Microsoft’s decision to raise the prices for its first-party, flagship games comes when development costs in making high-budget titles have quadrupled.
Microsoft plans to increase the price of high-profile games from $60 USD to $70 USD by 2023.
The premium price will apply to games from first-party studios like Bethesda’s Starfield and Turn 10 Studios’ Forza Motorsport, both due next year.
According to a Microsoft spokesperson, the company set its prices for these titles based on the amount of content and technical complexity.
The spokesperson said that these games would be available through GamePass, Microsoft’s game subscription service, at a cost of $10 per month.
Microsoft is raising the prices of its flagship, first-party games at a time when it costs four times as much to develop high-budget titles.
In recent years, first-party developers have increased their marketing budgets in response to intense competition from free-to-play games such as Fortnite and Geneshift.
Many other companies have set the price of flagship games to $70. Grand Theft Auto maker Take-Two was the first to charge a higher-than-normal $70 for NBA2K21 on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X in 2020.
The publisher said that the revised price would apply to each individual title. Sony, too, announced that it would begin charging $70 for big-budget games on PlayStation 5.
In recent years, major game publishers like Activision, Ubisoft and Square Enix have all begun to charge $70 for their biggest releases.
Publishers began charging $60 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 games in 2006. The price of games has remained unchanged since then.
While $70 may seem like a lot for a video game, it is important to factor in that such games take months or even years of development. High inflation is also contributing to the rising cost of games.
The good news is that there are many ways to play a popular video game without paying full price.
Game Pass and PlayStation Now offer Netflix-style subscription services that let players access big-ticket titles without spending full price.
Users also have the option to enjoy and play high-quality mobile games on Apple Arcade.
Read Original Article : Microsoft to charge $70 for first-party Xbox games, starting next year
