The gaming industry is facing a critical mass, with ballooning budgets and massive projects like PlayStation’s Concord becoming record-breaking failures. In an interview, Baldur’s Gate 3 director of publishing Michael Douse shed light on the true issue with the industry.
Douse stated that game prices haven’t risen with inflation and are actually cheaper than during the SNES era, despite higher sales quantities. He joked that publishers aren’t supposed to say this out loud due to shareholder demands for higher profit margins. However, a rise in game prices would lead to higher wages for developers, but this will never happen.
Douse emphasized the importance of making games that live up to promises as players’ investments increase. At $59.99 on PC, Baldur’s Gate 3 has managed to recoup its costs with thousands of hours of content. However, chasing a big hit is sometimes pointless, and the industry is aware it’s a hit-based industry where “living up to ‘a hit'” is statistically impossible.
GTA 6, which could potentially launch at $100, poses a significant challenge. Many games attempting to charge such prices would fail due to services like Xbox Game Pass making AAA experiences more accessible. Douse believes that Rockstar Games has enough clout to establish new standards, and others will either sink or swim.
The success of Baldur’s Gate 3 lies in its complete package with no microtransactions and minimal DLC. In contrast, many games include microtransaction content to generate additional revenue. While a price hike would not eliminate these extra revenues, Douse highlights the importance of making games that offer value without unnecessary monetization.
Source: https://www.videogamer.com/news/baldurs-gate-3-dev-reveals-the-real-reason-the-games-industry-is-in-the-st-right-now