If you want to buy a PS5 in India, or even an Xbox Series X for that matter, the price of games just got a whole lot dearer. Ubisoft has raised the price of its PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, and Xbox One games in India. IGN India reported this first after spotting the digital prices for the company’s upcoming Rainbow Six Extraction sporting a Rs. 4,999 price tag on all console platforms. It seemed like an error when you consider that $60 games usually have a Rs. 3,999 or Rs. 3,499 price in the country.
However, listings on retailer Games The Shop also confirm the Rs. 4,999 price for the upcoming co-op shooter. This is crucial because Games The Shop is owned and operated by E-xpress and E-xpress is Ubisoft’s India distributor. And while pricing on Games The Shop tends to change on occasion, the fact that it’s on par with what Ubisoft is charging on digital platforms suggests that this is not an error.
This doesn’t seem to impact games whose prices were known prior like Far Cry 6 or Riders Republic both of which maintain their Rs. 3,999 price.
We reached out to both E-xpress and Ubisoft for comment and have yet to hear from either company.
This matters as Ubisoft is one of the biggest third-party publishers in India. Sources at retail tell us that its Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Watch Dogs games are extremely popular and are best-sellers.
However a Rs. 4,999 price for future titles could result in the company having the same problem as Sony does with its first-party line-up of games — fewer takers than ever.
”Returnal, Miles Morales, and Demon’s Souls, all sold poorly,” says one Indian store owner. “No one wants to pay Rs. 4,999 for a game and they’re picking up other titles instead.”
The “other titles”, we’re told, include the likes of Resident Evil Village which had the highest pre-orders for a game in the series and continues to sell well at a price of Rs. 3,999.
Of late, game companies have taken to increase the price of their upcoming releases. EA has Battlefield 2042 locked in at Rs. 4,499 for PS5 and Xbox Series X while GTA parent company Take 2 had firmly stuck to a Rs. 4,599 price for its PS5 and Xbox Series X games.
Others, like Square Enix appear to have taken a different tack, pricing PS5-only titles like Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade at Rs. 4,799 while sticking to a more palpable Rs. 3,499 price for cross-generation fare like Nier Replicant.
Why Does This Matter?
What makes Ubisoft’s price change disturbing is it signals a complete detachment from reality and its audience. The pricing is ridiculously high to say the least — and in-line with Sony’s Rs. 4,999 price for PS5 games. While that may work for other markets, it’s extremely cost-prohibitive in India.
At least Sony is self-aware enough to know Rs. 4,999 is far from what it should price its games at (though shows no sign of changing this just yet).
Perhaps Ubisoft is depending on retail to lower the price much like Sony has or hope that frequent discounts and sales are enough to see it through in a market where Xbox Game Pass isn’t an option for most consumers just yet due to the lack of distribution and reach Microsoft has over Sony and PC storefronts like Steam and Epic Games.
Regardless of the reasoning however, it does have consequences. Other publishers may follow suit. The likes of Sega and Bandai Namco have stuck to the Rs. 3,499 to Rs. 3,999 price range for its recent games like Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Scarlet Nexus, but as the generation wears on, it’s safe to say other companies are taking notes and may decide to raise prices as well, particularly after a publisher as influential as Ubisoft does.
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