EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich is expecting the median price of videogames to drop back to a $49.99 price point as early as next year, noting, however, higher rated or "premium" titles (80 and above) will likely remain unchanged for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Divnich believes the new motion control devices from Sony and Microsoft, both expected for release next year, will cause publishers to release a catalog of lower budget, lower priced titles attractive to the casual audience, as well as a decrease in overall development costs.
"EEDAR believes that median pricing for titles released in 2010 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, will decline to $49.99, but likely will not occur until the beginning of the 2010 holiday season," Divnich wrote in a note to investors this morning. "The expected decrease to $49.99 will be a directly attributable to the continued penetration of the casual market, an increase in quantities of lowâ€cost casual games, and a decrease in development costs."
"Additionally, Sony Motion and Project Natal will play their role in driving prices down," he added. "EEDAR believes that both the Sony Motion and Project Natal will create resurgence in demand among the casual market. Given that the casual market is more price sensitive and that overall economic health is not expected to dramatically improve in 2010, it is expected that there will be a sufficient increase in lower priced games targeted at this casual/mainstream audience to drive down the median price of titles for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3."
Divnich also believes the only scenario where we could see premium titles receive price drops is if a large publishing is willing to give up profits to gain market share, such as Take-Two releasing its 2K sports series for $19.99 back in 2005 to compete with EA's titles.
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whoa whoa whoa, there are $80 video games?
Divnich believes the new motion control devices from Sony and Microsoft, both expected for release next year, will cause publishers to release a catalog of lower budget, lower priced titles attractive to the casual audience, as well as a decrease in overall development costs.
"EEDAR believes that median pricing for titles released in 2010 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, will decline to $49.99, but likely will not occur until the beginning of the 2010 holiday season," Divnich wrote in a note to investors this morning. "The expected decrease to $49.99 will be a directly attributable to the continued penetration of the casual market, an increase in quantities of lowâ€cost casual games, and a decrease in development costs."
"Additionally, Sony Motion and Project Natal will play their role in driving prices down," he added. "EEDAR believes that both the Sony Motion and Project Natal will create resurgence in demand among the casual market. Given that the casual market is more price sensitive and that overall economic health is not expected to dramatically improve in 2010, it is expected that there will be a sufficient increase in lower priced games targeted at this casual/mainstream audience to drive down the median price of titles for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3."
Divnich also believes the only scenario where we could see premium titles receive price drops is if a large publishing is willing to give up profits to gain market share, such as Take-Two releasing its 2K sports series for $19.99 back in 2005 to compete with EA's titles.
source
whoa whoa whoa, there are $80 video games?
