Price Hikes "Across The Board" For Games In 2023 Predicted By Analyst
"Gamers are likely to see prices go up across the board in 2023."
In 2023, the video game industry will see prices increase "across the board," according to one analyst. Dr. Serkan Toto of Kantan Games said in an interview with GI.biz that fans should expect price hikes for games, hardware, and subscriptions as studios attempt to make up for rising costs.
"Not all studios have hiked prices to keep up with the rise of production and other costs in game development so far, but gamers are likely to see prices go up across the board in 2023," Toto said.
Microsoft, for example, has already announced that it is raising prices on its AAA games in 2023 from $60 to $70. All of Microsoft's games are also included with Xbox Game Pass, and some believe that subscription service will see a price increase, too.
Toto said of his predicted price increase, "I believe this trend will not only affect individual AAA titles but also subscriptions and hardware, especially from Microsoft."
The Nintendo Switch, however, won't see a price increase in 2023, Toto said. Things could change, however, if Nintendo releases new hardware, as has been rumored for some time.
In 2022, Sony raised the price of the PlayStation 5 in many places around the world (but not the US), in response to global economic issues. For the Xbox price increase, Phil Spencer said "something had to give" when Microsoft looked at its balance sheet. Nintendo is affected by growing costs, too, but the company is not passing those costs along to the consumer and is keeping Switch prices intact.
Before this, publishers like EA, Take-Two, and Activision raised game prices from $60 to $70.
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