Electronic Arts Will Not Increase Its Video Game Prices
Even as the industry witnesses price hikes for both games and consoles.
Summary
- Electronic Arts will change its current pricing strategy
- CEO Andrew Wilson noted their diverse pricing models beyond traditional retail
- Upcoming titles like EA Sports FC and Battlefield are expected to maintain the $70 USD price
Video game giant Electronic Arts (EA) revealed that it will not be raising the prices of its games despite the current industry trend.
As per IGN, CEO Andrew Wilson confirmed the news during the company’s latest financial earnings call. He noted that the video game publisher/developer’s aim is to “marry quality and value together.” He continued to state that EA’s pricing power “is very different today” compared to even just a decade ago, when their main focus was “selling shiny discs in plastic boxes in retail shelves.” While it remains to be part of EA’s business, Wilson called it a “significantly smaller” aspect of the company as their current prices represent a range of titles from free-to-play to deluxe and more.
“At the end of the day, whether we’re doing something that costs a dollar, or we’re doing something that costs $10, or we’re doing something that costs $100, our objective is always to deliver incredible quality and exponential value for our playerbase,” the exec said. “And what we’ve discovered over the course of time is [when] we can marry quality and value together, our business is strong, resilient, and continues to grow.”
CFO Stuart Canfield reiterated Wilson’s statements, “From a guidance perspective [...] we have reflected no changes in our current [pricing] strategy at this point.”
With this announcement, EA’s upcoming Sports FC, Madden and Battlefield titles are expected to hit the shelves with its regular $70 USD price tag.
At the start of May, Microsoft increased the prices of the Xbox and its controllers and headsets. The company also confirmed that it will raise the prices of select video game titles, but did not divulge the details. As IGN further reports, AAA games jumped from $60 USD to $70 USD in the past five years, while Nintendo is charging $80 USD for Switch 2 games such as Mario Kart World. The Nintendo Switch 2 itself, meanwhile, is priced at a whopping $450 USD.
