Farrell reiterates RRP concerns

The standard $59.99/49.99 RRP for console software is keeping people out” of the console market at retail. That’s according to THQ president Brian Farrell, who reiterated his stance at the BMO Capital markets Conference in New York this week.

Farrell previously made similar comments in September at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference.

What we’re thinking about the business is we’re turning it on its head a little bit,” he said this week, as reported by Gamasutra. It’s not ‘how high a price can we get’ but ‘how many users’.

If you can capture everyone under that economic curve, that’s where you can make the most money.

When we launched MX vs. ATV at $59.99, we’d do some units, and then when we brought the price down to the mass market-friendly price of $39.99, it would just pop. So the thinking this time is, let’s initially launch at $39.99 – it’s a very robust game, very high quality, so this is not about trying to get a secondary title out.

It’s an AAA title, at that price point, but then with a series of DLC so people can extend their experience. We think this is the future of gaming. We think that’s the way games are going to go in the long term.”