$80 games have retreated for now, but analyst says the old $60 or $70 pricing model is dead in the "Wild West" of 2025: "I know a lot of people don't like it, but people still buy these games at these high price points"

The best games of 2025 so far fill out an enormous range of prices. Split Fiction and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 are $50. Blue Prince is $30. Mario Kart World is $80, while Donkey Kong Bananza is $70. Monster Hunter Wilds and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach are also $70, but Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is $60.

Analyst Mat Piscatella, executive director of games at market research firm Circana, reckons this wide price gradient is only going to continue, and could swing wider, as companies balance production costs, economic pressures, and competition. The old model of $60 games, which became $70 games not all that long ago, is dead. But as some game prices trend higher, that also creates room for cheaper games to swoop in.

"I think it's a little Wild West right now," Piscatella tells GamesRadar+. "We have more variability in launch pricing and strategies than we've ever had. We have a lot of titles trying to kind of nibble at the high end of that market, and we have many more that are launching at lower prices, and the size of the game and everything else [affects that] as well. But ultimately, publishers and developers are trying to find the sweet spot for their pricing strategy. And sometimes you think, 'Okay, we go for a higher price. We may not get as many people, but we know that the ones we get will be very enthusiastic and dedicated.' Or, 'Maybe we need to come out at a lower price and cast a wider net.'

"I think everyone's just trying to figure things out in a market environment where the biggest competitor to any new game isn't the other new games launching in the release window like it used to be. It's Fortnite and Roblox and trying to pull people out of those, because that's the primary competition now, getting those 35% of active players on console that play Fortnite every week. How do you get them to not do that and instead go buy a different game?"

Piscatella, like many publishers, doesn't see a single, agreed upon sweet spot. The "standardization" of pricing has been thrown out, arguably louder than ever this year, though indie games especially have always inhabited a wide range of prices.

"Really, it's going to be different for every game," he says. "And you know, things like post-launch monetization strategies will come into play, even the release timing of the game could come into play, or the platforms it's on. I just think there's so many options available now. It used to be, this game is going to be $60 because every game is $60, that's fine. That's just not where we are anymore. Those days are long gone. So, yeah, I don't think there is a standard or a sweet spot in general. I think every game is going to be a little bit different."

My conversation with Piscatella followed the news that Microsoft is backing away from $80 games, EA has no plans for $80 games right now, and both Borderlands 4 and Battlefield 6 have ended up at $70 despite a lot of concerns over $80 pricing there as well. Every time a big new game gets announced right now, it feels like that question follows: will it cost $80? Which begs another question: is it worth $80? So far, Nintendo has been the one to say: yes, actually, it is.

"If you look at the games that are pushing that higher end of that price envelope, those are games that have super dedicated fan bases in general, where price sensitivity, particularly at launch, is very low, meaning that people want to play this game no matter what it costs," Piscatella reasons. He also reiterates that deluxe, special, and Collector's Editions have kept the average price people pay for a game above $70 for years.

"So it's kind of ticking that up a little bit. And I know a lot of people don't like it, but people still buy these games at these high price points, so they're going to keep getting made at high price points for the right game that can do that. The market is what it is, and you can always drop the price of the game, but you can't really raise it. So we'll see what happens over time."

I mentioned that GTA 6, the price of which has been hotly debated, is sure to be a major milestone in this price progression. Millions of eyes are going to be on Rockstar's decision next year. Piscatella, who's called GTA 6 possibly the most important game in the industry's history, would go further: "There's going to be billions of eyes looking at everything Grand Theft Auto does next year, no matter what it is. So let's throw that on the pile."

Analyst says stumbles like Monster Hunter Wilds' PC fiasco are only getting uglier with intense competition: "A prominent streamer or YouTuber can single-handedly, by showing one screenshot, really impact what the perception of a game is."