2K Games has the potential to shake up the standard pricing of video games, as NBA 2K21 has been revealed to retail at $69.99 for the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 versions of the game. This puts the base version of NBA 2K21 at $10 more than the regular price of AAA games, which is quite unusual. 2K Games asserts that the higher-than-average MSRP of the game merely "represents the value of what's being offered: power, speed, and technology that is only possible on new hardware". For the United States, the $59.99 asking price of video games has been commonplace since the mid 2000's, though many other countries have seen the cost of gaming increase throughout more recent years, such as in Canada as of 2015. Meanwhile, in the UK, NBA 2K21 will cost slightly more in that region as well, with the last-gen version priced at £59.99, and the XSX/PS5 release set at £64.99. Whether or not more games will also join this new pricing convention is still unknown, but according to IDG Consulting, other publishers are closely monitoring the reaction to an overall rise in cost for video games, and are considering following suit for future AAA releases.

This year, NBA 2K21 will offer two editions of the game on digital and physical formats - standard and a special Mamba Forever Edition. NBA 2K21 will be available for $59.99** on current-generation platforms; the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X version of NBA 2K21 will be available for $69.99.** NBA 2K21 Mamba Forever Edition will be available for $99.99 for both current and next-generation platforms.** It includes dual-access where purchasing Mamba Forever Edition on either current or next-generation platforms provides a copy of the standard edition game on the other generation at no additional cost, within the same console family. A full breakdown of pre-order details is available at https://nba.2k.com/.

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[grey72]

It's all downhill from here folks

 

[MohammedQ8]

Is it because they will add (free) walkthrough videos for every game too.

 

[TunaKetchup]

This is why I pirate

 

[sarkwalvein]

You must be living in a different Europe than I do.

But in the same that I do, it seems.

 

[MohammedQ8]

At least Nintendo will stay at $60 for the next 5 years hehe.

 

[Xzi]

I'd buy Cyberpunk 2077, GTA6, ect... for 70$

Good thing CDPR are awesome and already offer a free upgrade to next gen for those who pre-purchase at $60 on consoles.

 

[TunaKetchup]

Good thing CDPR are awesome and already offer a free upgrade to next gen for those who pre-purchase at $60 on consoles.

They also offer DRM free PC releases on GOG

Very cool

 

[Silent_Gunner]

The stagnant price of games has often been used to justify DLC and other in game purchases. With a raise in prices on the horizon, I’m sure this means that we’ll return to a time where games were completed out of the box and DLC was minor, if non-existent, right? ... Right... ?

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Good thing CDPR are awesome and already offer a free upgrade to next gen for those who pre-purchase at $60 on consoles.

Too bad that awesome-ness doesn't extend to Linux, as I found out last night...

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They also offer DRM free PC releases on GOG

Very cool

Which would be a shame if the platform hasn't come to Linux...oh wait...

 

[Kioku]

Makes sense. They've been talking about how cost of development is only going up with new technologies and engines. I just wish it wasn't sports games that would start it. It's like Call of Duty, but with balls.

 

[Dubbicakes]

That sucks. It has to be a special game for me to pick it up at release these days so I miss out on those prices anyway.
Cyberpunk will be the first since Death Stranding. It's rough finding the time to play games at release anymore. =[

 

[Sansgaming420]

Most games these days aren't worth $60, much less $70. I'll just wait for them to go on sale and only buy the stuff I really like at launch.

 

[Pipistrele]

Let's start a boycott campaign and not buy any overpriced games.

People against such practices already get games via sales and/or pirate, while people who can suck it up will suck it up. Best course of action is to just ignore next generation of consoles entirely - PC market is much friendlier in terms of prices, so that's one way to avoid this kind of BS.

 

[Stealphie]

"This basketball game is $70"
Me:

 

[Pipistrele]

Makes sense. They've been talking about how cost of development is only going up with new technologies and engines. I just wish it wasn't sports games that would start it. It's like Call of Duty, but with balls.

Cost of development is going up, but so are the audience and sales numbers, not to mention how much money companies tend to grab through microtransactions and lootboxes. As much as I don't want to be cynical, in this case publishers increase prices just because they can.

 

[ut2k4master]

You must be living in a different Europe than I do.

70€ became the standard with the 360/ps3 generation

 

[Silent_Gunner]

Makes sense. They've been talking about how cost of development is only going up with new technologies and engines. I just wish it wasn't sports games that would start it. It's like Call of Duty, but with balls.

Wait, so you're saying that sports games have more balls than COD!?

 

[ut2k4master]

This is why I pirate

sure, buddy

 

[Jayinem81]

View attachment 216053 View attachment 216053

Only $60 $70

 

[GothicIII]

You must be living in a different Europe than I do.

Don't know in which Europe you are living but 69.99€ are very common for new releases in my european country, too.

 

[sarkwalvein]

Wait, so you're saying that sports games have more balls than COD!?

Yeah, some huge inhuman balls, and they fearlessly bounce them all around the field.