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Take Peak as an example—an $8 game that aims to capture the “vibe” of a $5 impulse buy. “I’m not sure if there’s a mathematical formula for it, but the logic makes sense,” Piscatella remarked. He believes that finding the right “feeling” for a price point is vital in a saturated market where consumer spending remains flat despite an explosion of new releases.
This “vibes pricing” is a widespread phenomenon, according to Piscatella, who sees Kaman’s comments as a rare “behind the curtain” look at how studios actually decide what to charge.
“Players often assume that executives are using supercomputers to run hyper-sophisticated data models to pinpoint the perfect price,” Piscatella explains. “While data plays a role, a huge amount of it is simply intuitive. It’s often a case of asking, ‘Does this feel like a $60 experience or an $80 one? What do you think? Seventy seems about right—let’s go with that.’ It’s as much of an art form as it is a science.”
Ask a dozen gamers how titles should be priced and you’ll get a dozen different answers based on genre, campaign length, monetization, or perceived development polish. One thing is certain: the old metric of ‘hours-per-dollar’ is becoming increasingly obsolete in a world of high-quality, short-form experiences.
Despite broader industry struggles with sustainability, Piscatella notes that PC gaming and Steam remain “bright spots” for growth, as that audience is consistently more willing to take risks on unconventional titles.
Source: gamesradar.com
