This is classic Capcom when they’re thinking something new, doing something creative with certain genres, and demonstrate art style not many have witnessed in mainline games.
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https://x.com/dragonsdogma/status/1765880391079281017?s=46&t=O_AGT9SEnlptKOF_2SxtqQ
Thanks Xbox for reposting.
Wish they dropped a demo.
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I posted about this a while ago so my apologies for sounding like a broken record but I think this sort of thinking allows for more flexibility for publishers and developers which even means cheaper games.
If SEGA made a Virtua Fighter 6, they would be pressured to make a $70 package comparable to MK1, SF6, and Tekken 8.
This means having a compelling story mode or a compelling single player mode, with over a dozen fighters and backgrounds, and a deep and expensive online progression. This means having a whole multitude of costumes, banners, and customization.
As such, development costs will double compared to making a game with a dozen characters and backgrounds, just a couple of skins each, featuring highly polished gameplay that is perfected.
I understand the increased expectations from gamers. But I would be okay with a VF2 level of content sold at $40 with DLC on top of that. A solid fighter where I don’t need an avatar running up through a virtual arcade because the game is highly affordable. And if every 6 months they want to add fighters and backgrounds I wouldn’t mind paying for them because I didn’t pay an arm and a leg for the initial game.
I paid $90 Canadian for SF6 and I don’t even get all though characters planned for the first year.
Arcade games can’t be arcade games anymore because of this expectation that they need to be sold at $70. A 6 hour platformer can’t be greenlit because it can’t justify a $60-70 price.
And when I look at the next GTA, I honestly think that an asking price of $90 USD could be completely fair if it is shown to be a massive game. I think developers and publishers should be able to consider a $500 million budget for a game that pushes gaming in every metric. And a part of that is charging a higher price for the game as it launches.
All this said, we’re at a stage in our modern economy where it isn’t about the art, and it isn’t about providing value to the customer. It’s all about maximizing profits. When I suggest flexible pricing it’s about a win-win situation between publishers/developers and consumers. But that’s not the name of the game anymore. It’s about trying to exploit your customer for all that you can.
So while I dream about flexible pricing it may never be a practical suggestion.
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Man what a great idea, every RPG need to do this from now on so i am not stuck on the character creator for the first 7-8 hours after their release.
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I agree with you completely.
The main issue is that first and foremost, it depends on the game itself and what it is. If it’s a new IP isometric twin stick shooter like The Ascent then the price will be lower because of what the game is as well as being a new IP from a new development studio with no history.
But on the other side, if you have a sequel to a long running franchise like Final Fantasy or Grand Theft Auto, the expectations are much higher which in turn leads to the cost of the game being higher due to the development studio wanting to at the very least meet those expectations.
So while it should all come down to the game and circumstances surrounding it, it rarely does. It’s publishers wanting more sales and money due to rising costs but those rising costs are due to gamers and consumers expecting and wanting more. I want games to look better, play better, sound better and give me better writing and stories and characters with full voice acting. I know this costs a lot of money but if I want this stuff, I have to support them by buying the games. Excluding Banishers thus far, I have bought all 45 other games that I have played this generation. If I want more of what I like, love and prefer, I know I have to support it by buying it at full price. Because I know if I don’t, the chances of me continuing to get what I personally want decrease over time. And I definitely don’t want that happening because I love and enjoy gaming.
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Agree completely, I don’t think most realize they are voting with their wallets when they decide which games to buy, when, and at what price. All that data goes into influencing whether a sequel to that game exists, whether a publisher continues to invest in that genre, etc.
I know it’s not within everyones means, and people should buy what they are comfortable paying for. But definitely something to consider when you’re wondering why studio X stopped making immersive sims or why genre X no longer hits your console of choice.
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Yep. I look at Final Fantasy VII Remake/Rebirth and my guess as to why Square Enix accepted Sony’s offer for exclusivity was because it’s probably a good enough amount, they probably help market the game which isn’t cheap and they probably saw the numbers for Final Fantasy XV on Xbox One and probably weren’t impressed. They most likely just see porting the game to Xbox as a waste of money, time and resources that would be better utilized elsewhere because they know majority of users aren’t going to buy the game.
https://x.com/gematsu/status/1765941585080959090?s=46&t=O_AGT9SEnlptKOF_2SxtqQ
The world has frozen in time.
