Chris Deering, formerly of SCEE, has said before we can enjoy ”many successful blockbuster games” like in the old days, studios have to get lean.
Games must be produced in a ”more efficient fashion,” otherwise prices to support the industry like ten years ago would need to be GBP 70 a time. Don’t have ”that kind of money.”
”Before there can be as many successful blockbuster games as there were in the past, games have to be produced in a more efficient fashion,” Deering told MCV.
”In order to price the games at a level where they would support an industry like they did ten years ago, they’d have to be sold at £70. But people just don’t have that kind of money, there’s a psychological glass ceiling.” Acti has given Modern Warfare 2 an RRP of £55 in the UK.
”Consumers won’t spend more, but to write the game, publishers are having to spend more than ever before. That’s the key problem,” he warned. A furore has been started over the raised price of Call of Duty’s latest, with more price increases likely in the future.
”The cost of development is ten times what it was for PS2, and more like 20 to 50 times more than on PSOne. Yet there are lots of things you can get for less than the relative value of paying 50p an hour for a very high end game.”
You can expect to see piracy, and cinema numbers skyrocket if triple-A titles start packing £70 price tags - not including peripheral laden Guitar Heroes and Rock Bands of course.
