A survey conducted by Atlus parent company, SEGA, appears to have revealed the retail price for the upcoming Persona 3 Reload.
A screenshot from a survey sent out by SEGA was shared on Twitter (the tweet has since been deleted), suggesting that Persona 3 Reload will retail for the price of 69.99 USD. SEGA and Atlus had previously been selling their games for the price of $59.99, so this is essentially a $10 hike that brings them in line with the price at which some other publishers, like Sony, Activision, and Square Enix, sell their games.
SEGA has yet to confirm or deny the higher than expected retail price for Persona 3 Reload. Though, given how other aforementioned publishers have switcher over to the higher price point, it was only a matter of time before SEGA followed suit. The survey appears to be legitimate, and there’s no particular reason to believe that the mentioned price could have been an error of some kind.
With future games from the publisher expected to have higher development cost, the price hike was inevitable. During a Q&A session with investors, SEGA’s parent company, SEGA Sammy Holdings, noted that Sonic Frontiers sold really well, and that a sequel or new entry is expected to receive a bigger budget.
Responding to a question regarding the possibility more large-scale entries in the Sonic series after Frontiers, Sega stated that it expected development costs for new Sonic games to be higher. The publisher remained committed to ensuring solid quality in the development of major new titles from its existing franchises, including the Sonic the Hedgehog series. However, development costs have risen due to the impact of the global recession, and Sega expect this trend to continue for the foreseeable future. Therefore, the publisher is proceeding with a bigger budget for future titles in the series.
