Dragon’s Dogma 2 will be Capcom’s most expensive game ever launched, so players need to fork out more money to become a dragon-slaying Arisen. The new price point could also signal a shift for the company, as it’s likely more Capcom games will retail in 2024 for the higher price tag.
DD2 is the first game in Capcom’s library to adopt the controversial $70 base-game price point, which became available for preorder on Nov. 28. Fans have eagerly anticipated this epic action-RPG for over ten years, but whether it’ll be worth the extra money is anyone’s guess. Company president Haruhiro Tsujimoto hinted that future Capcom games could retail at this price, too, which is a bitter pill to swallow.
In an interview at 2023’s Tokyo Game Show, Tsujimoto stated that “Capcom is one of the few publishers that’s abstained from raising prices thus far […] But that might be changing.” Tsujimoto thinks “raising unit prices is a healthy option for business” as the cost of game development has increased significantly since Capcom entered the market.
Tsujimoto anticipated backlash to the proposed price hike, but hasn’t expressed much sympathy for fans suffering from the cost of living crisis. His mind is clearly on the money, as he said “just because there’s a recession doesn’t mean you won’t go to the movie theater or go to your favorite artist’s concert. High-quality games will continue to sell.”
If this will be Capcom’s business strategy going forward, then Dragon’s Dogma 2 seems like the perfect boundary test. Just like Tears of the Kingdom was for Nintendo, DD2 promises to be one of Capcom’s biggest RPGs, with a dedicated fanbase that’s waited for years to dive back in.
But how are fans reacting to the price? The honest truth is most don’t seem to care. There are a couple of small threads about the $70 price tag on Reddit and ResetEra, with most criticisms focused on the regional pricing structure in less economically developed countries. But most fans are happily discussing the Dragon’s Dogma 2 2023 showcase, which premiered on Nov. 28, 2023 and showed off tons of new changes, including the various vocations you can choose from.
It’s hard to tell at this stage whether the $70 price point will pay off for Dragon’s Dogma 2, but if it does, Capcom seems more than happy to charge adventurers more gold going forward.
