In brief: AAA video games have been priced at $60 for roughly a decade and a half now. However, as games evolve technologically and graphically, the cost of development has increased. Microtransactions are a popular way to recoup those costs and bring in more profit, but increased base price tags are another emerging trend for some AAA publishers.
Take-Two shocked the gaming world when it announced that NBA 2K21 would cost $70 on next-gen consoles. It was a decision that many gamers saw coming, but that didn’t make it any easier for everyone to swallow.
Gamers likely hoped Take-Two’s decision would be a one-off move, but the new price point has already started to ripple out to other AAA publishers.
In the wake of Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War announcement today, the company has revealed that Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 versions of the upcoming shooter will also cost a whopping $70.