When 2K Games revealed that the upcoming basketball game NBA2K21 will costPS5 on PS70 and Xbox Series X, the Internet quickly sparked debate about the possibility of a可能性10 price hike for the next-generation title. This increase could have a huge impact on the way people buy games — and that could be a huge boon for subscription services like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Now.

You can expect a jump from 60 to 7 70 for most major console titles, and even argue that long overdue. Retail games jumped to$360 in 2005 during the dawn of the first Xbox60 generation, and the price remains in place for 15 years. Since then, the game has become bigger and more expensive, while maintaining the same price.

""I make it due to the wide variety of technical improvements that AAA PS5 and Xbox Series X games typically allow greater audiovisual detail work to do" "I'm not sure if it's the standard price for a full game on these consoles, but unless there's a big revolt by gamers, it's going to happen pretty quickly."" The price increase seems to make sense given that PS5 and Xbox Series X games will be built around advanced technologies such as ray tracing, 4K to 8K visuals, and fast SSD loading. But gamers buy fewer titles as a result. The answer seems to be mixed so far.

"A typical console gamer buys only a few full games per year, so the margin10 price increase can reduce demand at the margin, but I also hope that more gamers will be able to buy more games until the price drops to either packaged60 or 5 50 packaged games or digital stores." It seems that you will wait.Word said. "So the main effect might be to push out sales at a later date for some of the gamers with limited purchasing power."

But dedicated gamers may not be put off by rising prices, according to Rachel Weber, managing editor of our sister site GamesRadar.

"If you're already investing in next-generation consoles, you'll want to make the most of that investment in real AAA games," Weber said. "Just like investing in a 4K TV and then skipping the Ultra HD version of the cheaper Blu-ray."

In an unofficial poll I put out on Twitter, 121 percent of the 61 people I surveyed said they would buy fewer games if new70 became the new standard price. Many gamers may just wait a few months for most AAA titles to launch, so some comments reflected the same sentiment Ward shared.

And they have a good reason. Major titles such as Doom Eternal and Resident Evil 3 in 2020 have already seen a 50% discount since they launched earlier this year. So unless you're buying Nintendo games (which are not sold very rarely), PS5 and Xbox Series X titles follow a similar pricing pattern after putting them on the shelves a little bit.

The bump in PS5 and Xbox Series X games toド70 will not only affect how people buy games, but will also affect how people buy games such as Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Now. Subscription Services

"Subscription services are a very attractive and cost-effective way to increase your game collection, but hardcore, early adopters always

That's where Microsoft can get a big advantage. Xbox Game Pass now gives you access to over 5 AAA and indie games from 5-15 month100 per month.This includes all major Microsoft releases such as gears5 and Halo Infinite. Sony's PlayStation Now service isn't as generous as first-party games, but you can play hundreds of PS1, PS10 and PS4 games per month. Comparing that to paying pop70 pops for individual games, these services suddenly seem like an even better deal.

"Microsoft is strongly pushing subscription plans like Xbox Game Pass, and as free-to-play console games have become huge in recent years, retail prices for AAA games have become an important factor over time for the growing portion of the console gamer base," Ward said.

Ward makes an important point about free-to-play console games. At the time of writing, the most played games on Xbox One are Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone and NBA2K20 - 2 of the former are free to play and the latter are on the Xbox Game Pass. Gamstat paints a similar picture for PS4 games, with 3 out of the top 5 games to play for free or have recently been included in a PlayStation Plus subscription. In an era where there are more ways than ever to access the big games next to nothing, perhaps the jump in retail prices to retail70 swallows after all