First-party games on PS4 and Xbox One to remain $59.99

Next-gen gaming won't cost more at retail, as both Microsoft and Sony have confirmed that first-party games will stay at $59.99.

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Through inflation and increased development costs, the transition to new hardware sometimes signals a higher price tag for the games themselves. Both Microsoft and Sony have assured that their first-party titles will remain at $59.99, the standard price established on current-gen systems. Based on retail listings, it appears third-party publishers plan to follow suit as well.

"I can confirm that Microsoft Studios games on Xbox One will be $59.99 (MSRP)," a company representative told Polygon. When we asked Sony if their pricing will follow, they responded: "Correct, we have announced the pricing for our first party line up of PS4 launch and launch window games. All four titles, Killzone: Shadow Fall, Driveclub, Knack, and inFamous Second Son are all $59.99."

But what about third-party retailers? Most publishers have not publicly commented on their pricing plans yet, however online retailers like Amazon and GameStop have also been offering next-gen game pre-orders with the $59.99 price tag. Due to pre-order price guarantees, these retailers would be locked into these prices, so it only makes sense for online retailers to take those steps if they're relatively certain those prices are final.

Shacknews has contacted third-party publishers for comment on their pricing plans for next-gen.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    June 17, 2013 12:25 PM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, First-party games on PS4 and Xbox One to remain $59.99.

    Next-gen gaming won't cost more at retail, as both Microsoft and Sony have confirmed that first-party games will stay at $59.99.

    • reply
      June 17, 2013 12:32 PM

      ...yes but all titles on amazon.co.uk are listed 5GBP higher than 360 RRP
      http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=QUANTUM%20BREAK

      55GBP ~$86 FYI. Americans have it pretty good.

      • reply
        June 17, 2013 12:33 PM

        [deleted]

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        June 18, 2013 2:32 AM

        That's way high, new stuff on the current consoles is rarely over £40.

        The UK games market is super cheap in general though. Prices drop like rocks after release here, seemingly much faster than they do in the US.

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          June 18, 2013 2:39 AM

          Tomb Raider is £20 / $30 on .co.uk / .com, about the same. Though I've no idea how sales tax factors into that.

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      June 17, 2013 12:52 PM

      [deleted]

      • reply
        June 17, 2013 12:57 PM

        [deleted]

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          June 17, 2013 1:06 PM

          [deleted]

        • reply
          June 17, 2013 1:09 PM

          We also get awesome preorder discounts through sites like Green Man. You can secure Batman: Arkham Origins for $37.50 USD, for example.

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            June 17, 2013 1:10 PM

            Will you be able to purchase digital downloads through anyone other than Microsoft?

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              June 17, 2013 1:23 PM

              Heh... sure we will.

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              June 17, 2013 4:22 PM

              it doesn't matter if they're digital or not because they are both treated the same way

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            June 17, 2013 1:16 PM

            green man probably uses those sales as loss leaders

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          June 17, 2013 2:10 PM

          [deleted]

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            June 17, 2013 3:11 PM

            Valve doesn't set the prices... think about what you wrote for a minute.

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              June 17, 2013 4:08 PM

              Valve does indeed run the sales. They give the game publisher the option of being part of the sale or opting out of it, IIRC but Valve is the one driving those sales prices.

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              June 17, 2013 4:56 PM

              I don't think any of the big publishers were jumping on any sales until Valve pushed forward on it first and showed how much crazy money they could make doing it. I don't really foresee MS doing the same thing as much - their mo is seemingly more to lock in a consumer base then exploit them all they can.

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                June 17, 2013 9:02 PM

                You guys live in this weird world where multi billion dollar companies don't like money and neither do their share holders and valve makes these huge massive super powerful companies put their games on sale.

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                  June 17, 2013 9:14 PM

                  its more like valve is highly flexible in comparison to microsoft, i mean gaben answers emails personally(or he did, no idea if he still does)! they do things differently, and its hard to even fathom microsoft coming close to replicating that.

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                  June 18, 2013 11:11 AM

                  You don't think Valve had to prove that these steep discounts actually resulted in increased profits first before they jumped on the bandwagon? Sure companies know that sales can have that effect, but when you start throwing out numbers like -50%, -75%, -80% they get real scared. Hell, most of the big publisher games on Steam only get down to 50% off at most.

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                    June 18, 2013 1:02 PM

                    "Sure companies know that sales can have that effect"

                    You should just stop there. This is the world we live in today.

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          June 17, 2013 9:09 PM

          [deleted]

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        June 17, 2013 12:58 PM

        What a crazy surprise.

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        June 17, 2013 1:07 PM

        We don't know what the digital prices could be, or how frequently digital titles are put on sale just yet.

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        June 17, 2013 1:16 PM

        initial price was never an argument, consumers have shown that they will pay $60. its about the price curve after launch

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          June 17, 2013 1:24 PM

          Looking at the 360's Games on Demand, I would expect a whole lot. In many cases the digital games still cost more than they do on disc.

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            June 17, 2013 1:26 PM

            err, wouldn't. Although we should expect them to change.

            I hope they also distribute digital codes to retail outlets for all the games, so places like amazon can still do sales for them whether MS does or not.

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            June 18, 2013 5:27 AM

            The ecosystem on 360 is a lot different than it'll be on One (as long as we're making assumptions); digital will be pushed a lot more. Who would've thought when the 360 launched that there'd be something like Steam Sales(TM) to push it along?

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      June 17, 2013 1:03 PM

      [deleted]

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        June 17, 2013 1:21 PM

        imma play ass pirates on my xboner

    • reply
      June 17, 2013 3:45 PM

      I was expecting the price to increase since the budget on games is ever increasing.

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        June 17, 2013 8:54 PM

        I might be okay with paying a little bit more for some games, but not most. And they would have to promise all future dlc was free.

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      June 17, 2013 3:57 PM

      So why the fuck are EB charging $120 down here? Fuck those guys.

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        June 17, 2013 10:56 PM

        Better beaches tax. Also it takes a lot to train dolphins to ship to the correct address.

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      June 17, 2013 4:13 PM

      Hahahah! Oh. No, we promise we won't RAISE prices. This will hopefully make everyone stop asking us about any Steam-type sales or general price reductions, although we're successfully killing off used games which is the current worst thing, even worse than pirates.
      Now shut up, we have to plan exclusive pre-order bonuses to give to the largest used game retailer.

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        June 17, 2013 11:06 PM

        in 8 years we will get the Xbox ZONECLOUD and it wont allow used games OR pirates!

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      June 18, 2013 2:14 AM

      All any console maker has to do is offer day 1 downloads at $39.99 and they would kill used game sales virtually overnight. Few who had a choice would choose to spend $20 more for a physical copy. As long as over time the download price was reduced, sales would continue.

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