The pricing game

What's the real cost of videogames in 2025, for both the people who play them and those behind the scenes?

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Mario Kart World, released this year, costs £75 for players in the UK – that's £30 more than the launch price of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, published in 2017. Be it Konami's survival horror game Silent Hill F, its 2025 remake Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, or Activision Blizzard's Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7, the standard versions of new games from major studios now typically cost £70. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have all increased the prices of their consoles this year, often citing market conditions. Even the price of Microsoft's Xbox development kits is on the rise, from roughly £1,140 to £1,520. Meanwhile, both Sony and Microsoft have raised the rates for their respective subscription services. Game Pass Ultimate used to be £14.99 a month; now it's £22.99. The PlayStation Plus Premium price hike hasn't hit the UK yet, but the package that was once $190 CAD is now $225.

Videogames are somehow both cheaper than ever – a lot of big games are available to play for free – and more expensive, as companies test out monetisation methods ostensibly designed to mitigate the rising cost of development. This wasn't always the strategy. Former Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO and president Shawn Layden says that, for many years, the cost of game production had little bearing on the cost of games for consumers; despite variable development budgets, the prices paid by players remained more or less the same.

“We made games on the PlayStation 1 going to market at $59.99, and it would only take us one or two million to make a game,” Layden says. “You do the math. You spend one, two million in building costs, or really push the boat out and do seven or eight million for a triple-A game. You sell ten to 15 million units, and you're charging 60 bucks a unit. The operating profit on that is huge.”