Reality, Console Industry has become Stagnated.

[EricHiggin]

Soundwave said:

I think 100 million is a rough go for a lot of publishers, but they're willing to go to that range for certain titles. 

It's when you are getting into budget ranges of 200 million, 300 million when things are getting really dicey, even for Sony, they can afford it but it looks like moving into that budget range has come with serious consequences, basically sounds like the end of Playstation exclusivity for their software and large cost cutting measures with layoffs elsewhere.

Lets put this in perspective Spider-Man 2 at 300+ million is more than Spider-Man 1 + Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart's combined budgets. So basically they are spending as much on one game now as they would on previously two fairly large budget games just 4-5 years ago. 

If $300 million, $400 million, $500+ million becomes the standard for "high tier" games, the industry is headed for a lot of pain. 

100% too Starfield (400 million budget) is likely going to end up on PS5 and Switch 2 at some point. 

The higher the budget, the more they charge for a game. Why not, assuming they think consumers will pay it. However, if they spend $400 mil and the game ends up like Starfield, then you've gotta bite the bullet and charge less than you would want to. Simple as.

If the consumer won't pay the higher price for the higher input cost game, assuming it's worthy, and you can't sell enough, then you know you've got to limit AAA game budgets to less than that.