EA slashes current-gen game prices in North America
Industry leading publisher Electronic Arts has officially cut the prices of many of its current-generation titles by between $10 and $20 in North America, reacting to continued sluggish sales of home console software in the early weeks of 2006.
Industry leading publisher Electronic Arts has officially cut the prices of many of its current-generation titles by between $10 and $20 in North America, reacting to continued sluggish sales of home console software in the early weeks of 2006.
Among the titles seeing their retail prices slashed is last year's best-selling game in North America, Madden NFL 06, which along with fellow EA Sports titles FIFA 06, NASCAR 06 and NBA Live 06, and movie tie-in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, is dropping from $39.99 to $29.99.
A few of the other titles dropping in price are Need for Speed: Most Wanted, which is still topping sales charts here in the UK, and is dropping from its premium price point of $49.99 to $39.99 - while Medal of Honour: European Assault falls a full $20, from $39.99 to $19.99.
In total, 48 of EA's current-generation SKUs, including the majority of its most valuable properties, are falling in price - and according to analysts at Banc of America Securities, it may not just be back catalogue titles which see price drops this quarter.
"We expect more price cuts to come from other publishers," the firm's analyst team commented in a research note today, "and believe very few new current gen releases will be able to charge a premium price. The Godfather is the only EA game that we think has a chance to be priced at $49.99 at launch - though we would not be surprised to see the game priced at $39.99"