In recent months, the video game industry has been facing a major concern: the rising price of games. Although this industry has experienced one of the lowest inflation rates, it is clear that to date, the standard price of a game on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S is 79.99 euros. A hefty sum that does not allow many players to indulge in several games in the same year.
This price is explained by the rise in development costs. With the new consoles, we are entitled to ever more advanced technologies, which require more and more manpower, development and which cost more.
If at the beginning of the 2000s, it was possible to develop a game in two years, with a budget of 15 million dollars and with a team of 150 developers, today, it takes four years of development, more than 300 to 400 people and budgets that can reach 150 or even 200 million dollars.
So much so that some publishers like Take Two, Sony, or Capcom imply that certain games could be offered at 100 euros. Especially games that have been supported for many years (like GTA Online, which is still updated for free, 12 years after its release).
With the announcement of Mario Kart World, the Switch2 game that becomes the very first standard video game to be offered at 89.99 euros, this fear is increasingly present among players.
Accustomed to bad decisions and very questionable choices, Electronic Arts surprises everyone by announcing that increasing the price of games is clearly not in their plans.
EA: games that will not increase
It was during his quarterly review with investors that Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts, confirmed that the price of games would not increase within the company:
So of course, this nice speech does not mean that EA games will remain at 79.99 euros indefinitely. On the other hand, this means that no price increases are planned. It is certain that if more and more publishers start raising prices and it becomes the norm, EA will follow the trend. But, it is still a good sign to see that the company is not jumping at the first opportunity and is reminding that their goal remains to offer the best to their fans. Long contested, with many highly questionable projects, EA is making many changes to improve its image. The ambitions shown with the next Battlefield give hope for the future of the company. We hope that it will continue in this direction.
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