Reality, Console Industry has become Stagnated.

[Soundwave]

EricHiggin said:

I'm a little surprised PS hasn't started charging $90 for the biggest AAA games. If they have the biggest budgets and are worthy of tens of millions of sales, then surely they can charge more for those.
Same would go for lesser games however. You can't just charge $90 for everything. The price has to be a reasonable reflection of the games input and value assuming consumers agree.

I also don't think SNY is solely doing it out of greed. Some of it is due to going overboard when covid hit, and some of it I believe is SNY trying to profit as quickly as possible for more consolidation. That may seem backwards when they're laying off people, but if the competition has that goal and can afford it, then you have little choice but to follow. I wouldn't be surprised one bit if PS announces they've made another Bungie sized acquisition this year.
Remember, everyone is hurting, which is the time to buy if you can afford to, and since MS can afford to and wants to consolidate, SNY needs to make moves as well if they can. As long as MS keeps acquiring, SNY needs to increase profits asap so they can also acquire.

It's probably coming in the next few years. $80 games anyway. 

When budgets go from $180 million to $300 million and probably in a few years that will be now $400-$500 million as standard (some games already cost this much like Cyberpunk 2077) ... get ready for a price hike again. 

Either that or they will force you to pay some other way, ie: locking content behind DLC paywalls that normally would have been in the base game and getting your $$$ that way. 

This is why all these companies (Sony included) are professing their love for the GAAS model, they don't want to just get a one time payment of $70 anymore, they want to shift the industry to something where you pour $100-$150 into a game but they yank you along for a few years to get that extra money. 

Last edited by Soundwave - on 01 March 2024