There’s a lot to be excited about withAssassin’s Creed: Mirage, but the biggest deal may be its lower price tag. At $50, it’s in the opposite direction of the $70 tag that every industry player wants a piece of. Sure, it’s not the first example of AAA prices not conforming (off the top of my head I can recall stuff like theSpyroandCrashremakes getting a lower price), but a new release in a massive front-running franchise? It’s not something that happens every day.
With howcontroversial the $70 price tag has been, this actually seems like a remarkably good move for consumers. Since Mirage isa fifth as long as Valhalla, and one of the major arguments in favor of the hike is an increase in content, it’s only fair that smaller releases get a smaller price. However, when we extend this outside the AAA orbit, we uncover an issue that’s been a topic of debate for years. How should games be priced? Should length be the be-all-end-all? Is there a metric for when a game is worth $70? $60? $40? Well let’s not just stand here asking questions, let’s find some answers!
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We’ll start with the ecosystem Mirage is operating in. The AAA industry is quickly moving towards making $70 the standard price for its games, but I’ve got a couple qualms. Inflation might be on the eternal rise, but games have already been getting more expensive, decked out with multiple editions, DLC, battle passes, etc. In terms of technical complexity and size, the perfect counterargument (if you’ll forgive me this cliché) isRedfall—a game that’s not particularly special in either category while having enough bugs to fill a colony. When a game like that is being sold for $70, it’s pretty clear that the price tag is arbitrary in regard to quality of content. Of course, there are plenty of $60 games with the cost seeming too steep—which is just all the more reason to have variable pricing. It’s something that we could’ve used all along.
If the indie and middle-shelf market can vary so wildly in price, why not the AAA circuit? I doubt we’ll see a $10Call of Dutygame anytime soon, but with freemium games and $50 prices hitting the big time, there’s a great deal of potential for experimentation. There’s no reason for prices to march in lockstep with each other among the most successful IPs. If anything, it could give a new lease on life for games that could otherwise be seen as overpriced.Nintendohas a whole host of first-party titles that ought to be a bit cheaper, especially theSwitch’s many ports from theWii U(looking at you,New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe). I’m arguing mainly on the basis of consumer advocacy, yes, but having a greater price mix would really help out smaller games.
However, if I might pump the brakes real quick, there’s another side to this story. Trying to work out game prices outside the AAA space and its standardized $70 has long been a tricky subject. Back in 2018, videogame retailer Green Man Gaming tried to attach a cost-per-hour comparison to games—something that immediately caught a wave of backlash. It’s not exactly an objective metric; should such a value refer to the hours of the main campaign or the hours it would take to play every last scrap of content? That’s without mentioning the gaps in time between skilled and unskilled players, not to mention replay value. Moreover, what about quality? All the hours in the world are irrelevant if the game is bad. Brevity is the soul of wit, after all, and many great games can be beaten in one sitting.
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There’s also the issue of technical depth, and I’m not just talking about specs. One of my favorite games,Cuphead, I can easily beat in one sitting—but that doesn’t mean it should cost any less. (Hell, at its current price, it feels like I’m robbingStudio MDHR). Not only is that one sitting of really solid and fun gameplay, but it’s a gorgeous experience that’s been animatedby handand inked onto physical cels with extraordinary fluidity. Content and floods of nebulous ‘stuff’ aren’t the only thing to consider when pricing a game. In fact, I reckon that most of us wouldn’t get far into a game with thousands of potential hours if we’re not having a good time.
Let’s not overcorrect though; hours are stillafactor. There are so many games, especially in the AAA space, that attempt to sell a content-bereft wasteland for $60 with microtransactions to boot—such as therecently defunctMarvel’s Avengers. We just need to keep in mind that it’s not the singular, ride-or-die stat behind whether a game is a good value for the money. The duration might seem objective, but the fine print around its specifics makes it about as subjective as design or aesthetic quality.
Circling back to Mirage, the $50 is a good move for a smaller game. There’s potential for a slippery slope, sure, but in the AAA market, prices are always on the upswing. I see far fewer games reaching the threshold for $70 than I do games missing the threshold for $60, so having some restraint can only be a good sign. As long as we don’t view long and short as the only ways to categorize titles, I’m onboard with this direction.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
Taking the series back to its roots, Assassin’s Creed Mirage casts you as Basim, a street thief in Baghdad who eventually answers to a higher calling.
