Wardogs lead argues higher GTA 6 price could have set trend that prevents layoffs

[Redaktion]

The Bulkhead CEO claims that more expensive games would prevent layoffs and closures. According to Wardogs boss Joe Brammer, the GTA 6 cost should have been higher. The influential title could have established a new price point that eases ballooning development budgets.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Wardogs-lead-argues-higher-GTA-6-price-could-have-set-trend-that-prevents-layoffs.1407649.0.html

[hwertz]

$79.99 is not modest.  I'll just note, AAA game sales have dropped off some while indie game sales have soared.  Games are not more fun because like a billion dollars were spent on them.

[Jb1]

They did raise the price to $80. How much money did GTA 5 make in the forst month, over a billion? Give me a break on the cause of the layoffs are due to games are to cheap. Industry doesn't even make disc anymore. Cutting out manufacturing, shipping, and need to lower the sale price to stores. So they can make a profit. Problem is inefficiency in your team/process.

[Tylerman]

Games should cost for the amount of time put in and out out. For example... RE9 12 hours to beat and slop should not be 70 bucks! That should be a 20 buck game new off the shelf. Games like GTA, fallout, Persona etc... all have over 100 hours of gameplay and time put in. Those I'll gladly pay 80 plus for, because I know I will get my moneys worth. Also... Digital games should not cost the same as a physical.

[Sonicpower]

I believe CEO like these are a reason where good AAA titles are getting rarer as these people see games as a way to make insane profit and kill the creativity as these guys promote numbers not creativity. These CEOs should be fired and made sure these people are never be hired again by anyone in the world.

[Indicus]

Games should cost for the amount of time put in and out out. For example... RE9 12 hours to beat and slop should not be 70 bucks! That should be a 20 buck game new off the shelf. Games like GTA, fallout, Persona etc... all have over 100 hours of gameplay and time put in. Those I'll gladly pay 80 plus for, because I know I will get my moneys worth. Also... Digital games should not cost the same as a physical.

Games should be priced at expected quality I will pay for resident Evil 9 at 80 for 12 hours because those hours are enjoyable. A game that bores you and has 300 hours of "content" is not magically better value then a game that is fun with a great narrative at 12 hours.

The open world 1000 hour game trend has really warped people's perception if value is just hours you can get out of it and not enjoyment. Besides I think we need more 10 hour games that do their thing are fun and move on and don't run dev cost up the half a billion mark

[mobilejad]

Triple A games keep pushing 3D graphics as if they are a Hollywood level production.
3D graphics make the game look more pretty, but they are not required to make the game more fun.
I have no issue playing a game that has graphics needs only a potato to render well, if the game is genuinely fun to play.
There are indie level games out there made by just 1 or 2 people that are tons of fun to play, I don't even want to imagine just how many people were involved to make GTA 5 or 6.
While I don't want anyone out there to lose their jobs, there are a lot of factors out there for maintaining a company that makes games like GTA, but you can always look at how much money goes into the company and after you take care of everyone's paychecks and benefits, and start to look at how much it costs to keep the company itself running, just where does the rest of the money go?
For something like GTA, you can try to figure out just how much money is needed to actually develop the game plus just how much of a cut the higher ups like the CEO takes.
Personally, I'd rather take a closer look at how much the CEO takes home before considering raising the price of a already expensive game.
Because its just my own take on the matter, but I feel that when someone at the top of a company says "I think our products are too cheap and people can pay more for it" its because they want to take home more profit.

[Buraian]

Executives really should play the game they are trying justify saying it costs X amount of money, I mean really play the game, maybe then there'll be a reckoning

[Rottytops]

As long as CEOs keep getting literal tens of millions in bonuses, mass layoffs will never end. The people doing the actual work will always be treated like expendable contracted gig-workers after any project finishes. Raising a game to $80 won't  mitigate layoffs, it'll only make their bonuses higher. Japanese game devs don't have a mass layoffs issue like the west does. Unfettered greed is the cause of the layoffs, not that the games are "too cheap"

[crystalsphere]

I haven't bought a $60-70 game since Elden Ring. I have other things on my plate like cost of rent going up literally every year and going to the grocery store to see things I buy getting raised by literal dollars every couple months. Sorry if that was the standard I'd continue to not buy games. Industry is probably failing because everyone like me plays free games these days. Fortnite gets millions of players each day, MILLIONS of concurrent players, way higher than any game on Steam. Now add in Apex, Marvel Rivals, Deadlock, Warzone, Overwatch, Minecraft, Roblox and cheap indie games. You have literally millions and millions of people gaming everyday without having to pay a single cent. Go look at the Fortnite player numbers, it's bonkers. People don't buy the new CoD anymore. They buy the Snoop Dogg skin. Hell I even MADE $400 from Fortnite tournaments. EVERYONE I know plays free games and buys skins. Interestingly Overwatch was Microsoft's top performing game, no cuts happening there and it's free. Huh, look at that. Look at the small devoted Deadlock team, game is a success before it's even released. People don't want to pay $70 for cutscene slop, they want good gameplay, which you can get for free these days. Plus they offer live service for free, not paid DLCs. WoW Forever is about to be massive too, which will only cost $15 for people to try it. Prices definitely don't need to be raised more, he's probably upset he didn't squeeze more out of his success.