{"id":160170,"date":"2023-06-03T00:12:10","date_gmt":"2023-06-03T00:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/culture.org\/?p=160170"},"modified":"2023-06-02T14:13:39","modified_gmt":"2023-06-02T14:13:39","slug":"a-new-chapter-in-video-gaming-70-price-tag-becomes-the-norm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culture.org\/gaming\/a-new-chapter-in-video-gaming-70-price-tag-becomes-the-norm\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Chapter in Video Gaming: $70 Price Tag Becomes the Norm"},"content":{"rendered":"           <!--  <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n                jQuery(document).ready(function() {\r\n                    jQuery(\".key-accordion-item .key-menu\").on(\"click\", function() {\r\n                        if (jQuery(this).parent().hasClass(\"active\")) {\r\n                            jQuery(this).next().slideUp();\r\n                            jQuery(this).parent().removeClass(\"active\");\r\n                        } else {\r\n                            jQuery(\".key-content\").slideUp();\r\n                            jQuery(\".key-accordion-item\").removeClass(\"active\");\r\n                            jQuery(this).parent().addClass(\"active\");\r\n                            jQuery(this).next().slideDown();\r\n                        }\r\n                    });\r\n                })\r\n            <\/script> -->\r\n\r\n\r\n            <!-- start html -->\r\n\r\n            <div class=\"news-key-takeaway-wapper\">\r\n                                <span style=\"background-color:#39b54a;\">Key Takeaways<\/span>\r\n                <ul class=\"news-key-nbox\" style=\"border-color:#39b54a;background-color:rgba(57, 181, 74, 0.1);\">\r\n                                                        <li>The video game industry is witnessing a shift in game prices, with the traditional $60 standard being challenged by a $70 price tag.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>Take-Two Interactive was the first company to raise its standard game prices to $70, and other companies, such as NetherRealm Studios, are following suit.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>Consumers have shown a willingness to pay the higher prices for games they care about or that offer significant value, as seen by the lack of significant resistance to the price increase.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>The performance and quality of games sold at the $70 price point will be under scrutiny, as gamers expect a premium experience.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>Microsoft and Sega are also considering adopting the $70 price for some games in their catalog, signaling a broader industry trend.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>The long-term sustainability of the $70 pricing model and its impact on the gaming landscape, including the divide between blockbuster games and value offerings, remains to be seen.<\/li>\r\n                                                <\/ul>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n            \n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The landscape of the video gaming industry is changing, and at its forefront is a surprising, if not controversial, trend: the steady rise of game prices.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The traditional $60 standard price for a video game has been challenged by an imposing $70 figure back in 2020. This inflation of game prices was initially led by Take-Two Interactive, making it the first company to officially raise its standard game prices from $60 to $70.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite initial pushback from players, many have adjusted to this change and are willing to shell out more for the gaming experiences they crave.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During an earnings call, Take-Two&#8217;s Strauss Zelnick admitted that there was no significant resistance to the higher prices.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the contrary, consumers appear to be directing their funds towards games they genuinely care about or ones that offer considerable value.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>NetherRealm Studios Follows Suit<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NetherRealm Studios, known for its popular Mortal Kombat franchise, is the latest game company to embrace the $70 price tag.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The studio&#8217;s upcoming release, Mortal Kombat 1, a reboot of the long-running franchise, will carry this new price tag when it launches on the Nintendo Switch and other platforms such as PS5, Xbox Series X\/S, and PC on September 19.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Switch port of Mortal Kombat 1, which is being developed by Shiver Entertainment and Saber Interactive, becomes the second game on the platform to adopt the $70 price tag, following Nintendo&#8217;s own The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That said, Nintendo clarified that the $70 price would not be universally applied, with Pikmin 4 set to launch in July at the usual $60 price point.<\/span><\/p>\n                        <!-- <div class=\"container-c\"> -->\r\n                        <!-- <div class=\"row justify-content-between\"> -->\r\n                        <!-- <div class=\"col-post-800\"> -->\r\n                        <!-- start html -->\r\n                        <div class=\"blockquote-wapper\">\r\n                            <div>\r\n                                <span class=\"text_quot\">\r\n                                    <p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Switch port of Mortal Kombat 1, which is being developed by Shiver Entertainment and Saber Interactive, becomes the second game on the platform to adopt the $70 price tag, following Nintendo&#8217;s own The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.<\/span><\/p>\n                                <\/span>\r\n\r\n                                <div class=\"quot_icon\">\r\n                                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-content\/themes\/culture\/icons\/i_quot.svg\" type=\"image\/svg+xml\">\r\n                                <\/div>\r\n                            <\/div>\r\n\r\n                            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"quot_tick\" src=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-content\/themes\/culture\/icons\/i_quot_tri.svg\" type=\"image\/svg+xml\">\r\n                        <\/div>\r\n                        <!-- end html -->\r\n                        <!-- <\/div> -->\r\n                        <!-- <\/div> -->\r\n                        <!-- <\/div> -->\r\n                                    \n<h2><b>Performance and Price: A Delicate Balance<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Mortal Kombat 1 being sold at the $70 price point, gamers are understandably apprehensive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Previous Mortal Kombat games on the Switch, while playable, encountered some visual and performance issues, particularly with online modes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is hope, however, that Mortal Kombat 1 will deliver an experience worthy of its price tag.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Other Players in the Industry<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Microsoft and Sega are other significant players in the industry keeping a close eye on this trend.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Microsoft&#8217;s vampire shooter, Redfall, became its first $70 game. Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/gaming\/unionization-efforts-expand-at-sonic-maker-sega\/\" data-lasso-id=\"23945\">Sega<\/a>, after witnessing the global market&#8217;s gradual acceptance of higher prices, is considering the same move for some games in its catalog.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Towards a New Pricing Landscape<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we move further into 2023, it&#8217;s clear that the $70 game price is gradually replacing the old $60 standard for major game releases.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the gaming community might initially express resistance, many are willing to pay this premium for games they truly love.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As this new pricing trend establishes itself, the quality of the games, particularly those demanding a higher price, will undeniably be under more scrutiny.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only time will tell if this pricing model will be sustainable in the long run, or if it will result in a deeper divide between blockbuster games and value offerings.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":160172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[407],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-160170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaming"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160170"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}