The bad old days of expensive videogames is making a return this Christmas.
It comes as Modern Warfare 2 is confirmed by Activision to retail for £54.99 RRP when it is launched this November. It comes as a stark contrast to the Christmas of last year when games were heavily discounted and new titles were £20-£30 in cost.
A representative from THQ, another affected by trade costs told MCV that development and currency were to blame:
“Exchange rates between the Euro and the pound are making it very difficult for publishers to show an acceptable operating margin in the UK,” said Ian Curran.
“You can’t continue to trade as normal when the biggest territory in Europe has seen cost of goods increase by 30 per cent due to the strengthening of the Euro. Publishers somehow need to offset this drastic increase in costs. I’m not surprised to see the [Modern Warfare 2] SRP go up and I feel this will continue across more key titles.
“Also, development costs for next gen software has increased at a time when the take-up on these machines is slower than expected and therefore the opportunity to sell more units is limited. The increase in cost of goods due to the weak pound has added to this burden, and therefore something has to happen to ensure publishers’ return on their investment.”
No one from Activision has commented currently on the situation. There is still no word on the Limited Edition or Prestige Edition prices, which was announced to be $149 as we told you yesterday.
What do you think to the RRP price and will it make you think twice about purchasing games this Christmas? Tell us below.
