Ever since Nintendo released the $80 Mario Kart World for Nintendo Switch 2 as a launch title for the new handheld console, there have been growing fears that the industry at large is moving to standardize that higher price tag. However, there's at least one publisher that's not planning to raise the cost of its games — at least for now.
That company is Electronic Arts (EA), publisher of major franchises like Battlefield, Mass Effect, FIFA, and others. The news came this week when CEO Andrew Wilson commented that "we’re not looking to make any changes on pricing at this stage" when asked about potential price changes during EA's latest earnings call with investors.
"When you think about everything from free-to-play through to our premium products and deluxe editions, our orientation is always to capture the full spectrum of pricing so that we can serve players in the best way possible and offer them the greatest value," explained Wilson during the meeting.
"We'll continue to look at opportunities to deliver great value to our players through various pricing schemes over the course of time, but no dramatic changes are planned yet."
EA says the cost of its games won't be adjusted until at least the end of March 2026, which will mark the end of its current fiscal year. Thus, any games from the publisher released before then — one of which is widely expected to be Battlefield 6 — will remain at the current standard price of $70.
Notably, EA's statements come one week after Microsoft and Xbox conceded that the $80 price of The Outer Worlds 2 was too high and proceeded to lower its cost to $70, issue refunds for initial preorders, and vowed to "keep our full priced holiday releases ... at $69.99 — in line with current market conditions."
Earlier this year, there were also concerns that 2K and Gearbox Software's highly anticipated looter shooter Borderlands 4 would cost $80 as well, with Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford infamously declaring "real fans" would "find a way" to pay for it if it was. In the end, the game ended up being $70, though its Deluxe and Super Deluxe Editions are more expensive than those of its predecessors.
The publisher's commitment to keeping prices where they are is particularly relevant for Battlefield 6, which recently got a well-received reveal trailer and is getting a multiplayer reveal on July 31 (tomorrow). Though unconfirmed officially, an accidental leak (thanks, Eurogamer) from EA strongly suggests it's releasing in a few short months on October 10.
Hopes are high that Battlefield 6 will be a strong entry that brings EA's long-running, large-scale combined arms FPS back into a positive spotlight, as 2021's Battlefield 2042 was received very poorly amongst critics and fans alike. To that end, it's bringing back classes and emphasizing systems like environmental destruction — things many consider core to the franchise, and things 2042 sorely lacked.
It's allegedly shipping with a campaign, traditional multiplayer, a free-to-play battle royale, and the return of 2042's Portal sandbox mode, with EA ambitiously hoping for a player count of 100 million over the course of its life. Reportedly, however, its development has been plagued with "extraordinary stress and long hours."
No $80 games for now — how long will that last?
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With the cost of living steadily rising in the last several years — spurred on by factors like inflation and global supply chain issues — it's become increasingly difficult to justify squeezing expensive game purchases into already-tight budgets.
The shift from $60 to $70 releases that began in 2021 was already problematic for many; a move to $80 would raise the barrier to entry even further, making new games even less accessible to the average customer. And while programs like Xbox Game Pass give consumers valuable options, not every title is available on services like that.
Because of this, I'm glad to see that EA is joining Microsoft and Xbox in keeping its AAA blockbusters at the $70 mark, though one does have to wonder how long that commitment will hold — and how long it will be before other publishers join Nintendo in testing the $80 waters.
Given that video games have only gotten more and more expensive to make, it seems inevitable that we'll eventually see another price shift in order to try and maintain profitability. My hope, though, is that $70 remains the standard for as long as it possibly can. At the very least, until living costs become more manageable.
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