Shuhei Yoshida Defends Growing Prices of Video Games
There's a huge debate going on in the gaming space right now centered around the price of gaming. Specifically, whether gaming itself is becoming 'too expensive.' We've seen 'ripples' of this discontent happen over the last several years, with games going from $50 to $60, to $70 with the Xbox Series X and PS5, and now, with the Nintendo Switch 2, some games will be $80. There are even rumors that GTA 6 could be the first true $100 title. Many fans are raging against Nintendo and others because of this. However, former head of PlayStation Studios Shuhei Yoshida has a different view on things.
Shuhei Yoshida was chatting with Critical Hit Games and was asked about the price of gaming going up and here's what he had to say:
'When you look at life in general, other products in price have increased, you know, way more than the game price. So I think it was almost too late for the video game companies to start looking at the pricing structure. I don't believe that every game has to be priced the same. 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.'
Most would agree with this in certain ways, and even now, we see games like Clair Obscur Expedition 33 being $50 instead of $70, and that's likely part of its success. That being said, Yoshida also felt that gamers were being too hard on developers/publishers for the pricing:
'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. As long as people choose carefully how they spend their money,' he continues, 'I don't think they should be complaining.'
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