite. The sweet spot should be capped at $50 once you have MTX and other micro transactions ready to go day one and a Battle Pass.

Sony was always the champions of Dynamic pricing, it's a shame they let greed go their head this gen and kinda ditched it in a sense.

I remember when they were trying to sell Destruction Allstars for $70 too lol

But $70 should be for games with huge budgets like Spideman 2 / TLOU.

Games like Ratchet: Rift Apart/ Returnal / Ronin - Should have beeen / be $60

I definitely agree with GaaS games not needing to be $70.

 

[Yurinka]

Depends on the budget. Some games at $70 still need to sell many millions to be profitable, and many don't achieve it.

In most cases, outside NBA and FIFA crap, paying more upfront means the game won't have an aggresive monetization. Big cheap or F2P games instead are forced to be aggresive to be profitable.

In all cases, it depends. At the end the game should be something fun and appealing to the target user it aims. If it is the case, it won't matter if the game is more or less expensive. And well, you can always wait for discounts or price cuts for expensive games.