How well do you think Metroid Dread will sell?

[GoOnKid]

IcaroRibeiro said:

GoOnKid said:

You keep saying that but it's not going to happen. You keep bringing in prices of metroid knock-offs but we are not talking about knock-offs. This is not a metroidvania game that, hmm well yeah, perhaps might scratch the itch of Metroid fans who want to have some time within their favorite genre. No! This is Metroid itself! This is the series that gave the name to this entire genre. If there is any series in the metroidvania genre that people really, really want to play then it is THIS Metroid game. You can bet your ass that the demand is big enough for this game. Also, consider how disappointed the entire gaming world was with Federation Force because it was not the Metroid game they wanted, you remember that, right? But this one is, and it's checking all the right boxes.

Side note, production values have nothing to do with prices at all. Otherwise Red Dead Redemption 2 should cost like 500€ minimum. Think about that for a second.

Production value has more to do with prices than you think. The point here is you are inverting the logic, the price is not defined by the production value, rather is the production value that is defined by sales potential and sales potential is generally estimated by platform userbase, branding, marketing and selling price. Of course it's not a exact equation, that's why studios can easily bankrupt if they overestimate how much a game will sell and how much customers are willing to pay. RDR is a game that is 60 bucks because the potential of sales for it is over a dozen million copies at 60 USD

Nintendo likes to keep their game for 60 USD is, and of course they estimate their budgets accordingly. However it doesn't prevent them to release something cheaper once in a blue moon, if they understand it's absolutely necessary to get additional sales, they did that with Builder Garage meaning they are absolutely conscious that lower prices indeed drive sales 

They just made a decision with Metroid Dread, they are purposely sacrificing sales here because they want to sell this game a full fledged title, not just a side spin off. But yes they are sacrificing sales, there isn't a debate here. Maybe Dread proves me wrong and manage to sell over 3 million copies, I would be really happy, but I don't see why is hard to admit its potential are being compromised by the price tag here 

I'm sorry but no, prduction values are irrelevant to the final price. A company can spend hundreds of millions on dollars on one product and at the same time only a few dollars on another product but still offer both for the same price if they want to. When you say platform userbase, branding, marketing and selling price, you mean demand and yes I agree with this very much. What defines the price is the expected demand, and Nintendo realizes that the demand for this game is very high, so they have zero reason to offer this game at a lower price. And yes, their approach to pricing is a strategic one. They don't drop prices like almost everybody else in the business because they simply don't want to, I also agree, and they have their reasons. Strong branding is a big reason behind it, you already said that as well. We actually agree on a lot, just not on the production values thing.