Now, don't get ahead of yourselves, because Sony have clearly done away with the proposal, but going above $70 is said to have been a genuine proposal for the pricing of PlayStation 5 games.
You're probably well aware of the increase in the pricing of next-gen video games, officially started by Take-Two Interactive, the home of 2K Games and Rockstar Games. As you'd expect, their decision wasn't exactly met with cheers of joy, but then again - it's not like it was a discussion either.
As reported by Bloomberg , Sony were considering going even higher than $70 for PlayStation 5 games, but thankfully (for gamers) decided otherwise. Bloomberg claims that publishing execs are more than familiar with how unpopular the newly established price point is, hence their requests for anonymity.
No matter what your stance on the matter may be, the arguments hold water. The $50 price point for AAA games hasn't changed since 1990, during which time inflation alone halved the value of the US dollar.
In the same period, the quality, scope and consequently costs of AAA development grew immensely, all of which paints the $50 price point as inadequate, at best.
To make matters even worse for Sony, video game exclusives and other internal services have traditionally been used to compensate for the losses incurred on console sales. In spite of this, neither that nor the pandemic were enough for the PlayStation maker to justify going beyond $70, for which they deserve credit.
Sony
That said, publishers have been relying on alternative (and far more lucrative) methods of monetisation for a while now, so many gamers remain sceptical of the aforementioned reasoning behind AAA price hikes. Many insist it's got nothing to do with development costs, and everything to do with publishers finding ways to maximise profits without having to do just that, i.e. invest in development.
PlayStation 5, Sony's next-gen console unveiled
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