Embracer Boss Mulls Increasing the Price of Video Games Beyond $70
The controversial boss of Embracer Group has discussed the topic of increasing the price of video games beyond $70 amid rising development costs and a brutally competitive market.
Lars Wingefors, who has laid off thousands of staff, shut multiple studios, and sold off subsidiaries in the last financial year, told GI.biz that pushing the price of video games higher is something Embracer has discussed, and that doing so would mean more video games would be released.
"I'm not saying you can't increase the price," Wingefors told the site. "But the reality is no one has tried it. If you create an enormous role-playing game, for example, with 100 or 150 hours of gameplay, very polished, and a unique experience, would the consumer be willing to pay more? If they would, they would have more products potentially coming to market. But no one tried it.
"It's something we have been discussing, but we are currently sticking to the practice of the industry. Would it be that one [company] one day that tries to increase pricing? That remains to be seen."
The triple-A video game industry collectively raised the price of its video games with the launch of the current console generation in 2020, but in recent months the $70 price point has become the topic of much discussion amid the industry’s ongoing struggles. Recent data points to gamers tending to favor older, live service games, such as Fortnite, Roblox, and Call of Duty, leaving less room for new, full price games.
Indeed, Embracer has seen a number of high-profile flops, including the recently released horror revival Alone in the Dark, which Wingefors said was “a big investment” that “didn't catch enough consumers”.
"I think the industry is facing the same problem as all other industries, with inflation and rising costs of game development," Wingefors added. "And it's been hard to increase pricing [in] premium PC/console. The pricing of those products has been the same for many years, which means that the margin to succeed is less,
Read more on ign.com
