PS4 games to range from $0.99 to $60, according to Jack Tretton
"People are willing to pay if they see the value there... there's more choice than ever before for consumers."
PlayStation 4 games will range from free-to-play to $0.99 to $60, according to SCEA president and CEO Jack Tretton.
When asked by CNBC if gamers would still be interested in full-priced console experiences after the advent of incredibly inexpensive mobile games, Tretton replied, "People are willing to pay if they see the value there and I think there's more choice than ever before for consumers. We're going to welcome free-to-play models, games from $0.99 up to those $60 games."
"If you really see where the heat is for the true gamer it's on the console and it's still that big-form experience that typically runs upwards of $50 million to develop and we'll justify that $60 price point and we'll give people hours and hours of gameplay on a daily basis for months and years to come," Tretton added.
He later called mobile games and "additive experience" that "bring people in with a bite-sized gaming experience," and he believes players of these gamers will "migrate up the food chain" to more expensive, lavish console titles. Conversely, "If you're somebody who considers themselves a true gamer and wants to play the most powerful devices and the most deep, enriching gaming experiences you're not going to find yourself migrating down the food chain other than to maybe kill some time or to complement that core gaming experience."
$60 has been the standard price of new retail games on Xbox 360, PS3 and now Wii U in the US. Previously, games topped at $50 for the PS2, Xbox and Gamecube (lest they come with a peripheral ala Steel Battalion, obv), leading people to speculate that they could go up to $70 for next-gen titles. This is sounding less likely now, so ostensibly the standard price of £40 will carry over into next-gen console titles in the UK as well.
Interestingly, according to the United States Department of Labour's inflation calculator, $60 back in 2006 when the PS3 launched would equal $68.54 today, so full-priced retail games will have gone down in a sense by not keeping up with inflation rates. DLC and season passes, however, are another matter.