And So It Begins: Microsoft Hikes AAA Game Prices to $80

As was predicted by everyone in the gaming community, Nintendo becoming the first AAA game studio to hike the cost of a standard edition of one of their games above the industry-standard $70 did indeed set a precedent and made it easier PR-wise for other studios to follow suit, with Microsoft now continuing the loathed trend by announcing upcoming price hikes for their titles.

Riding the wave of goodwill generated by Bethesda and Virtuos' Oblivion Remastered – a release mostly praised by gamers – Microsoft has declared that some of their upcoming first-party titles will be priced at $80 starting this year's holiday season. Besides games, consumers will have to part with more of their hard-earned cash for the company's hardware as well, as Microsoft is also increasing the prices of Xbox Series X/S consoles, controllers, and headsets.

As for the officially stated reasons behind the price hike, the tech giant cited market conditions and rising development costs, without elaborating on what exactly "market conditions" actually entail and largely glossing over the fact that many financially successful games shipped over the past year weren't made with exorbitant budgets.

Although it hasn't been clarified which first-party games will be affected, the lengthy list of AAA game studios owned by Microsoft includes Activision (Call of Duty), Blizzard (Overwatch, Diablo), Bethesda (The Elder Scrolls, Fallout), id Software (Doom), The Coalition (Gears of War), Halo Studios (Halo), Arkane Studios (Dishonored, Deathloop), Ninja Theory (Hellblade), and Playground Games (Forza Horizon, Fable), among others, suggesting that games from these particular developers could see a price increase moving forward.

With Nintendo and Microsoft both leading the charge for what could and most certainly will become the new industry standard – and many within the community actually defending multi-billion dollar corporations and their price hikes – it's currently anyone's guess whether the gaming community will "vote with its wallet" and show resistance, or simply cave in like it did when the standard price shifted from $60 to $70 a few years ago.

One thing is certain, though, with two major AAA studios raising prices and others likely to follow, the rumored $100 price tag for Grand Theft Auto 6 is starting to look less like speculation and more like a sign of what's to come. Well, at least we'll always have an assortment of outstanding AAs and indie games like Schedule I and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, offering not only great entertainment value but production quality that rivals – and often surpasses – the work of high-profile studios, all at relatively low prices.

And what are your thoughts on Microsoft's price increases? Are they justified, or are they driven by banal greed and will do nothing but accelerate the downfall of the AAA gaming industry as a whole? Tell us what you think in the comments!

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