Concord store listings show Sony maintaining Helldivers-style lower price point for live service titles

Sony is following the formula for success it found with Helldivers 2 by offering its next live service game, hero shooter Concord, for the same lower price.

Push Square points to the upcoming title's listing on the Australian PlayStation Store, which is selling pre-orders for the game's standard edition at AU$59.95 – the same as Arrowhead Games' Helldivers 2.

GamesIndustry.biz checked the listings on the US and UK stores, showing price tags of $39.99 and £34.99 respectively (again, same as Helldivers 2). The lower price point bucks the trend of most AAA games selling for $70 during the current generation.

Helldivers 2 launched at this price point earlier this year, which was likely a key factor in the multiplayer shooter shifting 12 million copies in 12 weeks, making it the fastest selling PlayStation game to date. We recently spoke to Arrowdhead's leadership about how the game's success has boosted the studio and its ambitions.

Concord was announced during last week's State of Play showcase and is part of Sony's ongoing pivot towards live service games. Since live services require larger audiences to succeed, lowering the price of entry increases the chance of attracting more players.

There had been speculation as to whether Concord would be free-to-play, but this store listing appears to put that to rest.

The current console generation initially sparked backlash among consumers as the price of AAA games was increased to $70. As development costs continue to rise, there is uncertainty whether audiences would accept another price increase, although Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors recently told GamesIndustry.biz he believes some titles could charge even more.