This hefty price increase will start with the upcoming Skull And Bones game on the 8th of November
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot stated in an interview with Axios that this price range would now be the standard for the publisher’s major PS5 and Xbox Series X/S releases.
According to an Axios report, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot acknowledged that major games for current-generation systems (Xbox Series X|S and PS5) will cost more than previous recent AAA titles.
Guillemot said to Axios:
“Some of the games will come at the same price as the competition. The big AAA games will come at $70.”
Do note that not all the AAA titles will be sold at this hefty price for example Assassin’s Creed Mirage will cost only $50. This price tag of $70 is fast becoming the norm though for new AAA titles so this news isn’t a great shock to the system.
August 2020 saw the first current-gen game to be priced at $70 and this was none other than Take-Two’s NBA 2K21.
Last year, Ubisoft wasn’t sure if it would seek new options for software pricing, but it appears that decision has now been made.
Although its first-party release schedule has been largely empty since the introduction of the Xbox Series X/S and PS5 in November 2020, it is noteworthy that Microsoft has yet to release a $70 game.
Phil Spencer told La Vanguardia back then:
“Gaming can be an expensive hobby and I see certain platforms going to, in the US pricing, $70 for games. The consoles are $500 in US pricing, and I think that’s a heavy investment for people who aren’t every day playing video games, kind of the more casual player or a family that’s balancing many things.”
Ubisoft has been in the news a lot this week with Ubisoft Forward September 2022 being held this past weekend and now the news has broken that Ubisoft + will be free for the month of September until the 10th of October.
This news raises many questions regarding other AAA titles from other studios. Will they follow suit and make a base price of $70 or will they break away from this norm and sell their games at a lower price? Only time will tell and you can be sure we will be watching, so stay tuned.