LogInYet another sign that Sony will be the next studio to hike its prices?
With AAA studios announcing video game price increases one after another, and, at the same time, almost all of the most successful and acclaimed 2025 titles being either $20-and-under indies or $50 games, the question of how much gamers would be willing to pay for games going forward has become more relevant than ever.
Addressing the ongoing discussion is former Director of Sony Interactive Entertainment and PlayStation Indies, Shuhei Yoshida, who recently said that he doesn't see an issue with $70 or even $80 price tags.
In his interview with Critical Hits Games, first noted by GamesRadar+, Yoshida echoed a common defense used by billion-dollar companies and their supporters, claiming "other products in price have increased way more than the game price" and stressing that, in his opinion, "it was almost too late for the video game companies to start looking at the pricing structure."
"In terms of actual price of $70 or $80, for really great games, I think it will still be a steal in terms of the amount of entertainment that the top games, top quality games bring to people compared to other form of entertainment," he said. "As long as people choose carefully how they spend their money, I don't think they should be complaining."
At the same time, Yoshida said he doesn't believe every game needs to have the same price, but instead that pricing should reflect the amount of content each game offers to players. "Each game has different value it provides, or the size of budget. I totally believe it's up to the publisher – or developers self-publishing – decision to price their product to the value that they believe they are bringing in."
In the comments, few shared Yoshida's opinion, pointing out two – three if you count the obvious "a billionaire is telling us that higher prices are OK" take – main issues with his statement, including the fact that modern games are mostly sold digitally, meaning players don't really own them, and that it's usually not the truly deserving games, like the $50 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, that are priced at $80 and above, but rather far less deserving ones like the upcoming Mario Kart World, priced that way simply to offset the bloated production budgets AAA studios seem incapable of scaling down.
And where do you see game prices heading from here? Will gamers vote with their wallets and show big studios that pushing prices too far will only cause "the Second Golden Age of Piracy," or will they cave and accept the $80 industry standard just like they accepted the $70 increase a few years ago? Tell us what you think down in the comments!
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