Take-Two boss "not seeing pushback" on $70 price for games
As Mortal Kombat 1 looks to be Switch's second $70 release.
Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick has said the company hasn't seen a "pushback" on the recent widespread price increase for big budget games, which now regularly sell for $70.
Many publishers have adopted this $70 price point as standard, including the likes of Sony, Activision Blizzard, and Gearbox, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Earlier this week, Sega also suggested it could adopt a similar approach for its future releases, and stated it was "keeping an eye on market conditions".
As for those who have already increased prices to this higher point, Zelnick claimed he hasn't seen any real resistance from players so far.
Zelnick's comments come from Take-Two's latest earnings call (thanks VGC), in which he stated consumers were now generally limiting overall spending by "going either to the stuff they really, really care about, blockbusters, or to value".
As for Take-Two itself, Zenick seemed confident in its slate, with "a bunch of blockbusters" and a "wonderful catalogue".
The publisher has also suggested Grand Theft Auto 6 could be launching as soon as next year. In the company's yearly earning's report, which was published earlier this week, Take-Two predicted it will generate a staggering $8bn in net bookings for its 2025 fiscal year (beginning April 2024), as it launches "several groundbreaking titles". One of these is surely GTA 6...
Outside of Take-Two, Mortal Kombat 1 was officially revealed yesterday by publisher Warner Bros Games in a rather graphic and juicy-sounding trailer. Along with this debut, we also found out the various platforms NetherRealm's upcoming fighter will be releasing on - PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC (via Steam and Epic Games Store).
As you can see, there are no plans for a PS4 or Xbox One version of the game - Mortal Kombat 1 is a 'next-gen' only release. Well, except for the Switch, which, despite my very fond affection, is somewhat comparatively dated hardware.
But even though Mortal Kombat 1 will be releasing on Nintendo's hybrid console, and likely not have the same graphical polish as those versions on PS5 or Xbox X/S, it will still cost the same as its beefier counterparts - that's $69.99, for the game's standard edition.
This will be the second game to release on the Nintendo Switch with that higher price tag, the first of which was the recently released Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (although it is worth noting that in the UK the game retailed for £60).
Tears of the Kingdom has won itself plenty of fans in the week since its release, and I have not seen any quarrel from those across the pond about having to shell out an extra $10 for the pleasure of returning to Hyrule.
Will this also be the case for Mortal Kombat 1? Currently, I am not sure it will be (although, I am happy to be proved wrong).