• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Jim Ryan AND Shawn Layden call into Jaffe Stream - Discuss 70 dollar / 80 euro pricepoint

I don't really see what the problem with $70 games is. It's natural for game prices to increase with inflation, and we haven't seen prices go up for a very long time. Publishers still have the leeway to choose their price points anyway, so we might see AAA and evergreen titles at $70 and AA games at $60.

Europeans are getting the short end of the stick with the exchange rates though for sure.
 

Keihart

Member
I don't really see what the problem with $70 games is. It's natural for game prices to increase with inflation, and we haven't seen prices go up for a very long time. Publishers still have the leeway to choose their price points anyway, so we might see AAA and evergreen titles at $70 and AA games at $60.

Europeans are getting the short end of the stick with the exchange rates though for sure.
Economy of scales , how does it work?
 
I've sold every single game I owned years ago, and I have gotten into the habit of buying, completing, and immediately selling all new games. I feel like $50 per title is too much for how often I play games, let alone $70. That's a lot of money for something that isn't a multiplayer game.

Don't be a sucker. Those shoeboxes full of CDs and (even worse) digital libraries full of shit you'll never touch again are keeping you down.
 

RockOn

Member
I don't really see what the problem with $70 games is. It's natural for game prices to increase with inflation, and we haven't seen prices go up for a very long time. Publishers still have the leeway to choose their price points anyway, so we might see AAA and evergreen titles at $70 and AA games at $60.

Europeans are getting the short end of the stick with the exchange rates though for sure.
Funny, live in UK and I've never once paid full RRP for new game in over 25 years. I shop around for discounts, ther is loads about
 

Warablo

Member
No game is worth $70 except maybe a RPG. Certainly not Sony titles either which once you beat, are basically done with them.
 
Last edited:

Unknown?

Member
Shawn Layden has lost weight.

fit diet GIF
And a tan!
 

NahaNago

Member
I've sold every single game I owned years ago, and I have gotten into the habit of buying, completing, and immediately selling all new games. I feel like $50 per title is too much for how often I play games, let alone $70. That's a lot of money for something that isn't a multiplayer game.

Don't be a sucker. Those shoeboxes full of CDs and (even worse) digital libraries full of shit you'll never touch again are keeping you down.
I'm trying to stop buying games these days until I've beaten a few since I feel like I'm just wasting money. cds and dvd/blu rays do kind of make sense since not everything is digital or on spotify. Sony just removed their movie store which irks me since I had started renting more digitally . Google got rid of their music store and now is just youtube music.
No game is worth $70 except maybe a RPG. Certainly not Sony titles either which once you beat, are basically done with them.
It's probably why they are making their games longer and longer to beat (except for Uncharted). They are probably going to go ham on online multiplayer game elements for ps6. They already started dabbling more during ps4 with ghost of tsushima multiplayer, last of us 2 eventual multiplayer, drawn to death, and gt sport.

edit: never understood why the price of games are such a big deal. When you buy a 2 hour movie is $20, hardback book that lasts maybe 3 hours is $25, a 15 minute manga is $10 , but everyone freaks out over a 15 or more hour game costing $70.
 
Last edited:
Buying physical and reselling makes gaming much more affordable (especially being in a shithole country like 🇧🇦). Also, PS Plus games 🔥
 
Can’t imagine the day where I pay $70 for a game. This pushed Ratchet & Clank for me from a preorder to waiting for a sale. And if I’m waiting for a sale I may as well wait until it hits $20. Currently doing that with Miles Morales...
 

Shmunter

Member
Can’t imagine the day where I pay $70 for a game. This pushed Ratchet & Clank for me from a preorder to waiting for a sale. And if I’m waiting for a sale I may as well wait until it hits $20. Currently doing that with Miles Morales...
I suspect this is going to be the majority position going forward.

Imagine if games actually went to $50 instead. The wider reach could be a net positive profit. You throw in the obligatory $70 deluxe pack and people feel more motivated on the whole.
 
Last edited:

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
70usd?
95usd in Poland. Yep even for indie returnal.
And lol at 1300usd avg in Poland... Say what?! That's gross average. To hand it's like 900. And still only few make that really. Polish avg is weirdly high
 
Last edited:

TheAssist

Member
I think Sony has turned into complacent and arrogant Sony again. TBH, i called it as soon as I saw them hit success with the PS4 but I expected shit like this from EA and Activision. Not Sony. Games are already extremely profitable. They cost only $20-50 million to make even for the biggest Sony AAA exclusives
Whats more shady: Raising your price so everyone knows what they are getting into or implementing pay to win elements and gambling into your full price games to make more profit?

