Analyst believes Call of Duty, EA FC, and NBA 2K will move to $80 pricing

GTA 6's new $80 price tag may introduce a new mainline pricing model for AAA games moving forward, and some of the largest franchises are expected to embrace the higher-cost MSRP.

Games are getting more expensive to make, and developers are now charging more for the biggest titles. Nintendo was the first to raise game prices to $80 with Mario Kart, and now the biggest entertainment release of all time--GTA 6--will also cost $80. Pandora's box has been opened, so to speak, and S&P Global Market Intelligence analyst Neil Barbour believes other big games will be next.

In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Barbour says that gaming's other annual hits could get hiked to $80 too. This includes games like Call of Duty, NBA 2K, and EA's yearly sports games. These are the same exact titles that collectively raised game prices to $70 at the beginning of the console generation back in 2020.

"Maybe they wait a year to see how GTA does, or maybe they just rip the band-aid off. They already have some cover from some Switch 2 physical releases going to market at $80. But if you're a mid-major publisher putting out a single-player-focused game, you'll probably want to hang back in the previous $60-70 range for a while longer," Barbour told GI.

Others are more skeptical, and argue that GTA 6 establishes a new high water mark to shoot for--in other words, your game has to be as good or better than GTA 6 in order to match Rockstar's $80 price, which is now a more premium gateway.

"Publishers will now only be able to price their games at $80 if they match the quality and experience," games expert and analyst Joost van Dreunen also tells GamesIndustry.biz.

"What Rockstar and only a few others, like Nintendo and EA, can do is charge a premium for titles in a market characterized by a glut of content and risk-averse consumers. The games industry has developed a luxury tier, and in order to charge those prices, consumers will expect the highest quality experience."

No other major publishers have announced $80 games, but there were rumblings Borderlands 4 could be $80 some time ago, and Microsoft also tried to price The Outer Worlds 2 at $80 but later changed its mind.