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It’s actually not that because, as a percentage of the user base, Xbox gamers buy as many Square Enix games as PlayStation gamers. Even more in some cases.
The issue has to do with low sales of Xbox in general, not whether or not Xbox owners buy games.
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I’m speechless right now. I’m just crying and don’t know what to say. Watching Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z before going to Elementary School every morning was a staple of my childhood. My childhood schoolbag from first grade was DBZ and is still hanging up in my dad’s shed. I haven’t even interacted with DB much since then besides some of the games. That’s not to even mention DQ, Chrono Trigger, Blue Dragon, etc
RIP Toriyama.
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Fuck…
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i totally see your point here but I wouldn’t ever pay that much for a game. I was gonna buy unicorn overlord but then saw it was 60 and was like no way im paying that much. I use whatever service to play games (ps plus or gamepass or both sometimes) and I usually pay for games when they get super cheap like 20 or less. The exception would be god of war or from software games(gear and halo if they wernt on gamepass) I always want to get the best deal and dont care about waiting. I do vote with my wallet and there are very few games i feel are worth full price.
I think when it comes down to it its not about units sold for a game but about money it makes. skyrim sold 60 million copies. I bet over hald that was not at full price. I got nioh for 10 bucks. I feel like xbox can make it worth it for developers to put a game on xbox and in gamepass if it pays and for developers unlike sony deals they still get to go on pc day one. I am playing pentiment right now and while its probably gonna go down as one of my favorite games this gen i wouldnt pay more than 20 or 30 for it max. Am I the problem? maybe, But im not going out of my way to support billion dollar companies and as a consumer i always want the best deals. I think flexable pricing is a smart move. maybe some people want just the campaign of the game. make that x amount. add multiplayer. add x amount more. have bundles to throw in currency or whatever. maybe always do what diabalo did where you can buy the game for full price but there is always a bundle with that current season attached and mybe u save a few bucks. options are good but I dont get all these people feel like they need to pay 70 or more for each game so support the developers. i just want my entertainment for the cheapest price possible.
Rant over
True but at the same time, we don’t know at what price the games are bought at. When a company announces their sales a week or two after release, you know that they’re at full price unless the consumer found one hell of a deal.
Xbox console sales are low and to be honest, im expecting minimal at best going forward and the more first party exclusives that Microsoft ports over to PlayStation, the worse it’s going to get in this regard and because of that, in turn, less games will be ported/developed for Xbox which in turn leads to less game sales overall because why go with the brand that has less when you can go with the brand that has more?
It’s basically a chain reaction where one thing leads to another which leads to another and another.
Worse part is that with Microsoft looking to release their next generation console in 2026/2027, they would have had a great opportunity to jump out in front of Sony with at least 10-20m lead depending on if they had a one or two year head start and by default, become the lead platform which would eliminate a lot of the issues in regards to getting more specific games to the platform but as of now, in my opinion, they threw any chance of that happening out the window a month ago and if other first party games get ported to PlayStation like as rumored Starfield later this year, I only see it getting worse.
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Xbox’s biggest enemy wasnt playstation. It was xbox. Steped on rake after rake. They had the most first party studios. the best hardware and thebest tech overall and just kept dropping the ball over and over. gamepass can only carry you so far. We were all getting exxcited about those next gen plan rumors like the switch type device but even if they did that and even if they did things like fix the dvr and achievments that fans have been asking for for years it wouldnt matter. the damage has been done.
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I feel like these two statements are at odds, it seems like you do the later but the only games important enough for you to do that are the From Software games and some others. Don’t think anything is unreasonable about thinking only some games are important enough to pay full price for.
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I get what your saying and everyone is diffrent but outside of a few games i cant justify paying full price for everything like some people do.
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Also I just want to point out I really hope if that xbox switch device is whats next. I hope it kicks ass. I really do. A world without xbox in the hardware space is bad
Yeah, same here. I was kinda thinking about buying a ROG too but now I have doubts lol
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