Ubisoft is following in the footsteps of other big publishers by raising the price of some of its games to $70.
As previously confirmed, the publisher’s first $70 release is next-gen console versions of Skull & Bones this November, a game that won’t be available for last-gen systems.
And in an interview with Axios, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said that this price would now be the norm for the publisher’s big PS5 and Xbox Series X/S releases.
Skull and Bones – cinematic trailer
In August 2020, Take-Two’s NBA 2K21 became the first current-gen game to be priced at $70. Other companies followed suit, including Activision, Sony, EA and Square Enix, and the Final Fantasy publisher even raised the price of some of its PC games.
Ubisoft said last year it was undecided about whether it would pursue new software pricing opportunities, but its position has since changed.
“Some of the games will be priced the same as the competition,” Guillemot told Axios. “Big AAA games will be priced at $70.”
Billed as a smaller-scale game than recent series entries, Ubisoft’s recently announced Assassin’s Creed Mirage is priced at $50 for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S ahead of its 2023 cross-generational release.
Remarkably, Microsoft has yet to release a $70 game, though its first-party release lineup has been relatively bare since the Xbox Series X/S and PS5 launched in November 2020.
“Gaming can be an expensive hobby and I see certain platforms go up to $70 in the US for games,” Xbox boss Phil Spencer told La Vanguardia that month. “The consoles are priced at $500 in the US, and I think it’s a great investment for someone who doesn’t play video games every day, a more casual gamer, or a family that balances a lot of things.”