Another Dev Is Defending $80 Games As Controversy Bubbles Over Mario Kart World

Mario Kart World ignited controversy over its unprecedented $80 price tag in April when it was first unveiled. Many were worried that Nintendo had set a new precedent for triple-A games, a worry that was only compounded after The Outer Worlds 2 boldly followed suit, and when Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford insisted that “true fans” would pay a premium for Borderlands 4 (even though it’s $70).

As reported by VideoGamer, former PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida is also on board with $80 games, arguing on the Kit & Krysta podcast that “every game has a different value” and that some do warrant the price tag. Speaking on Mario Kart World in particular, he said that players get hundreds of hours worth of entertainment “with just one purchase”, so it warrants the extra ten bucks.

“It’s really up to the game, and people have to [judge] which game provides the entertainment that you want and see if it makes sense to pay the price on day one,” he explained. “It doesn’t have to be that every game has to be at $70 or $80 or whatever because every game is different.”

Putting $70 In The Rearview Mirror

Yoshida explained that $80 games aren’t so bad because the market has become “amazingly affordable” with thousands of games at cheaper prices. The move to $70 was certainly easier to stomach thanks to platforms like Xbox Game Pass, which folded more expensive releases into its catalogue day and date. But for PlayStation and PS Plus, those kinds of launches are a rarity.

PlayStation recently reiterated its heavy-hitters won’t come to PS Plus at launch.

$70 and $80 games are also more expensive with pre-order ‘early access’ bonuses and day one DLC piled on top, which, for many, limits the number of games they’re comfortable buying at once. Still, Yoshida argued on another podcast that it’s a “steal”.

“In terms of actual price of $70 or $80 for really great games, I think it will be a steal in terms of the amount of entertainment that top quality games bring to people compared to other forms of entertainment.”