NBA 2K21 will cost $69.99 on PS5 and Xbox Series X, an increase of $10 compared to the recommended price for the current generation's AAA titles.
Whatever the final release dates for the PS5 and Xbox Series X are going to be, they are now definitely less than six months away, barring any delays. Despite that, gamers continue to be left in the dark by both Sony and Microsoft when it comes to one very important detail, the price. Each company is so afraid of being undercut by the other on price that it has turned into a very frustrating game of chicken.
There are plenty of rumors out there, of course, including a couple of listings. Some of those listings have priced the next-gen consoles as high as $750 a pop. However, both companies have rubbished those rumors and confirmed that the listings are not legit. Good news, but still not even so much as an inkling as to what the price points will actually be.
It has reached a point where gamers now know how much one of the PS5 and Series X's launch games will cost. That's despite the price of the console on which they will play said game remaining under wraps. NBA 2K21, which will be released across both generations, will cost $69.99 on PS5 and Series X. That's $10 more than the game will cost on PS4 and Xbox One.
$59.99 is and has been the standard for AAA titles throughout the course of the current generation of consoles, and the generation before that for that matter. Although a recommended price of $69.99 might not apply to all of the next-gen's top titles, NBA 2K21's pricing certainly implies that will be the case. Comments from others in the industry have also hinted that the price will be upped across the board.
Former PlayStation exec Shawn Layden suggested during a recent interview that the price of next-gen games would have to be increased. Either that or the length of AAA titles would have to be shorter. For games like NBA 2K21, that isn't really an option. Chances are developers won't want to sacrifice storytelling just so they can charge less for a game, so be prepared to pay a little extra for quality games in the years to come.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz