President Capcom Tsujimoto Harukhiro accused a part of Monster Hunter Wilds in PlayStation 5, the policy is said to be a price, Sony creates serious barriers for consumers, therefore, causing harmful to major franchise. Gamesindustry.biz information portal speakThe truth is how much.
Tsujimoto's opinion is not too shocking: that high price increases the participation of the console market, many leading managers expressed. But in this case, it is noteworthy that Sony's criticisms are directly and publicly available – and the company's senior management will almost ensure this interview.
Iron game has never been cheap. If you want, it is possible to argue that if you adjust the price to take into account inflation, the price of the newly started gaming devices, on the contrary, is quite low compared to what happened before. The initial PlayStation of the current ratio is priced above $ 650 and PS2 – $ 560. Just a few years after releasing both discount platforms: thanks to the decrease in price and thanks to the less expensive modifications. The PS2 price card has dropped to $ 199 for two years and twice – to $ 149.
But PlayStation 5 today is more expensive on the release date. In 2020, the console is sold for $ 499; Five years later, the proposed retail price is $ 549. The release of the updated Slim version does not lead to discounts. The PS5 digital version has increased further, from $ 399 to $ 499.
Such changes do not happen immediately. The same is the same PS4, not cheaper at the same speed as its predecessors, but certainly becomes a little more accessible as her life cycle. But the results of Sony's valuation policy are very important, because in fact, it completely changes the prospect that the Console ecosystem promises developers, publishers and consumers. Because of this, all types of projects become commercial.
For example, you can take the same monster hunter: a series of extremely famous in Japan, thanks to the last three parts, attracted Western audiences. Franchise has become popular thanks to teenagers who have developed from Pokemon and moved to PSP so they have what to play with friends. By the end of the 2000s, Monster Hunter everywhere in Japan; At each food court, there are at least one table that the boys sit and hunt the monsters together.
But now this land can become completely barren. The fact that the control panel is not cheaper, it means that they cannot access consumers without high purchasing power, especially teenagers and children. Both people and others never spend much money on this: Usually these object segments buy used equipment and games in the secondary market. But this is part of the plan – so the publishers have nurtured the next generation of customers so that they grow up in adults, ready to spend solid money on franchise.
Today, smartphones are responding to the game and teenagers' requirements, because these are daily devices available for them without any problems – and the console industry is at risk of losing both groups forever. Even the existence of a “family computer”, which is likely to act, is not the worst game machine, a serious barrier for gaming machines in the 1990s. And now every child in the bag has a completely capable game device.
The collapse in the popularity of the TV also plays a role. Previously, publishers could expect that in each teenager's room, there was probably a small TV that the control panel could be connected. Now, thanks to the spread of smart disorders, the percentage of viewers in this demographic is much lower.
Nintendo is really the only platform who worries about affordable prices. The company has decided to allow the Switch 2 model of Japan so that they can still access even with Jena's collapse. At the same time, the publisher increased the price of games – although the public howling from the new Mario Kart card card, this was done to reduce the entry threshold for those who want to buy switch 2.
Another interesting point is the position in the PC gaming market. Many of those who tested the Battlefield 6 Beta version have launched the game on computers that do not meet the minimum system requirements. When the price for the latest iron increases, the value of the games can work normally on obsolete systems will only increase. In the Console market, this means that publishers may make sense to continue the support of the previous generation of platforms longer than ever.