IGN published an interview with Take-Two CEO, Strauss Zelnick, after the company’s earnings call asking him why they decided on a premium price tag for the Red Dead Redemption Nintendo Switch port from the original releases on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The critically acclaimed western will launch at $49.99 and the improvements aren’t exactly obvious judging from the debut trailer. Mr. Zelnick said that they thought the price point was commercially accurate due to their anticipated demand for a handheld version and the value it brings to consumers.
After today’s Take-Two earnings call, IGN asked CEO Strauss Zelnick why they priced the newly announced port the way they did, especially given the backwards compatibility situation for Xbox:
“That’s just what we believe is the commercially accurate price for it. Take-Two’s EVP of Finance, Hannah Sage, also pointed out that the port isn’t just the Red Dead base game, but also Undead Nightmare. When asked if Undead Nightmare was the reason for its $50 price, Zelnick said the add-on “was a great standalone game in its own right when it was originally released, so we feel like it’s a great bundle for the first time, and certainly a great value for consumers.”
For first-time players, maybe. Even though it is a 14-year old game.
For people who’ve played it before, I think they’d disagree with the price point, and they sure seem to be.
I’ve got red 2 and it’s one of my fave games for sure. Haven’t played the first one and I’m more for having it on switch so I’m ok with the price, but so long as it’s not a flop of a port like the gta trilogy!
Are they on crack?
Completely out of touch with this. Way too expensive
Considering it’s the base game and the Undead Nightmare additional content, the Undead Nightmare dlc has a $15 value when sold as stand alone dlc leaving a remainder of $35 for the base game. I guess if broken down that seems like a decent price point. However, i don’t think that justifies having a $50 price tag even for new players who haven’t played RDR, it’s a 14 year old game that i see on sale frequently. I got the Rockstar collection with RDR, Midnight Club and LA Noire for $30 so how is $50 commercially accurate because some haven’t played RDR it’s a 1st time experience isn’t a valid argument.
I get the frustration on the Sony camp, but I don’t understand why it’s being directed at 2K. I mean, the reason why there wasn’t an Xbox version announced was because it’s already there. The XBO is backwards compatible, and so is the series X/s and they all upres the game. Be mad at Sony for their lack of BC. As for the switch camp, it’s a game we’ve never had, and could potentially be the reason why we start getting more current GTA games. If it’s too much again, wait for a discount. But let’s be real, the lack of MP isn’t going to be missed on the switch, it’s not like we have such an amazing online infracstructure with an easy way of making friends, adding them, and chatting with them. I’m personally picking up a copy (physical, if it’s not just a voucher) because the portable factor is the biggest selling point.
In fairness you are getting 4 games for $50, a pair for docked and a pair for undocked.
And when I buy a pair of shoes, its like buying 4 shoes, 2 for outside and 2 for inside.
Maybe they should start pricing games on the Switch with that logic as well. That way we can have $60 games at $120 since we are getting double the fun, it’s only fair!
We’ll find out if he is correct or not when ot releases. Whether people buy it or not on switch will depend on what people really care about.
I hate being the barer of bad news to most gamers but it probably will sell well on switch regardless of the multiplayer being taken out.
To most gamers out there multiplayer is not a factor at all, some even despise it, not only that the switch is not a multiplayer focused system, 90 percent of people who own a switch most likely get their MP fix on other platforms.
The only thing that will hurt the sales of this port is if it runs well or not and if it is unplayable or broken at all.
The one aspect I like about how they are releasing this port is the physical version is being released later than the digital version, and the only reason I say this is because I’m hoping the physical version will be completely patched on release as a fully complete version on cartridge, that is if they don’t pull a cheap stunt like Ubisoft and make it half physical/digital.
Too many switch games are nolonger worth owning physical because the cartridges aren’t even patched, and in most cases unplayable without the patches (Bloodstained Ritual of the Night for example).
Red Dead 2 frequently goes on sale for $20, why are they pricing the OG at $50 holy crap