People actively want to be taken advantage of or accept that other people who might fall for the gambling tactics are being exploited.
We can take all day whether or not the price increase is justified or not, but its not shady. They tell you upfront what the product costs and dont nickel and dime you, they dont try to squeez money out of you for things that should have been there from the start.

For the bolded part: Got any sources other than tales from my arse? (would be actually interesting to see)
 
Funny how Jaffe is publicly taking a shit on his former employers in his videos and then follows up with "They're great" as if the scathing shit he said just a few minutes earlier is washed away.

He's never working at or with Sony again lol
 

davidjaffe

The Fucking MAN.
Funny how Jaffe is publicly taking a shit on his former employers in his videos and then follows up with "They're great" as if the scathing shit he said just a few minutes earlier is washed away.

He's never working at or with Sony again lol
I don't really care if I ever work with Sony again. I still have great affection for them and I wish NONE of them ill will. But I'm not going to 'be a good boy' and not make videos and streams I think are fun just because someone may take offense. Anyone watching my videos- including the stuff where I talk about Phil Spencer's inability to run product development- hopefully also hears the praise I give these execs. And truth be told, if a stupid, silly video like the one I did with Jim and Shawn rubs them such the wrong way, they don't wanna work with me I can more than live with that. The Sony I used to work for wasn't so damn uptight (not saying they are that way, but if they responded as such, I would start to wonder).
 

Unknown?

Member
Can’t imagine the day where I pay $70 for a game. This pushed Ratchet & Clank for me from a preorder to waiting for a sale. And if I’m waiting for a sale I may as well wait until it hits $20. Currently doing that with Miles Morales...
So you're going to wait two-three years for all games?
 
There are certain games or genres where I can at least understand an increase in price. However, I think we should also take into consideration:
  • The removal of physical manuals
  • The move to digital sales, meaning no box and no disc
  • Traditional unlocks / free add-ons being replaced with Season Passes / Fighter Passes etc.
  • Traditional customization systems being replaced with microtransactions
So if you try to sell me something like The Witcher 3, where you get at least 100 hours of content and a bunch of free additional DLC, then you can get away with a higher price.

However, if you're trying to sell me five different versions of a new game, each version coming with more or less of all the expansion passes you have in store for the future, AND your game's start screen is full of advertisements asking me for more money, AND you have an in game store where I can unlock various weapons and outfits, AND you have DLC that unlocks the in game rewards that you purposefully time-gated the hell out of, then no, you have no right to ask for more money because you've already heavily overcompensated for this issue through other revenue streams.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
Funny how Jaffe is publicly taking a shit on his former employers in his videos and then follows up with "They're great" as if the scathing shit he said just a few minutes earlier is washed away.

He's never working at or with Sony again lol
I think this is why employers have exit interviews. To see where they can improve. I’d imagine Sony has to consider their weaker points in order to stay competitive. You can’t always have an ass kissing mentality. Otherwise how do you grow? MIcrosoft is a prime example. Do you know how many IT techs I’ve heard bash Windows? You’d think they’d never work with the OS ever again. Yet they still make a living from that operating system. I’d imagine Sony needs as much criticism as they need praise. One cannot exist without the other.

Layden is gone. If the man wanted a stake in Sony he would have stayed. It’s like every other awesome person we all enjoyed there. They end up leaving. Why did Layden leave on a high note? I can see why it was good because they were on top, but to me he could have retired. Did he retire? Jim Ryan has been there for a very long time. I’d imagine he has a few choice words about gaming and the way the business operates.
 
Last edited:
So you're going to wait two-three years for all games?
It never takes that long... there’s always a Black Friday within a year. And yes, rather than pay $70, I’ll happily wait. I expect to be playing Ratchet & Clank this holiday season now.

And it’s not all games. Series X has plenty of day one games on GamePass. And that’s only going to get better too.
 

A2una1

Member
It never takes that long... there’s always a Black Friday within a year. And yes, rather than pay $70, I’ll happily wait. I expect to be playing Ratchet & Clank this holiday season now.

And it’s not all games. Series X has plenty of day one games on GamePass. And that’s only going to get better too.
In the end Voting with your wallet is the only thing these companys are understanding...
 
Definitely not gonna pay $80 for Returnal.
$70 is maximum for any big AAA game. They sell most of their games digitally. They are already making an extra (cost saving from physical) $20 on each digital copy. Now they added another $20.
All those companies are just trying to increase profits to push their stock higher.
Even a game that cost 200 million will still be profitable @ $50. AAA games make an average of 400 to 900 million revenue and sell no less than 5 million units these days. They already return more than double the investment in 5 years 🤣🤣.
 

