Update: Gamesindustry.biz has since reported that Strauss Zelnick did not state that games should be priced by the hour, and that instead the Take-Two CEO was referring to games being good value for money because of their length and depth of experience.
Original: Entertainment should cost a lot of money, according to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, who during a meeting with investors shared his views on the industry and where it might be heading in the near future. He mentioned how a lot of it is about the value the customer feels they are getting out of a product, and that in the future players should be charged by the hour. Zelnick said:
"In terms of pricing for any entertainment property, basically the algorithm is the value of the expected entertainment usage, which is to say that the per-hour value times the number of expected hours plus the terminal value that's perceived by the customer in ownership if the title is actually owned, not, say, rented or subscribed to. And you'll see that that bears out in every kind of entertainment vehicle. By that standard, our frontline prices are still very, very low because we offer many hours of engagement. That doesn't necessarily mean that the industry has pricing power or wants to have pricing power. However, there is a great deal of value offered."
Zelnick also touched on how the industry today offers tremendous value in relation to price for its customers, and that games in general are too cheap. An opinion that he has also shared on previous occasions. And with GTA VI around the corner, or at least a first trailer, one can wonder what that game's pricing model will look like given the opinions of the company's management.
Do you think games today offer good value for money, or are even too cheap? Would you consider paying per hour of play?
Thanks, Exputer.