In a statement from Nikkei on September 23, later translated by Kotaku, Capcom president Haruhiro Tsujimoto expressed the belief that video games are being priced too low considering what goes into making them.
While at the Tokyo Game Show, Tsujimoto was invited to discuss multiple topics, including the rising cost of video game development. Tsujimoto commented that despite the cost of development going up, the average cost for a game has more or less remained the same for quite some time.
AAA games have been slowly introducing a higher cost for customers. Long-awaited games like Hogwarts Legacy and God of War: Ragnarök launched at a $70 tag on the PlayStation 5 while Jedi: Survivor brings the price over to PC. So far, Capcom has avoided this rising trend, keeping recent releases such as Street Fighter 6 priced at $60, but it’s likely they won’t be able to prevent it forever.
“Development costs are about 100 times higher than during the Famicom era, but software prices have not gone up that much,” said Tsujimoto, referencing the Nintendo console that would later evolve into the popular Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console in the 1980s, “There is also a need to raise wages. Considering the fact that wages are rising in the industry as a whole, I think raising unit prices is a healthy option for business.”
Tsujimoto also said that an economic recession would not necessarily help the costs, stating, “Just as the recession doesn’t stop people from going to the cinema or going to their favorite artist’s concert, high-quality games will continue to sell well.”
As far as Capcom’s finances go, the report released March 31, 2023 revealed that the prior 12-months sold 41.7 million games, breaking their record for most games sold in a business year. Their stock price also reached an all time high of ¥6,520 in July. With their profits growing, Capcom also increased employee base pay by 30% in Japan last year. As the possibility of the next Capcom game being $70 increases, their profits continue to be expected to grow.