We talked to DeLong about what he thinks might happen to the video game industry in 2010 and beyond, and he told us that he thinks reduced software pricing is in the cards. “I think that we’re going to start to see – maybe not in the next year, but in the near future – games go down the route of smaller up-front experiences and lower prices at the beginning,” he told us, “and then the ability to extend the game through episodic material or future feature material. I think that’s a direction we’re probably heading in.”
Technically the above quote is referring to the software for the various consoles on the market…But I wonder if it’ll ever be considered for PC. Technically they could get away for it – seeing how World Adventures was priced for $40, they could release the next expansion at $30 and say “See, we dropped the price! Aren’t we nice!?”. Not to mention if they wanted to they could always cut back on the expansion and focus putting out more content on the Store. That wouldn’t be such a smart idea for them to pull though…
I think the prices for The Sims 3 EPs will stick but cheaper MySims games would be great!
So, basically, more losses for the consumer. Smaller intial packages, with more room to expand and much more room to charge. That means item sharing games become less immersive, and it means costs rise dramatically as they’re hidden in expansions and DLC. This means cheaper (and less full-featured) MySims games that cost MUCH MORE over the longer term, ConnorJack. …that’s not going to be great at all.
(PS: If you want to see the kind of consumer losses I mean, just look at Cities XL. Unless you pay a monthly subscription and play online, you can’t even have a bus network like you can in Simcity 4).
I was looking forward to getting CitiesXL but I have enough bills to pay for…Would of been a bigger hit to use free servers much like Spore.
Uck no way! Sure the stores nice but I don’t want them slimming down on my EPs!
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