WARDOGS CEO Says Games Are Priced Too Low for Development Costs

WARDOGS CEO Joe Brammer has weighed into the ongoing debate about game pricing, arguing that titles are underpriced relative to their development costs.

In a post on X, Brammer responded to comments from Double Fine's Tim Schafer about the economics of game development and industry layoffs. Brammer stated that development costs are "too high" and games are too cheap, pointing to GTA 6 as a case where the industry could have adjusted prices upward.

"GTA 6 had a chance to raise the bar and they didn't do it, so we'll keep going round," Brammer wrote. He added that studios should be more direct about the need for higher prices rather than avoiding the conversation.

To illustrate his point, Brammer compared WARDOGS's price of £36.99 to a single train journey that cost him £30. "I just paid £30 for a train journey one way, wardogs cost £36.99," he noted, suggesting consumers accept higher costs for other services without question.

WARDOGS, a tactical FPS developed by Bulkhead and published by Team17, has performed well commercially since its early access launch on Steam. The game sold over 2 million copies during its launch week and peaked at over 400,000 concurrent players, with around 250,000 playing concurrently at the time of Brammer's comments. The game remains exclusive to PC for now, with console versions for PlayStation and Xbox not arriving until 2028.

Brammer's remarks reflect broader industry concerns about the gap between game prices and the cost of development in 2024 and beyond. The conversation touches on recurring studio closures and layoffs that developers have attributed partly to economic pressures.