Capcom President Haruhiro Tsujimoto believes video game prices should be increased to counterbalance rising development costs.
Months before the start of this console generation, Take-Two announced that NBA 2K21 would bear a $70 price tag on PS5 and Series X|S. The $70 video game had entered the chat.
Sony followed suit not long thereafter, confirming the $10 price bump for titles such as Demon’s Souls and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition. Three years later, the new price tag is slowly becoming the norm for AAA titles. The Dead Space remake costs $70, for example, as does Baldur’s Gate 3 (PS5) and Mortal Kombat 1.
Notably, the general thinking is that rising production costs necessitate a price hike. While the likes of Capcom have yet to abandon the $60 pricing, comments from the publisher’s President suggest change could be imminent.
Capcom’s President says video game prices aren’t high enough
According to financial publication Nikkei (VGC), the topic of game pricing came up during a TGS talk with Capcom executive Haruhiro Tsujimoto.
The conversation stemmed from a discussion centered on the increasing costs of game production, prompting Tsujimoto to argue that retail costs don’t match the behind-the-scenes demands.
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The Capcom President reportedly said, “Personally, I feel that game prices are too low. Development costs are around 100 times higher than they were in the days of the Famicom (NES), but the price of software hasn’t risen so much.”
Tsujimoto’s commentary didn’t end with video game prices, either. Capcom‘s head honcho also believes wages need to increase, especially if the industry wants to continue attracting talented developers.
“There is also a need to raise wages in order to attract talented people. Given that wages are rising across the industry as a whole, I think the option of raising unit prices is a healthy form of business.”
As mentioned above, Capcom counts among the few AAA publishers that have yet to enforce a price hike. Its two biggest releases of the year – Resident Evil 4 Remake and Street Fighter 6 – both retailed for $60.
If and when the company plans on joining Take-Two, Sony, EA, and Microsoft by charging another $10 presently remains to be seen.
