Sega CEO Haruki Satomi and CFO Koichi Fukuzawa alluded to raising the prices of specific titles to bring them into line with other AAA titles released by Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo.
“In the global marketplace, AAA games for consoles have been selling for $59.99 for many years, but titles selling for $69.99 came out last year,” said Satomi and Fukuzawa in call for financial earnings. “We would like to review the pricing of titles we believe are commensurate with the price increase.”
Sega is a bit late to the price hike party as a number of publishers have already bumped up the best AAA games to $70. The first PlayStation ad God of War Ragnarok for $70 on PS5 and Xbox will also price Starfield in this amount for Xbox Series X|S. This seems to be the new normal in the gaming industry.
Match the market
“We are currently considering increasing the prices of some titles, but no specific decisions have been made at this stage,” they said. Digital Deluxe Edition for Sonic Frontiers it already costs $70, and the standard version costs $60. So while nothing is certain yet, it’s no surprise that it could be standard practice next time Sega releases a Sonic title to follow Sonic Frontiers.
While it’s true that development costs have increased over the last decade and many publishers have to reflect this in the prices of new games, it doesn’t make the news any easier to swallow.
Many of us remember having to save up for months to share the cost of games with a sibling or friend, even when the standard price of AAA games was $40. Having to adjust this, in a cost of living crisis, for $70 games will be even harder for some.
Economies change and standards change, but that doesn’t mean people should be valued for games, especially the younger generations who will now have less access to the best titles. It’s admirable that Sega has lasted this long, and while no change is certain, it was only a matter of time before the waves swept Sega along with the rest of the big publishers.