Summary
- Larian Studios's director of publishing, Michael Douse, believes that almost all games should "cost more on a base level" due to rising development budgets.
- Douse thinks games should be priced according to their inherent "quality, breadth, and depth."
- The highly anticipated GTA 6 could push past the $70 pricing standard, according to Douse.
A high-ranking Baldur's Gate 3 developer recently weighed in on the discussion about game prices, stating that "almost all games" are undervalued these days, and that the upcoming GTA 6 might introduce a drastic shift in how games are priced. The debate surrounding the retail value of video games has raged on for several years, with many believing that AAA games like Baldur's Gate 3 (on console at least) are overpriced at $70.
The $60 price point for AAA games officially came into action at the outset of the Xbox 360/PS3 console generation. 14 years later, the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S saw AAA games take a hike to $70, a move that many gamers are still incensed about. Several studios and publishers cited the ballooning costs of game development as the biggest reason behind the price increase, with even PlayStation's then-CEO Jim Ryan backing $70 PS5 games. However, players argued that the advent of live-service games and microtransactions has made the games industry more profitable than ever, deterring the need for $70 titles.
This industry-wide price hike has led many gamers to scrutinize the intrinsic value of their purchases, consequently placing a greater emphasis on replay value and overall playtime. 2023 Game of the Year winner Baldur's Gate 3 launched at a $70 price point on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, but it also offered 17,000 possible ending variations and hundreds of hours of gameplay. However, Larian Studios' Director of Publishing, Michael Douse, opined in a recent Twitter thread that almost every game should "cost more at a base level" as development budgets are outpacing pricing trends, and GTA 6's fall 2025 launch may change this.
Larian Exec Doesn't See "Sense" in the $70 Standard Price Point
Douse maintains that games should be priced according to their "quality, breadth, and depth," and that uniform pricing structures for games don't "make sense" to him. The Larian exec expressed these views in response to the $130 price for Star Wars: Outlaws' Ultimate Edition, which he believes is inflated off the back of "vague content promises" to make the base $70 version look more appealing to consumers. Douse's mention of GTA 6 potentially introducing a disturbance in current AAA pricing strategies is particularly interesting, though, as a rumor from last year claimed that Rockstar could charge $150 for GTA 6.
GTA 6 is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated games in history and will likely shift an unprecedented amount of copies when it releases. However, the game has also been in development for a long time and reportedly has an enormous budget behind it, so Douse's inkling of GTA 6's value possibly exceeding the current $70 standard may not be too unreasonable. Considering the hype around GTA 6 is exceptionally high, publisher Take-Two Interactive might even get away with charging a higher retail price for the game, but only time will tell if these purported plans are true.
Baldur's Gate 3
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 96 /100 Critics Rec: 97%
- Released
- August 3, 2023
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Larian Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Larian Studios
- Engine
- Divinity 4.0
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- Full cross-platform play.
WHERE TO PLAY
- Cross Save
- Full cross-platform progression.
- Franchise
- Baldur's Gate
- Number of Players
- 1-4
- Split Screen Orientation
- Vertical Only
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Verified
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, macOS
- Genre(s)
- RPG
- How Long To Beat
- 100+ Hours
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
- Local Co-Op Support
- 1-2 Players
