At least one company isn't immediately hopping aboard the $80 price for new game releases. As wild as this may sound, the company that has come out to say that they won't be increasing the cost of their games anytime soon is none other than Electronic Arts.
As companies such as Nintendo and Microsoft plan to raise first-party titles to $80, Electronic Arts says that they are not planning to change their current pricing strategy "at this point." That means you won't have to worry about the new Madden or new Battlefield setting you back $80 or more if you just want the base game experience.
This information was shared in the latest financial call with investors. CEO Andrew Wilson shared these remarks.
In terms of pricing power, our business is very different today than it was even just 10 years ago. In a world where everything we did 10 years ago was about selling shiny discs in plastic boxes in retail shelves — well, that’s still a part of our business, it’s a significantly smaller part of our business, and we now have pricing representing everything from free-to-play all the way to deluxe editions and beyond.
At the end of the day, whether we're doing something that costs a dollar, or we're doing something that costs $10, or we're doing something that costs $100, our objective is always to deliver incredible quality and exponential value for our player base. And what we've discovered over the course of time is we can marry quality and value together, our business is strong, resilient, and continues to grow.
At the end of the day, whether we're doing something that costs a dollar, or we're doing something that costs $10, or we're doing something that costs $100, our objective is always to deliver incredible quality and exponential value for our player base. And what we've discovered over the course of time is we can marry quality and value together, our business is strong, resilient, and continues to grow.
While surprising and welcome to hear that Electronic Arts has no plans to increase the base price of their games yet again, there are other factors at play here. As Wilson said, the EA today is not the same EA of ten years ago. Unlike in past decades, a massive part of EA's revenue now comes from selling additional content within these new game releases. You have the card packs in their sports titles, expansions, cosmetics, battle passes in games like Apex Legends, and so on. There are all sorts of microtransactions and passes being sold.
So far, it has only been Microsoft and Nintendo that have announced $80 games. It is believed that other companies will eventually announce their own price hikes to $80 for first-party releases. Many suspect that Sony will increase the price of new first party titles to $80 in the near future, barring any economic miracles. Even some high profile games from third-party studios, such as Grand Theft Auto 6, could release at $80 or more if some analysts are to be believed.
