One month after its shockingly successful launch, new AA JRPG-inspired gem Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 continues to bask in its success – and according to Kepler Interactive portfolio director Matthew Handrahan, its price point could have something to do with that.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launched at $50, a price point that places it comfortably between the higher $80 end that some AAA games are leaning toward and the lower figures one might expect to find attached to indie releases. Handrahan admits in a recent GamesIndustry.biz interview that, as more AAA titles adopt such high prices, room is created for games to instead successfully launch within the $40-50 range.
"I think as that AAA price goes up, I think it creates more of an opportunity to be launching games – more sensibly scoped games – [and] pricing them at that $40–50 range," says the publishing lead. "And I don't think anyone that played Expedition 33 would think they didn't get their money's worth out of that." Initially, the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 team was met with some backlash for the RPG's price, however.
Sandfall Interactive COO and producer François Meurisse reveals as much: "When we announced the pricing at $50 we did actually have a little of a backlash online with people fearing it would be a 12-hour-long game with unfinished content, and that it was suspicious to have a $50 game that was looking like this in the trailers." The team "stuck with the price, doubled down on it, [and] provided some context about the fact that it wasn't a AAA," though.
Thankfully, it all worked out. "In the end, it was a win-win situation, because it was a way to attract more players towards the game, to have good player satisfaction about their buying [decision], and it could actually end up doing more sales. So maybe players' perception can change a bit about that kind of price [point]." It's certainly a possibility – especially in a world where $80 is slowly becoming the norm for new games releasing.
Playing the new RPG yourself? Here are our best Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 tips to read if diving in.
