Ubisoft Is Raising The Price Of Its Games
Ubisoft's bigger AAA gaming releases will carry a higher price tag, including Skull & Bones which will go for $70.
Following its Ubisoft Forward event, at which it revealed the upcoming spin-off in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, Ubisoft has announced that it’s raising the price of it’s big AAA gaming titles. The first game by a French game-maker to release with the increased price tag will be the previously mentioned Skull & Bones, while smaller releases, like the aforementioned spin-off, will feature a smaller price tag, despite their AAA quality status.
According to IGN, Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot — criticized as a central figure in the ongoing Ubisoft workplace sexual misconduct scandal — has confirmed that the company’s upcoming AAA title will now be sold at $70. The company leader and representative stated that the price hike is in line with the current industry standards and that it matches the competitor’s prices. As mentioned above, the upcoming Skull & Bones will be sold at a $70 price point, which was already adopted on Amazon, while the Ubisoft Store is selling the game for $60 — at least for the time being.
It’s actually unknown whether the company intentionally features a lower price point for the title on its digital storefront as a way of promoting the Ubisoft Store, or the change in pricing is simply late. So, if you’re interested in obtaining Skull & Bones, you might want to act fast and get the game at a lower price point at the Ubisoft Store. The upcoming Mirage, on the other hand, will be priced at $50.
Interestingly enough, this price increase affects only the console releases, which isn’t all that surprising considering the state of the console market. The gaming hardware is still in shortage, which means that developers are working on games for consoles that still aren’t readily available. Considering that most consoles nowadays are sold at a loss and that their price is recuperated through gaming releases, the price increase seems more than reasonable.
While UK consumer rights groups think that Sony is overcharging for their games, the changes implemented by Ubisoft actually reflect the current industry pricing standards. Take-Two was the first to fully implement the price increase for its games with NBA 2K21. Prominent game publishing companies, such as PlayStation, Activision, Electronic Arts, and Square Enix, followed in Take-Two’s steps and have adopted the price increase as well. Square Enix even applied its price increase to PC releases as well.
With Ubisoft hiking up its prices, the only company that still hasn’t followed through with the price increase is Microsoft. The tech giant is still finalizing its historic acquisition of Activision Blizzard and maintaining focus on improving the already great Xbox Game Pass ecosystem, which grants gamers access to AAA releases on day one without them having to pay exorbitant premium prices. If the company finds this business model viable, it’s entirely possible that it could replicate the success it had in the Japanese market, where it finally overthrew PlayStation as the number one gaming console.
Admittedly, while it excels at third-party offerings on its platform, Microsoft’s first-party lineup for the current gen is relatively bare. Gaming is turning out to be an expensive hobby, especially on gaming consoles, which range up to $500 in the US. With the price increase that was now implemented by Ubisoft as well, purchasing consoles and games are becoming a heavy investment for casual gamers or gaming families.
