Expedition 33 Offers a Good Balance of Price and Production Value – Shuhei Yoshida
When it comes to video game pricing, there are many eyebrows being raised about Nintendo’s decision to have Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World priced at $80. Analysts are similarly predicting that one of the most hotly-anticipated games right now, Grand Theft Auto 6, might also see a major price hike when compared to its contemporaries. Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida believes that, while game prices going up was inevitable, there are still games out there that offer a good balance of production value and reasonable price.
In an interview with PlayStation Insider, Yoshida spoke about the balance that developers often have to find between their ambitions, production costs, and the price of games. He does believe that GTA 6, when it comes out on May 2, 2026, will be an important game to observe when it comes to its price and how well it will do in the market. However, he also points to games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which find a great balance between the three aspects.
“In any case, a balance must be found between production costs and game prices,” Yoshida said. “GTA 6 will obviously be a case in point, but if you take the example of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the game is just as phenomenal visually, despite the fact that the team only has around thirty people. This is one of the ways forward, I think, because you can make excellent games with tighter teams and budgets without compromising quality.”
In the same interview, Yoshida also spoke about other aspects of game prices going up. He mentioned how major publishers tend to develop remakes and remasters because they tend to be easier to make and sell, and often help finance the development of the next AAA game. This, he believes, also applies to PC ports.
“Basically, the proliferation of remasters and remakes doesn’t really stem from any kind of nostalgia or a desire to bring games up to date, but is a kind of ‘easy’ solution to bring in profits that ultimately help finance new games,” he said. “The same goes for PC ports. I’m not particularly bothered by this, because these ports, remakes and remasters are mostly made by support studios like Nixxes Software, so the studios developing the new games are relieved of the burden.”
As for whether or not Grand Theft Auto 6 would see a major jump in price, however, Yoshida doesn’t quite seem to sure about it. However, he does note that things like subscription services and live-service games also tend to provide huge gains in revenue, which is then funnelled into further development of games.
“So I don’t know if Rockstar will jump at the chance to set the price of GTA 6 at 90 euros or more, to speak with your currency, but the situation is this,” he said. “And we could even add subscription platforms and games as a service, which, while providing huge revenues in their own right, also help to finance AAA down the line.”
