Video Games
A Baldur’s Gate 3 developer explains why games should cost more, pointing at GTA 6 as a prime example
Larian Studios’ Director of Publishing shared his reasoning for why games should be priced according to their quality and size.
The industry has been flirting with the idea of raising the price of games for a while now. In this new generation, some titles have been on the verge of overcoming the barrier of $80, but all eyes are on Rockstar Games and its publishing company, Take-Two Interactive. The launch of GTA 6 has triggered rumors about a possible increase, although at the moment it has not been officially confirmed. Michael Douse, Director of Publishing at Larian Studios— the creators of Baldur’s Gate 3—, did not hesitated to defend the price increasing in a reflection he posted on Twitter/X.
Why “almost all games” should cost more
The developer recalled that costs have skyrocketed, but they have done so against inflating prices through premium editions, which promise content for the future and not from day one. “I don’t love the artificiality of pricing structures post retail. Use the inflated base price to upsell a subscription, and use vague content promises to inflate ultimate editions to make the base price look better. It all seems a bit dangerous & disconnected from the community.”
According to Douse, games “should be priced according to their quality, length and depth. “should be priced accordingly with its quality, breadth & depth. I’m not against higher prices, but this arbitrary uniformity just doesn’t make sense to me. It feels so unserious. For him, “Almost all games should cost more at a base level because the cost of making them (inflation, for one) is outpacing pricing trends. But I don’t think we’ll get there with DLC promises so much as quality & communication. Everyone’s just waiting for GTA6 to do it.”
GTA 6 will be released sometime in 2025 for PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S. At the moment there is no confirmed PC version, although almost all of Rockstar games have come to this platform later. Larian Studios, for its part, is working on an unannounced project.
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