The creators behind hit games like Sonic Frontiers and Yakuza at Sega is considering following in other publishers’ footsteps by increasing their prices for upcoming games to a base $70. Well-known companies like Nintendo, Microsoft, and Ubisoft have recently made similar changes, receiving mixed reactions from players in the midst of other price increases.
Get your Gold Rings ready, because you may find yourself spending more of them on your favorite Sega games. The major publisher looked over its latest earning reports, concluding that future game prices could increase to make better financial sense for the company.
In a translated script directly from Sega, the publisher stated that “triple-A game titles for console have been sold at $59.99 for many years, but titles sold at $69.99 have appeared in the last year.” It went on to write that the company “would like to review the prices of titles that we believe are commensurate with price increases, while also keeping an eye on market conditions.”
To be fair to video game publishers, it has been a good decade of players paying the classic $60 price for high-end games. This price point has seen relatively little change despite other price increases across the board from the entertainment industry.
I would wager then that, despite my own disappointment as a consumer having to pay more, I would not necessarily call it an unfair move from a triple A game publisher. Sega’s most recent hit title, a remake of the Yakuza spin-off Like a Dragon: Ishin!, was priced at $60. The largely successful Sonic Frontiers game from last year was as well.
As triple-A game budgets continue to soar, I suspect that Sega is almost certainly going to end up matching other publishers’ base price for its big upcoming releases. Thankfully, we can always look out for Steam sales to help soften the $70 blow in the future.
You can have a look at our detailed upcoming Steam sales if you are interested in saving some money on bigger games, or learn more about the Sonic Frontiers cast if you consider yourself a big Sega fan.