Gaming costs and price hike

Just an article I was reading. Figured maybe someone else might find it interesting to read so sharing

https://www.theringer.com/2020/10/2...ces-70-dollars-call-of-duty-ps5-xbox-series-x

The cost of games had remained stable since 2005, when ‘Call of Duty 2’ set the standard price. Now, the latest installment of the series is setting a new mark at $69.99. What does it mean for an industry that’s increasingly moved toward subscription services?

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I have no issue with a 10-20 dollar price increase for full games that have no microtransactions and no 5+ versions that you need to juggle between. The other ones can go f themselves.

Games also cost much more to make than they used to.

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I was told that by a magazine's editor recently as well.




Quoted from there :

“That was a big debate, was whether we would go to $59.99 on Call of Duty 2,” he says. “[CEO] Bobby Kotick came in and said, ‘We’re going to 59 on Call of Duty 2.’

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Ah, Kotick ! That explains everything !

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/activision-defends-bobby-koticks-salary-as-shareho/1100-6478021/

Quoted from there :

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is one of the highest-paid executives not only in video games, but across the entire entertainment media industry.

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Waizenegger said in his statement that Activision Blizzard continually finds "multiple ways to unnecessarily enrich its CEO." The statement mentions that Kotick has received $20 million USD each year over the past four years for stock/option equity alone, before his base salary.

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Also in the statement, Waizenegger said Kotick's "Transformative Transaction" payment scheme is also problematic. This pays Kotick more money when Activision Blizzard's total market capitalization is increased for a sustained period of time.

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So, why did he want 60 Dollars ?

Of course, to become even richer !

Interesting, didn't know that about Kotick. Greed is a powerful God. Makes me think of that game about the effects of greed - don't think its released yet but forget its name.

That's the culture a stock market fosters. Endless economic growth. And each of these C level people are motivated to do this endlessly. Especially since buying your own stock, which usually affects the bonuses these guys get, has been made legal during Reagan's deregulation of the stock market.

It's all one big machine to make as much money, in as little time as possible, and then dump it all. No future proofing, and no regard for what this endless growth does.

I'll leave it to Strauss Zelnic, CEO of Take2, the guys owning GTA5, which is litterally the most monetized game ever, I think. They have no limit, and no shame, and no reason to have any, since the system encourages this and they get lauded for this:
https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/170468-Take-Two-CEO-Company-is-Under-Monetizing-its-Users

No here's the kicker costs are down and prices are up.

Couchpotato said:

No here's the kicker costs are down and prices are up.

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And even more, unless the development studio has some sort of profit share of the actual sales with the publisher, which is very rare, they don't see any of that money. It all goes to the publisher. Usually the devs get paid in chuncks during development.

And even if the studio is owned by the publisher, kinda the same deal. Unless they have some sort of bonus structure based on sales for the actual development staff, like CDPR seems to do, the devs don't see anything. They get to keep their jobs and work on another project that the publisher reaps the benefits off of.

This is why, even with all the hate they're getting, Epic Store has a great publishing option for developers. Unless I remember incorrectly, the devs get to keep their IP, they receive financial publishing support from Epic, and after Epic recoups all their investment, they share future profits 50/50 with Epic. That's unheard of in game publishing.

danutz_plusplus said:

This is why, even with all the hate they're getting, Epic Store has a great publishing option for developers. Unless I remember incorrectly, the devs get to keep their IP, they receive financial publishing support from Epic, and after Epic recoups all their investment, they share future profits 50/50 with Epic. That's unheard of in game publishing.

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I agree just hate the tactics they use to secure exclusives for a year that's all. Though lately I've softened on that stance as I have to use multiple clients anyways.

But back in topic yeah its amazing how much costs are down compared to ten years ago. Everything is going digital so they don't have to pay for shipping and other cuts.

On the other-hand development budgets are getting so bloated.

Couchpotato said:

I agree just hate the tactics they use to secure exclusives for a year that's all. Though lately I've softened on that stance as I have to use multiple clients anyways.

But back in topic yeah its amazing how much costs are down compared to ten years ago. Everything is going digital so they don't have to pay for shipping and other cuts.

On the other-hand development budgets are getting so bloated.

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Yeah, them having their own digital stores and not needing to split the profit with retail stores is huge. Last I heard retail stores got even 50% of profits.