Former SCEE head says blockbuster games need higher price tag but people don’t have that kind of money

Activision‘s decision to raise the suggested retail price of Modern Warfare 2 in the UK to UK£ 54.99 (almost US$ 90) has raised a furor among gamers in the region. Former SCEE president Chris Deering recognizes that a conundrum exists: prices for blockbuster titles should be even higher in order to support the industry, but people “just don’t have that kind of money.”

Activision‘s decision to raise the suggested retail price of Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, and PC) in the UK to UK£ 54.99 (almost US$ 90) has raised a furor among gamers in the region. Former SCEE president Chris Deering recognizes that a conundrum exists: prices for blockbuster titles should be even higher in order to support the industry, but people “just don’t have that kind of money.”

Deering, who is the current chairman of the Edinburgh Interactive Festival, says that if publishers want their games to support the games industry as much as it did ten years ago, they would have to raise the prices of their blockbuster releases to a whopping UK£ 70 (around US$ 115).

Here’s what he told MCV earlier this week:

Before there can be as many successful blockbuster games as there were in the past, games have to be produced in a more efficient fashion.

In order to price these games at a level where they would support an industry [as strongly as] they did ten years ago, they’d have to be sold at £70. But people just don’t have that kind of money, there’s a psychological glass ceiling.

Consumers wonÂ’t spend more, but to write the game, publishers are having to spend more than ever before. ThatÂ’s the key problem.

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Via MCV