Rockstar Games’ parent company Take-Two Interactive held an earnings call some time ago with investors, in which CEO Strauss Zelnick was asked about different publishers selling AAA games at a discounted price. Take-Two was among some of the companies that began selling games for $70, and according to Zelnick, he hasn’t seen any “pushback” on the latest price point. Take-Two Interactive has published many games, including GTA 5, BioShock, NBA 2K, and more!
On May 17, the publisher released its 2022 earnings reports along with a press release hinting at the amount of success they’re expecting GTA 6 to bring in the upcoming year. For this process, Take-Two also organized a call with investors, who inquired about the plans of the company as well as its previous performances. At this point, a person came forward and asked the CEO about the AAA game prices.
During Take-Two's latest earnings call (via VGC), an analyst highlighted that a couple of publishers had begun to offer discounts on their new AAA games a short time after launch. For some time now, the talk regarding game prices has been going on as more publishers join Take-Two Interactive in the $70 game club, such as Nintendo with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
However, Strauss Zelnick shared that consumers aren’t really much bothered by it. He said, “We’re not seeing a pushback on frontline price. What we’re seeing is consumers are seeking to limit their spending by going either to the stuff they really, really care about, blockbusters, or to value, and sometimes it could be both. And the good news is, we have a bunch of blockbusters, and we have a wonderful catalog.”
It seems like Zelnick believes that players will either buy fewer games and focus on purchasing some expensive, big $70 blockbuster titles or might just get some older or smaller games that don’t cost much. With big games not being able to sell well enough and the gaming industry struggling with layoffs, it’s weird that the CEO is okay with players not being able to afford more games and instead being forced to “limit their spending.”
Regardless of players speaking up on this matter and pushing back on $70 games, the publishers are still going to continue with what they have planned. For them, plenty of money needs to be made, and if the huge sale numbers of Tears of the Kingdom are any indication, then $70 games can also sell pretty quickly if they are worth it.
