Buyers will absolutely get their money’s worth for the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI title. If the typical GTA player is putting hundreds of hours into the game – you need only compare the cost/hour to going to a movie or playing a limited playtime game like the new Doom: Eternal.
| Name | Price | Hours | $ / Entertainment Hour |
| Movie Theatre | $20 | 2 | $ 10.00 |
| GTA 5 | $80 | 200 | $ 00.40 |
| Doom | $70 | 14 | $ 5.00 |
This is nothing new. And to be clear, I’m not excusing all games that are charging $60-80. Take Doom as a counter example. The game reportedly has about a 14 hour long campaign. It’s harder to justify spending $70 on a game with a linear campaign with limited replay-ability.
Comparing Doom to a movie gives you a 2x improvement ROI on your dollar/entertainment, but both are left in the dust when compared to highly replay-able GTA series.
Gamers Love Customization but Prices are Becoming Untenable
The campaign length of games like Grand Theft Auto lays a foundation for the great value, but the customization of cars, characters, and cribs is what brings people back for more. Cosmetics are an element that almost every big game is locking in on. This trend is prevalent in other games like Marvel Rivals, Fortnite, Call of Duty, Counterstrike, League of Legends, and many more. There is a key difference between the free-to-play model offered by the latter games that separates GTA from the pack.
Pick Your Poison
What separates GTA from the f2p (free-to-play) model is that the game is more batteries included. In other words, you get tons of cosmetics out of the box. Compare this to free-to-play titles like Fortnite where $10-15 is typically necessary to get started earning cosmetics via a battle/season pass.
Some titles like Fortnite absolutely nail the f2p model. After shelling out about $15 for a battlepass, you earn enough V-Bucks to continue purchasing the pass every season while still earning credits in addition to all the cosmetics that come with the pass. I don’t ever feel compelled to buy cosmetics. And most importantly, I don’t ever feel fleeced when I do shell out.
The Free-to-Play + Microtransaction Fatigue
Other f2p titles either don’t drip feed enough (or any) content, or instead price gouge for cosmetics. Games like The Finals, while providing a decent drip feed, often feels extortive when charging $20 for a single set, or bundle of small cosmetic pieces.
F2p was invented to bring in the biggest gaming demographic, children! More studios need to accept that they their game will never appeal to the mostly children who seek f2p titles. Give it up! You’re stuck with the 22-35 age bracket. Embrace it and charge some damn money!
$20 For a Skin? I Can Buy 5 Games on Steam With That!
See: title!
Even worse is Counter-Strike, my favorite shooter, which nowadays doesn’t offer battle passes. The items earned from playing the game are completely negligible. And with the absurd amount of people rocking knives worth thousands it can be difficult to stave off the “skin envy” when spectating your teammates.
Rockstar Isn’t Charging Enough for GTA6
It’s obvious that the market has determined that the f2p is king, especially for f2p titles. Companies are maximizing the number of players while also milking the cash cows with admittedly very appealing cosmetic content. I’m not one to demand for government regulation of this trend however manipulative it feels at times. Instead I’d call for more game companies to provide insane value alongside hefty price tags. I’d even argue that charging money for a game has some intrinsic benefits that are worth considering:
- filtering out cheaters who can simply make new free accounts when banned
- filters out f2p low-commit game hoppers and immature/underage Roblox players
- brings in dedicated, mature playerbase
I want to see more studios looking closely at the prices they charge. I want them to be in tune with player’s dollar per entertainment hour. I want to see a video game that costs $100 that provides an undeniable amount of value for the money.