Despite being so close to the launch of new consoles, there is still a lot that we don’t know. One of the biggest pieces of information missing is price. Not just the price of the consoles themselves, but also the cost of the games. Though most companies seem set on at least crossgen titles being the same standard $60 as the previous two generations, 2K Games/Take-Two Interactive raised some eyebrows when it announced the next generation version of NBA 2K21 would be $10 more. They are the first publisher to do so, but it seems that price hike isn’t a standard just yet.
Speaking to GamesIndustry, the CEO of Take-Two, Strauss Zelnick, said that the price hike was justified. He pointed to the lack of price increase in recent years (in the US, new game releases have been $59.99 since the launch of the 360), as well as the new features of next gen as for why the price can, and should, increase. This is similar logic to a statement issued from 2K Games about the PS5/Xbox Series X version of NBA 2K21 representing the value being presented in the price tag.
“There hasn’t been a price increase for frontline titles for a really long time, despite the fact that it costs a great deal more to make those titles,” Zelnick said. “And we think with the value we offer consumers…and the kind of experience you can really only have on these next-generation consoles, that the price is justified. But it’s easy to say that when you’re delivering extraordinary quality, and that’s what our company prides itself on doing.”
But as also reported by GamesIndustry, in the most recent earnings call, Zelnick was less committal to the price hike, saying that the $69.99 price tag wasn’t finalized for next generation titles and that price will be done on a “title-by-title basis.” So, as of now it seems, it’s still a subject slightly up in the air.
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