PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series X 2K Games increases the price of NBA 2K21 by 10 euros

PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series X 2K Games

The prices for new games no longer have to be 60 euros. With 2K Games, a publisher for the first time in a long time raises the price for a standard version of a new game. The upcoming NBA 2K21 will cost ten euros more for the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X than for the respective predecessor consoles and the PC.

PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series X 2K Games 

According to publisher 2K Games, the price represents in a fair way the value of the offer: performance, speed and technology, which is only possible on the new hardware", said a spokesman for the company Ars Technica, but without stating what these terms should mean in context. Not affected by the increase is the "Mamba" called deluxe version of the game, which combines versions for old and new consoles. According to this logic, it should be unfairly cheap on the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X.

Whether the price increase affects all upcoming games of 2K remains unclear. At the request of the site, the spokesman said that prices of 2K should represent the "offered equivalent". This is a common place, which leaves the publisher all options, but can also only mean that smaller games from the indie segment, for example, are not sold at the normal price.

Interested in price increase

In principle, other publishers are also interested in price increases, reports Games Industry, citing IDG CEO Yoshio Osaki. He pointed to the long price stability with rising production costs, which Shawn Layden had recently identified as a problem for the industry. Osaki stated that publishers would therefore consider raising prices for at least some brands for the next-gen consoles. Pricing of NBA 2K21 will therefore be the first field trial to accept this increase to have a signal effect.

It must be taken into account that the purchase price is being discussed, because the real costs of games have increased due to micro-transactions and aggressive DLC policies, whose content packages often offer little equivalent. This is especially true for NBA, whose last year’s game has been cynically described as a casino with basketball side missions in terms of number and type of bonus purchases.