Baldur's Gate 3 publishing director says "almost all games should cost more at a base level" because they cost so much to make

rockpapershotgun.com:

Baldur's Gate 3 publishing director Michael Douse has reopened the topic of video game pricing, commenting that prices have not kept pace with inflation (the general increase of prices and goods) in certain markets, and thereby, with the cost of making blockbuster games such as Star Wars Outlaws.

I mention Outlaws because it's this game that has sparked Douse's thoughts. Writing on the artist formerly known as Twitter, he shared an image of the new Ubiworld game's Ultimate Edition, which encompasses the "base" offering and a sack of season pass content and collector's goodies such as a digital artbook, together with the nowadays-routine promise of pre-release access. Douse suggests that special editions such as these are a way of "artificially" hiking prices without, strictly speaking, saying that you're doing so.

"I don't love the artificiality of pricing structures post retail," Douse wrote. "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."

Douse added that "I think a game should be priced accordingly with its quality, breadth & depth", and that publishers should be more upfront and honest about wanting to charge more for games, rather than putting out special editions that muddy the picture. "Almost all games should cost more at a base level because the cost of making them (inflation, for one) is outpacing pricing trends," he wrote. "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 lol."

It seems important to remember here that Larian's own Baldur's Gate 3 also had more expensive special editions encompassing a mix of digital and physical bonuses. Presumably, Douse regards those editions as above-board - I'll let you be the judge. That aside, he's far from the only senior industry figure to argue that the cost of