Xbox Boss Responds to Price Increase of Next-Gen Games

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Earlier this month, video game fans were unhappy to discover that the next-gen version of NBA 2K21 will retail for $70, as opposed to the $60 price on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. In an interview with The Washington Post, Xbox boss Phil Spencer weighed in on the controversy, revealing his thoughts on next-gen software prices. Microsoft has not yet revealed whether or not its first-party games will also retail for $70, but Spencer seems confident that the market will dictate where prices will eventually settle. In the end, the consumer will decide what is fair.

"As an industry, we can price things whatever we want to price them, and the customer will decide what the right price is for them," Spencer told The Washington Post. "I'm not negative on people setting a new price point for games because I know everybody's going to drive their own decisions based on their own business needs. But gamers have more choice today than they ever have. In the end, I know the customer is in control of the price that they pay, and I trust that system."


Spencer is definitely correct that gamers have more choices now than at any point in the industry's history. The explosion of indie gaming has provided gamers with a wealth of options at varying price points. It's incredibly easy to search any of the digital storefronts to find great games for just a few dollars; that concept would have been unthinkable even just a decade ago. Now, gamers will even have the choice of buying the previous gen versions of games like NBA 2K21 and still playing them on next-gen systems like Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

It will be interesting to see whether or not gamers are willing to pay $70 for next-gen games. While some may balk at the price, the reality is that the cost of video game development continues to grow, yet the average retail price of video games has remained steady over the last two decades. In fact, over the last 30 years, the price of the average game has actually decreased, and that's not even accounting for inflation. Some analysts have argued that modern video games are too long, and shorter games might offer a fairer compromise. Whatever the answer might be, only time will tell whether or not gamers will accept that figure, or if the $60 standard will remain in place.



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Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/xbox-boss-responds-next-gen-price-increase/

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"Xbox Boss Responds to Price Increase of Next-Gen Games" :: Login/Create an Account :: 7 comments

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tO0tPosted:

Mario350 if its only 70$ in the us im ok with still pay 93$ in canada because my god if it affects canada as well then that 93$ is gonna be 110+$ so no thank you for that price tag

if the game is a finished product and doesnt have micro transactions then im ok with the price hick but if its like last gen(xbox one and ps4) then no thats not good practice, plus if sony games are cheaper than xbox is gonna be dead again for another generation


It's $70 whether you choose to play on Xbox or PlayStation. And if the price does indeed go up it will be for everywhere they aren't going to just charge players in the US a premium and let us Canadians pay the same price we've been paying.

$100 isn't that much money nowadays and the amount you pay for a video game that you keep forever is literally a fraction of the price you would pay to do activities around your city for a weekend so it's always going to be worth it.

Mario350Posted:

if its only 70$ in the us im ok with still pay 93$ in canada because my god if it affects canada as well then that 93$ is gonna be 110+$ so no thank you for that price tag

if the game is a finished product and doesnt have micro transactions then im ok with the price hick but if its like last gen(xbox one and ps4) then no thats not good practice, plus if sony games are cheaper than xbox is gonna be dead again for another generation

breadstickPosted:

Plus with how much they talk about how they gaming population has grown, then add the fact that digital sales boomed and there's no physical costs or middlemen.. Don't forget all the cheaters that have to purchase the games over and over again. It's all bs. They may raise the prices, but I guarantee I'll buy less games. Those that I do, I'll also think twice (not that I don't buy already, so 4x...?) about their overpriced micro transactions.

DanielPosted:

It doesn't matter what price the games are people are going to buy them, If they have bought the console then they will need something to play so wether it is £10 or £150 they will pay because they need/want a game to play. Gaming is expensive but you don't work all your life to keep your money in your bank you work so you can have what ever you want.

0101010101010101Posted:

OGTrey079 If the game has micro transactions I can't see how any company "needs" an xtra 10 dollars.


I agree 100% you can't tell me that they are not getting theirs

EightThotzPosted:

Some games make more money on microtransactions than on actual product sales, it's just corporate greed. 2K games are just scum trying to tempt other publishers into making it the norm.

OGTrey079Posted:

If the game has micro transactions I can't see how any company "needs" an xtra 10 dollars.