Pachter: Development prices for next gen games will only increase by 10-15%

[zarx]

JEMC said:

zarx said:

I think the average my only go up 10-15% but the top end AAA game budgets will continue to increase at a faster rate. Digital only games will continue to become more like the AAA games of yester year.

I'm perfectly fine with that if prices don't rise to match that AAA status.

To be honest, for me one of the most fun games of this gen has been Renegade Ops. It's a blast and, at the same time, both a breath of fresh air and nostalgia from the old arcades. So if we get more games like that instead of AAA games I wouldn't complain.

I would love for EA to make a new Desert/Jungle/Urban/whatever Strike game with the graphics and style of Renegade Ops, even more than some of their announced games.

Hopefully next gen the major platform holders will give publishers more control over buisness models and prices. Much like publishers have on PC/mobile devices now, the ability to set prices that suite the budget and genre of each game should mean a lot more games in niche genres without ether resorting to a title with a $2 million budget download only or a full retail release where the game has to compete with the latest AAA blockbuster at the same price point. 

This generation has made great strides in that direction with XBLA, PSN etc but there are still a lot of restrictions. But it has lead to a lot of great smaller titles.