Square Enix has attracted criticism from gamers with the reveal of its $69.99 price point for Forspoken and Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade on PC.
The Game Awards took place last night and the show was jam-packed with all sorts of fun announcements. Unfortunately, a not so great piece of news flew under the radar -- specifically, the price of two upcoming Square Enix games on PC.
The first of the two games is Forspoken; first highlighted at the September 2021 PlayStation Showcase, this game tells the tale of a woman named Frey Holland who was magically transported from New York City to the mystical (and dangerous) land of Athia. Its $69.99 price point is clearly listed on its Steam Store page.
The second game is a bit more of a toss-up. Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade -- whose PC version was revealed in a leak earlier this year -- does not currently list a price. However, a report from The Gamer highlighted several Reddit posts talking about a $70 price point and that warranted further investigation, revealing a $69.99 price point in the Epic Games Store page's source code.
A $70 price point has been the norm for big next-gen games on PlayStation 5, but not everyone was happy about the price bump. Unsurprisingly, PC gamers do not appear to be taking this news well, either.
Gamers Balk at Square Enix's Price for Forspoken and FF7 Remake Intergrade
As one might expect, several submissions have already popped up on Reddit criticizing Square Enix's decision to price Forspoken and Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade at $69.99.
"When Sony preached about the new next-gen prices they spieled about new gamepad features, divine SSD, 4k at 120FPS and bla bla bla, now how does SE justify the $10 increase of the price for those games for PC's keyboard and mouse community who (apart from gamepad whose features aren't even supported outside PS5) already had those high-tech features?" read one Reddit submission. "'Lol, FU[,'] that's how."
"$115 AUD [Australian Dollars]. Square Enix are delirious with that price," read a Reddit comment in a separate submission. "Straight to the ignore list that crap goes."
Criticism on Twitter is there, too, although it's somewhat drowned out by hype from the announcements. Of course, we can probably expect the inevitable YouTube videos and rants from Twitch streamers about the price bump as well.
Lest we forget, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is also an Epic Games Store exclusive. Considering that it was originally a PlayStation console exclusive, quite a few people are upset about having to wait even longer to play it on Steam.
Square Enix has not yet responded to these criticisms as far as we can see. Whether or not these games remain at a $69.99 price point remains to be seen. We'll find out for certain when Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade launches on December 16, 2021.
What do you think of the $69.99 price point on the PC versions of Forspoken and FF7 Remake Intergrade? What do you think AAA games should be priced at? Let us know in the comments below!