“What you see right there is variable pricing,” Bowser told The Washington Post. “We’ll look at each game, really look at the development that’s gone into the game, the breadth and depth of the gameplay, if you will, the durability over time and the repeatability of gameplay experiences.
AKA corporate greed.
Video games were $50 20-30 years ago. Development costs are way higher now and they take longer. With inflation, let alone longer development, you’d expect a more expensive product.
I mean, even with current prices, look at all the studios that went under
There are more people buying games now than ever before. 20-30 years ago, games would set sales records selling over 500k copies in a year or two. Nowadays that number is like 13 million in a month. Gaming companys report record profits year over year (except Ubisoft lol) and they monetize games even harder now with microtransactions.
Prices should be going down. Its not my problem development costs are bloated because dev teams are too big and the marketing team wants to play Beatles music in every trailer. But they’re making it my problem by making me pay for it.
So I just don’t pay for it. Problem solved. If they go out of business, its their own fault. Not mine. Unfortunately, Nintendo is too big to fail.
This is the kind of reasoned response i am on lemmy for. I was firmly in OPs camp and almost didn’t read your reply. I read it and you convinced me.
Great point about total sales volume!
Given modern platforms and tooling, development should be cheaper and faster than ever. You have a huge talent pool, you can cobble together something in Unreal or other Switch-compatible engine, and run automated builds and tests before shipping right to the online store.
You should go visit every game company and tell them how they are all doing it wrong. You could call yourself the Department of Gaming Efficiency
How many video games were sold annually 20 to 30 years ago vs today?
How many games were released annually 20 to 30 years ago vs today?
Huh? What does this has to do with game prices? More games being released doesnt change the develepmont cost of a single game (it might even make it cost less because you could share assets, functions, animations etc between different games). But selling more games = more income directly since you don’t even have release those games physically anymore.
Total sales / total releases = average sales per release
You’re welcome, I’m full of super basic math tips!
?
And how does average sales per release correlate to development costs? Your argument was “development costs are now higher so game prices should also increase”, and now you are talking about average sales per release.
You might need some comprehension skills before offering other people tips.
Google “accounting equation”. That principle applies to profit too
Why do both sides of an equation need to balance?
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/video-game-industry-revenues-by-platform/
Console are making 30 billion a year nowadays and studios are selling so many more copies of games than than thirty years ago and making money hand over fist with scummy microtransactions and fomo tactics.
And while AAA development costs have gone up, but again billions in profits, you’re actually going to defend that a cart racing game’s development is on par with Baldur’s Gate 3 that still sold for 60 bucks or monster Hunter wild for the new average of 70 bucks?
Please, here’s my variable rate call of bullshit. This is nothing more than Nintendo being greedy jackasses that know Nintendo fans will pay the extra 10 bucks more and allowing themselves to being gouged along with giving the other greedy publishes permission to do the same and exploit their fans, not that most aren’t doing so already, looking at you Rockstar.
As for your, look at all these studios going under, that’s not due to prices of games being too low, that’s a lot to do with over expansion due to COVID 19, AAA publishes continuing to chase the trend of live services and making dumbass moves, and back to publishers again, over playing their hands with acquisition after acquisition or just publishers being absolute jackasses, like Microsoft and Tango Studios where they praised Hi-Fi Rush being a breakout hit and then closed the studio because it didn’t make all the money and they did no marketing and released it on game pass.
Yeah, feel free to think Nintendo just doing gamers a solid here but I’m not variable rate dumb enough to buy it.
Billions in revenue is matched by billions in expenses.
Revenue /= profit
Revenues going up doesn’t really provide any evidence for your point
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2001/011121e.pdf
2001, 664 million in profit, adjusted for inflation in 2022 dollars, 1 billion.
https://www.tweaktown.com/news/84668/nintendo-made-6-billion-net-sales-1-7-profits-in-q322/index.html
2022, 1.7 billion dollars in profit.
Won’t someone think of poor Nintendo and their billions of expenses making them just so, so poor!
Won’t someone think of the corporations!
But feel free to post your citations supporting your argument if you can take a moment to stop your corporate bootlicking.
Holy cherry-picking, Batman!
Yes, the video game industry is doing well because Nintendo’s Q3 ‘22 report is better than their ‘01 report. /s
Okay Billy Madison, you’re the one that brought up games were 50 dollars twenty years ago and saying profits aren’t keeping up with development costs in today’s market, but not exactly shocked you didn’t seem to make that connection here.
I mearly pointing out that Nintendo made a billion dollars, adjusted for inflation, twenty years ago at 50 dollars and they’ve made 1.7 billion dollars in 2022 when games were at 60-70 dollar range.
Sure seems like their doing just fine with profits vs increased development costs here, no justification for their variable pricing, extra 10 bucks on top, bullshit outside of corporate greed.
Again, go ahead and provide your facts to justify your position if you can stop your corporate bootlicking for just a moment.
Think I’m done playing chess with a pigeon for tonight.
Right it’s the development costs … Not the CEOs making more money than any point in history, with a pay gap that’s just insane, executive making dumb ass choices…
Can’t be that, must be ‘development costs’.
Never mind that today’s world, we have some of the best toolings available for software development. Making it easier and more approachable than ever before and it only keeps getting better. And you don’t need to hire people that know assembly to make a video game… You can do everything and high level languages.
Stop letting the PR machine from the corporations influence you.
Jfc people in here are dense. Most studios aren’t Nintendo-sized
Holy fuck you really love defending capitalism!
So EA missed your radar? Or Tencent, Microsoft, Epic, Sony, Take-Two, or Ubisoft… Just to list a few on top, there’s certainly more. Rockstar already trying to say $100 minimum for GTA6.
I’m sure some CEO will send you a thank you card though. Maybe Bobby Kotick!
Oh that’s shocking that you bought tabloid speculation /s