Former PlayStation boss blames AAA "production costs" for $80 games, says titles with "tighter teams" like Clair Obscur could be the way forward

News
By published

"You can make excellent games with tighter teams and budgets without compromising quality," Shuhei Yoshida says

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
(Image credit: Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive)

Former Sony Interactive and PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida thinks the move toward $80 games was always inevitable.

In the last few months, Nintendo shocked the internet by announcing that Mario Kart World would be its first modern game with a $80 price tag. Xbox wasted no time in jumping aboard and soon revealed that at least some of its new first-party games would also be $80 by the end of the year - hello, Call of Duty?

Alongside inflation, Yoshida also points to the ever-ballooning budgets in AAA games these days, where projects such as Horizon Forbidden West and The Last of Us Part 2 can cost upwards of $200 million to make. "Everything in video games today is more advanced and more technologically demanding than ever before, and therefore requires more resources," he added. "In the end, the heart of the matter lies in production costs. And that’s why industry actors are so keen to diversify their revenues, in order to continue producing the AAA games that the public buys before anything else."

Kaan Serin
Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.