Capcom President Believes Game Prices Should Be Higher

Capcom President Harushiro Tsujimoto recently expressed his belief that the retail price of video games is currently too low. During the Tokyo Game Show 2023, Tsujimoto argued that the development costs for video games have surged significantly, while software prices haven’t seen a comparable increase. He highlighted that development costs are approximately 100 times higher than they were during the Famicom era, yet game prices haven’t kept pace with this rise in expenses.

In response to these escalating development costs, Tsujimoto proposed the idea of raising unit prices for video games. He contended that given the industry’s overall wage increase, adjusting game prices is a logical step for maintaining a healthy business environment.

Additionally, Tsujimoto dismissed concerns about the impact of a sluggish economy on video game prices. He drew parallels to other forms of entertainment, stating that just as people continue to attend movie theaters or concerts during recessions, high-quality games will still find a market.

Notably, some publishers have already initiated a price hike for certain titles during the current generation of gaming consoles, with PS5 and Xbox Series X|S games now typically retailing for $70, compared to the previous industry standard of $60. This change began with major developers like Activision and Electronic Arts, and even first-party publishers like Sony eventually adopted the higher price point for select PS5 titles, such as Horizon Forbidden West and God of War Ragnarok. Microsoft followed suit as well.

However, Capcom has chosen to stick with the $60 price point for its games, including titles like Street Fighter 6 and even the iPhone 15 port of its Resident Evil 4 remake.

Looking ahead, there is speculation that Capcom might consider raising the prices of its standard current-generation games to $70 in the future. An upcoming release, Dragon’s Dogma 2, could potentially be a candidate for this price increase, given that it is a current-generation exclusive.

It remains to be seen how the gaming industry as a whole will adapt to these rising development costs and whether more publishers will follow suit in increasing the prices of their games to address the financial challenges associated with game development.