Chris Deering says AAA titles need to cost £70 to support industry

By Stephany Nunneley

Former Sony Europe president Chris Deering has said that AAA gaming titles need to be priced at £70 to support the industry.

Derring, speaking to MCV, also stated that if we are to expect more “blockbuster games” as gamers did in the past, developers need to produce the titles more efficiently.

“In order to price these games at a level where they would support an industry [as strongly as] they did ten years ago, they’d have to be sold at £70. But people just don’t have that kind of money, there’s a psychological glass ceiling.

“Consumers won’t spend more, but to write the game, publishers are having to spend more than ever before. That’s the key problem.

“The cost of development is ten times what it was for PS2, and more like 20 to 50 times more than on PSOne. Yet there are lots of things you can get for less than the relative value of paying 50p an hour for a very high end game.”

Deering is the chair of the Edinburgh Interactive Festival, taking place August 13-14, where he and Ray Maguire, Peter Moore and Ian Livingstone will discuss ‘the future of the blockbuster game’.

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