EA says next-gen games will cost more

[Hieremias]

In a recent conference call Electronic Arts CEO Larry Probst <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/01/25/news_6117086.html">speculated</a> that games for the next-gen consoles and handhelds will cost more than current high-profile games do today.

"It would not surprise me to see selected titles carry a higher price point on new-generation consoles, at least initially."
Furthermore he also speculated that Microsoft and Sony will be on much more equal footing when it comes to market share than they are in this generation.

"With regard to when those systems are going to launch, you will have to speak with them," Probst said, but overall, Probst expects a much tighter race between the two leading console makers."With regard to market share, I would predict that the two companies are closer in market share than they were in this cycle." He did not make any mention of Nintendo's next-generation console, code-named "Revolution."

[Mochan]

Well as long as PC games don't cost more I imagine no one here will complain. :)

[Aku]

All it means is that people will buy less games, and being that most video game consumers are sheep, the games they buy will be the over-hyped, over-priced games from companies like EA. Which is what EA is banking on. The EA CEO isn't speculating that prices will rise, he expects them to rise. And he expects that EA's marketing arm will drown out the competition the way Coke, Pepsi, McDonald's, etc. do in their markets. So, great for EA, bad for gaming.

[VGR Veteran]

could be a bad move....but they will lose customers. I do remeber though that some nintendo 64 games cost 60 bucks around 99'. If they charge over 50.00 for a sports game. I might just rent the game or buy it used sports game really dont have any worth to buy for more than that unless a game is a diffrent genre.

[Brendon]

Of course they will, hell, by then EA will be pretty much the only third Party there is, so they'll charge whatever the hell they like, it's not like the 3 companies making the consoles dictate the terms anymore. EA actually have a controlling share in the entire videogame market NOW, so just imagine once Ubisoft is swallowed up.