GymWolf

Member
yeah, I got the math wrong. I should've been calculating the other way around. Euros to dollars, not dollars to euros. The games should be less than 70 euros even with the VAT. 60 Euros would be $72 which sounds about right.

I think Sony has turned into complacent and arrogant Sony again. TBH, i called it as soon as I saw them hit success with the PS4 but I expected shit like this from EA and Activision. Not Sony. Games are already extremely profitable. They cost only $20-50 million to make even for the biggest Sony AAA exclusives and now with most sales being digital Sony keeps the retailer cut and does not have to worry about distribution or packaging costs. That 30% or $18 cut now comes right back to them. That shouldve been enough.

Even with marketing costs doubling the overall budget to $100 million, you can easily make that up with just 2 million in sales. Most of Sony's first party titles have sold well over 5 million units.

It's pure corporate greed. I hope it will blow up in their face but corporations typically get away with this shit. See Apple and their overpriced products. This is why I have always hoped and wished for Microsoft to get their shit together. If Sony had any kind of direct competition from Microsoft exclusives they wouldnt be so cocky about anti-consumer moves like this.

I am personally skipping Returnal and will buy physical copies of Ratchet and Horizon and trade them back in just like i did demon Souls and Spiderman Miles. I cant sanction this buffoonery.
Just for the record, sony bigger games have far higher budget than 20-50 mil.
 

GymWolf

Member
I tell you a secret, many place do discounts if you preorder.

I never paid more than 50 euros at launch on ps3 and ps4 because the euronics close to my house does 20 euros discount with the preorder, sometimes they give you 20 euros psn card and sometimes they directly make a 20 euros discount on the price.

And if they do this stuff in sicily-italy, you can bet your ass that they do this stuff all around the world, you just need to search a little, sure as hell sicily is not a special place in the slightest.

Here in italy we mock people who buy full price games at launch just to cry in some forum, because they don't fucking need to if they are not too lazy to search for a good price.

The same place is not doing this type of discount for the first year of ps5 life cycle but they already confirmed that after the first year, they are gonna return doing discount with a simple preorder.
 
Last edited:
I tell you a secret, many place do discounts if you preorder.

I never paid more than 50 euros at launch on ps3 and ps4 because the euronics close to my house does 20 euros discount with the preorder, sometimes they give you 20 euros psn card and sometimes they directly make a 20 euros discount on the price.

And if they do this stuff in sicily-italy, you can bet your ass that they do this stuff all around the world, you just need to search a little, sure as hell sicily is not a special place in the slightest.

Here in italy we mock people who buy full price games at launch just to cry in some forum, because they don't fucking need to if they are not too lazy to search for a good price.

The same place is not doing this type of discount forcthe first year of ps5 life cycle but they already confirmed that after the first year, they are gonna return doing discount with a simple preorder.
Calm down dude, the image i posted was made for people who cry about the 10$ increase in price and how you can buy any sooner or later for much less (that is if it isn't a Nintendo game), where i live you bet your ass i've been paying the equivalent of 80+$ for years so 10$ increase isn't some shocking news to me.
 

GymWolf

Member
Calm down dude, the image i posted was made for people who cry about the 10$ increase in price and how you can buy any sooner or later for much less (that is if it isn't a Nintendo game), where i live you bet your ass i've been paying the equivalent of 80+$ for years so 10$ increase isn't some shocking news to me.
Lol i was calm but sorry for the misunderstanding.
 

Kuranghi

Member
PC Gamers still paying £30-35/$45-50 for every release on launch day like its 2003:

Happy Eddie Murphy GIF


So spoilt, on key sites Doom Eternal was £32 on launch day but it was the Bethesda Launcher version and Steam version was basically RRP, so £45-50 and I was like "NAWT good enough" :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 
Last edited:

spons

Gold Member
80 bucks for a video game is insane. It's a fucking scam anyway since the value of the product hasn't risen proportionally to the price hike.
 
Last edited:

BigBooper

Member
Why are people throwing out sales tax numbers like the company gets to keep it? They charge what they charge because they think it's the price that will make them the most money that people will pay. There's no other reason.
 

Bryank75

Banned
You naughty late night Irishmen! Get te bed with ye!
I stayed up for a call stream once, it was the racism one lmao, what a mistake that was... :messenger_tears_of_joy:
Time has no meaning anymore.... until this ridiculous lockdown ends anyway.

Plus when anyone says 'Irishman', I believe naughtiness is implied!


jack white it was a nice dream GIF
 
Top Bottom