PS5 games are likely to remain $70 as Xbox bumps prices

Any hope of Sony feeling pressured to lower the price of first-party releases is gone, e.g. Microsoft has announced plans To increase the cost of its exclusive. While the dynamics are not directly comparable – Xbox owners will point this out game pass As an alternative, cheap means of driving the Redmond firm’s output at launch – it looks like $70 releases are here to stay. Most third-party publishers – including EA, Ubisoft, and 2K Games – have also adopted the tag.

Microsoft representatives pointed to the “content, scale and technical complexity” of its titles as the reason for the increase. During the PS3 and PS4 era, most new games retailed for $60, so this represents a $10 increase overall. Of course, while we’re reluctant to defend juggernaut publishers registering record profits, there’s no denying that games cost more money to make now than they did in 2006.

Xbox prices will change when it rolls out new releases in 2023, though it’s important to note that these changes can do Likely to have happened earlier if the manufacturer actually deployed any tentpole titles in 2022. Still, Nintendo is the only remaining platform holder not to jump on the $70 bandwagon, but we’d be surprised if games for the Switch’s successor didn’t adopt a higher price tag, too.