Star Wars: Squadrons: EA is being surprisingly logical with its price

Star Wars: Squadrons will only cost $40, here’s why.

Electronic Arts gets a lot of flack for its business decisions, most of it rightfully deserved. But with Star Wars: Squadrons, the publisher is making the smart decision to release it at a price of $40, which is $20 cheaper than the industry standard $60 that AAA blockbusters are often priced at.

One would think that Star Wars: Squadrons would have the standard price tag based off name alone — we’re talking about Star Wars here — but turns out that won’t be the case. And the reasoning makes perfect sense.

Speaking to investors, COO Blake Jorgensen was asked about the lower price and he was completely upfront about the type of game Star Wars: Squadrons is.

"“We designed this game to really focus on what we heard from consumers, which is one of their greatest fantasies and that’s to be able to fly X-Wing fighter, TIE-Fighter and be in a dogfight and so it doesn’t have the breadth of some of our games but it is still an incredible game and so that’s why we chose to price it at a slightly lower level to also allow access to as many people as possible who had that Star Wars fantasy.”"

Star Wars: Squadrons was initially described as the “definitive” Star Wars experience, but it’s clear based on Jorgensen’s comments and the $40 price that players should not expect a massive game. Yes, it will offer a single-player campaign but make no mistake, Star Wars: Squadrons is a multiplayer-focused title.

If you recall, Star Wars Battlefront was criticized for not including a campaign and EA appears to have learned its lesson by including one in the sequel as well as Squadrons. But for all we know, the campaign could simply be the game’s way of teaching us the basic mechanics.

“This is a very deep and immersive game and that $40 felt like the right price point given the breadth of the game, very proud of what we are doing,” CEO Andrew Wilson added. “We wanted it to be a wholly self-contained experience that was deeply immersive in that fantasy.”

More from App and Gaming News

• Cyberpunk 2077 Update 2.1: Last major update released
• GTA 6: Who is Lucia and what is her role?
• Sonic Dream Team review: A welcome surprise to Apple Arcade
• Is GTA 6 coming to PC at launch in 2025?
• GTA 6 trailer arrives early, confirming 2025 release: Watch it here!

It sounds like EA is being very realistic in the value they see in this game which I have to say comes as a surprise. The publisher could have easily priced this at $60 based on name alone and fans would’ve probably bought it, but they seem to be very self-aware of the type of experience Squadrons will offer.

It’s worth mentioning that EA has displayed this sort of sensical logic in the past with previous games like Plants vs Zombies. And this is honestly how it should be. If a game doesn’t justify a premium price, it shouldn’t have one.

This will be especially important as we head into the next-generation where it’s believed the price of AAA games could increase to $70. Obviously, that’s a steep price but probably justified given the increased cost of game development. However, that won’t be the case for every game that releases for PS5 and Xbox Series X. Publishers need to be smart with their pricing in the next generation and be honest about the value their game provides.