Sony got the ball rolling last August by announcing a €50 price increase for the Playstation 5, causing a lot of ink to flow and a lot of fists to be clenched.
Jim Ryan, head of Sony Interactive Entertainment said: “We are seeing high levels of inflation combined with negative currency effects, this is impacting consumers and putting many industry sectors under pressure. As a result of these difficult economic conditions, we took the difficult decision to increase the guidance retail price of PS5.”
This week it’s Microsoft’s turn to declare that it plans to increase the price of video games produced by its studios by 15% starting next year. In light of the generally observed prices, it is concrete to expect to see the games go from €69.99 to €79.99. Another argument for the consumer choosing to subscribe to Game Pass, the on-demand game catalog service where the Richmond company’s games can be found as soon as they are released.
Please note that prices do not increase during the holiday season.
And the cost of Xbox consoles in all this? Will they also see their price increase? Microsoft hasn’t communicated anything officially… yet.
On Nintendo’s side, we are also thinking about a price increase, but no decision has yet been made in connection with the celebration of the end of the year, when their Switch console is expected under a lot of fir trees. This is probably the last Christmas of the console phenomenon before the next generation! The opportunity for large N to sell as many as possible.
Carlos Benedito, a former aeronautical engineer, has his eyes turned to the sky…and even beyond, as evidenced by his first video game project: Mothership. This first title entirely made in 3D is surprisingly ambitious for the next new Toulouse studio Space Game Studio. “My goal is to create accessible and innovative video game experiences that combine art and science,” says Carlos.
Mothership is presented as a space exploration game that mixes adventure and astronomy, the player embodies an astronaut who travels through the star systems of our galaxy to find other space refugees. Next to this enchanting and contemplative game experience, the developer from Valencia does not forget the educational dimension derived from his approach: “we are developing StarMap, an educational version of the game’s spatial systems for museums and educational organizations.” Indeed, controller in hand, the software is easy to learn and has many advantages for understanding, among other concepts, the rotation of planets and satellites. Head in the stars but with his feet firmly on the ground, this could be the state of mind of Carlos, who is looking for financial and institutional partners so that his project can see the light of day. Given the quality of his project, there is no doubt that he will attract the attention of informed investors.
In any case, if they want to know more, they don’t need a star map, just a link: SpaceGameStudio.com