The companies will charge the maximum the market will bear.
Hence why in Australia it's not unusual to have a new console game that is $100 or more. (And our dollar is worth more than the USD.)
It's due to the fact people can afford to pay that amount as the Minimum wage is twice that of the USD.
However, if you look at the trend, it's been more than just a $10 increase this generation, you need to take into account; the DLC, Limited/Special editions, paying for unlocks, the works. It's going to work out to be more than just the $10 increase that average gamers have been spending. - For example to get all the release-day Mass Effect 3 stuff was some insane amount around the $800 mark.
Companies could probably get away without a price increase next generation, but being companies... They are always trying to increase profits, regardless of the consumer; and they will make up any excuse to get away with it.
Activision for instance have been sitting on their assess with the same game engine pretty much this entire generation which should mean that productions costs should be very low for them as production time is very short as they have allot of experience with the engine, yet they release some of the most expensive games. (Aka. Call of Duty.)
This is why I usually buy my games from overseas and on Steam these days, I get around the "Australian tax" by getting the game at a fraction of the price. - And with our dollar so strong it's even more attractive.
Game companies hate it though, just like the second hand market because they don't get as much/no money.
The only exception to this is if I *must* have the game on release day and I know that the companies will support the game for years to come. Aka. Like the original StarCraft, which still receives patches almost 15 years after it's release, that's worth paying the full price for in my opinion.
Basically what I'm saying is, if a game company can make up an excuse and get away with charging the consumer more, you bet they are going to. They only care about taking your money, it's not like they will send you cake or flowers for purchasing their product.
www.youtube.com/@Pemalite
