There is no need to use conditional mode or say that the Japanese publisher is considering it. No, let’s say it: they will also push up the price of their new games.

The last time, Nintendo did it: they released a game at $70 instead of the previous $60 (it’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and the big N has been repeating that they’ll decide on a game-by-game basis what they’ll sell for more… ), and since Square Enix has already released several of their games at $70 (and even dared to do so for the PC versions, even though they’re already being overwhelmed by the redundant and often never removed Denuvo), it’s no wonder SEGA will follow suit.

“In the global marketplace, AAA game titles for consoles have been sold at $59.99 for many years, but titles sold at $69.99 have appeared in the last year. We would like to review the prices of titles that we believe are commensurate with price increases while also keeping an eye on market conditions,” SEGA said in their financial report. Blah blah blah, they didn’t review anything; they raised prices. Past tense. Period.

In August 2020, the unsurprisingly greedy Take-Two started doing it when it sold the current-gen NBA 2K21 gambling game (MyTeam), superficially a basketball game, for $70 instead of $60. Sony immediately followed this trend (around here, PlayStation 5 games are selling for €80 instead of €70!), and Activision Blizzard joined the ranks. Then came Electronic Arts and Square Enix, and in May, Microsoft joined Nintendo with Redfall.

SEGA’s last major game was still at the old pricing (Sonic Frontiers: 3.2 million copies sold by the end of March 2023), with Sonic Origins Plus and Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection coming in June and Samba de Amigo Party Central in the summer. It’s almost certain that one of these will hit stores at a higher price.

Source: VGC