- For nearly 15 years, the standard cost of video games has been $60.
- But for the next-gen consoles PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, which launch this holiday season, that standard price may be increasing to $70.
- The first indication of that change came on July 2, with the announcement that this year's "NBA 2K21" will cost $60 for current generation consoles but $70 for next-gen consoles.
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When this year's annual "NBA 2K" game launches, it'll cost the same $60 it has always cost for current-generation Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles.
But when the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X arrive this holiday season, the next-gen version of "NBA 2K21" will cost $70 — a precedent-shattering shift in the price model that the game industry has used for console games for over 10 years.
"$69.99 may be the new standard pricing for next gen titles," NPD Group video games analyst Mat Piscatella said of the announcement.
If that is indeed the case, it would be the first change to video game pricing "since Activision went with $59.99 for 'Call of Duty 2' 15 years ago," Piscatella said, a reference to the last major change in video game pricing standards.
That last change came with the switch from the PlayStation 2/Xbox generation to the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 generation, where the standard increased from $50 to $60. But as games get more complex and visually dazzling, they cost more than ever to produce.
Over the years, game publishers have sought other methods of getting players to pay more.
The annual "Call of Duty" games, for instance, have collector's editions and season passes that increase overall price beyond the $60 standard. That practice has been widely adopted across major game franchises from nearly every publisher.
Neither Sony nor Microsoft has announced pricing for their respective consoles, and neither has announced pricing for games. Representatives for the companies did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment.
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