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Developers will choose a way of lower costs and better quality.
Image credit: Focus, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
Saber Interactive Founder and CEO Matthew Karch lately spoke to IGN to discuss the recent departure from the Swedish holding, Embracer, and shared some thoughts regarding the future state of their company and the game industry in general.
Karch also touched upon the upcoming trend of games no longer being priced at $70. According to Saber's boss, this change will be driven by developers aiming to lower expenses and risks during game development, but Karch assured that this adjustment will not compromise the quality of the games.
"I think that as games become more expensive to make, the $70 title is going to go the way of the dodo [bird]. I do. I just don't think it's sustainable…Look, you remember the hype for Cyberpunk, which I think actually ultimately performed okay, but when the expectations are so high and so much money is put into one title, it's hugely risky for the company that's doing it," shared Karch.
"What if it fails? You remember what happened when Ubisoft a couple of years ago, all their titles slipped out of the year, and then all of a sudden they were in an entirely different place? It's hard to recover from that. I think the market is going to shift to development which is not necessarily lower quality, but there's going to be an emphasis on trying to find ways to reduce costs."
It seems that Saber is already on this trajectory – the company develops AAA games without significantly inflating budgets. As an example, Karch mentioned Helldivers 2, which successfully captured an audience as an AA project. This achievement is what the company aims to prioritize moving forward.
Speaking of the publisher's upcoming games, Karch clarified that Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 will be priced at $70 upon release. While the developers wish to offer the game at a lower price, they are hesitant to reduce it out of concern for potential negative reactions from players who may interpret a lower price as an indication of reduced quality.
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