Gamers aren't exactly known for being welcoming to change. And that goes double for adjustments that will hit them square in the wallet. So the announcement that many PlayStation 5 launch titles would carry a $70 price tag (instead of the long-time standard $60) raised eyebrows and hackles.
There's a simple reason why several of PS5's early games will cost $60, however. Video games are now more expensive to make, and Sony representatives explained the price hike in an interview with Bloomberg. They noted that the trend of games getting bigger, longer, and flashier had to lead to an increase in price to offset the rising cost of production. Though not all games would hit the new price point, the more ambitious marquee titles would retail for $70. The unnamed rep said the "biggest games" would cost more to be "reflective of the growing development resources needed for these ambitious games."
Sony has a point. The cost to create games has risen steadily while the $60 price has been a standard for over two decades. A video game industry consultant named Yoshio Osaki who spoke to Bloomberg noted costs of development have tripled since the last bump. Still, it's a hard sell in the middle of an economic downturn, especially in a country where the minimum wage hasn't risen in over a decade. Osaki offered some comfort in the fact that the price won't be as uniform as $60 has become.
“Not all publishers will launch next-gen games at $70,” Osaki said. “However, we do anticipate that a growing percentage of games will launch at $70, but not all at once and not uniformly across every publisher or every game franchise.”
