$80 Is Not the New Normal for Every Big Game, Elliott Says
Rhys Elliott says the move of Grand Theft Auto to an $80 base price followed Nintendo's Mario Kart World and a couple of other releases. In a post on X dated 13 November 2026, he wrote that $80 is not a new normal for all AAA games, the industry's term for big-budget releases from large publishers.
The base price is the price a game launches at, before any discounts or sales. Elliott's post sorts game prices into rough groups, and he expects them to split rather than all move up together.
Some developers, he wrote, will keep prices lower as a value proposition, meaning a lower price used to win buyers. He named Astro Bot, Expedition 33, Phantom Blade Zero and Oblivion Remastered as examples of that approach.
Mid-tier AAA publishers, and larger publishers releasing smaller games or remakes, will price downward at $40 to $60, he wrote. A remake is a rebuilt version of an older game, often with updated graphics.
For shoppers, the practical result is a wider spread of prices on the same store shelf or download page. A player could pay $80 for one new release and $40 for another from the same year.
Publishers set base prices with several factors in play, including development costs, the platform the game is sold on and how long a title is expected to last. Discounts often follow within months of launch, so the base price is only the starting point for most buyers.
Anyone weighing a purchase should check the price on the storefront where they plan to buy, since prices can change after a post like this one is published.
