Namco: Videogames are too expensive

Namco Bandai, the company that happily sells unlockable on-disc content as DLC, has actually said that videogames are too expensive. Can you believe that? We almost can’t, but the publisher definitely said it!

“I am convinced that in the future we must change the price of video games – they’re too expensive for the audience,” confesses sales & marketing VP Olivier Comte. “With the cost of development and the retail margins, £40 is a fair price [to us], but for the consumer it is too much. From September to December there are three new blockbusters every week, and consumers just can’t afford to buy all that.

“A good price of a game should be around £20 — but for this price we can’t make a ten to 15-hour adventure. So for £20 we should offer consumers four to five hours of gameplay, then after that we can make additional money with DLC.”

It’s definitely a thorny issue, and one of the things that must be addressed as publishers continue to fight used games. Prince of Persia, Alan Wake and Red Dead Redemption all released this week, demanding $180 from anybody who wants them, before tax. Yet publishers want to eliminate the trade-ins that could soften that blow. It’s true that games cost a lot to make, but they cost a lot to buy as well, and it’s up to the seller to make that price attractive, not the consumer to magic extra cash out of thin air.  

Namco: ‘We must change the price of games’ [MCV]