Big-budget, AAA video games have changed over the years in more ways than one. Most notable is its price tags.
Despite being mainly sold for digital releases, titles from big publishers instantly receive a price tag no lesser than $60.
Now talks of raising the standard price to $70 is spreading around as more highly-anticipated games get announced.
The question, however, is whether the expensive price is still worth it for a single game.
Why are Video Games Getting More Expensive?
The changes in video game prices, for better or worse, have relatively been recent.
Game studios cited increasing costs in production and a slower market to fund future projects among the primary reasons as to why game prices have been increasing.
That is the same reason for the increasing number of layoffs in the gaming industry.
It is worth noting, however, that many game companies expanded their workforce during the pandemic when video games were more in demand.
Now that many people have returned outside, the need for big title games has dwindled. Add to the fact that the inflation made business operations less profitable.
Increasing the prices of their products is now seen as a way to ensure profit even if sales numbers are low. At least, there is enough revenue to get back the hundreds of millions of dollars spent to develop the game.
Remakes, Remastered Titles Now Considered for AAA Price Tag
While many in the gaming community have been accepting these price changes, a notable part have also been raising concerns about how the price increase also affects remakes and remasters of the same title.
The recent debacles with The Last of Us and Pokémon remakes are among the primary examples of these problem.
Both game series have released remakes and remastered versions of their original titles at a varying degree of success.
The first The Last of Us was critically acclaimed for providing fresh air into the zombie-shooter video games.
However, subsequent remasters and remakes that failed to capture the essence of the original game soured many people's perception of the franchise.
It did not help that both remastered version of The Last of Us Part I and Part II on PC have noticeable downgrades from its original releases.
As for Pokémon, many longtime fans have been critical of its planned remakes after the underwhelming release of Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
Now with the franchise set to remake the 2010 hit Black and White, fans are expressing doubt if the games are still worth the AAA price tag Nintendo is advertising it to be.
