According to gi.biz, Sony has announced the prices of it’s first-party and downloadable games, that will be available alongside the EU PS3 launch:

Sony has announced pricing plans for first-party PlayStation 3 titles, revealing that disc-based games will cost EUR 59.99 / GBP 39.99 at launch. Sony also hinted at pricing for downloadable games such as BlastFactor, flOw and Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, which will be available via the PlayStation Network service. For an “introductory period”, they will cost between EUR 2.99 and EUR 9.99.

If that’s true, then it seems us Europeans have got some good news to talk about for a change. I was expecting PS3 games to retail at £49.99, possibly around £44.99 online, so to hear that first-party games like Resistance: Fall of Man, MotorStorm and F1 Championship Edition etc will retail at £39.99 (possibly £34.99 online) is great news. Obviously 3rd party games like CoD3, THP8 and Oblivion will still more than likely retail at £49.99.

It’s also good to see that downloadable games such as Tekken 5: DR and Calling All Cars could cost as little as £1.50 initially. Dodgy Euro conversions not withstanding of course. 😉

I don’t know if this is just for the launch period or whether ALL of Sony’s future first-party games will have a RRP of £39.99. I hope it’s the former but I doubt it. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve done this to combat the likelihood of people importing first-party PS3 games from Japan/North America, as they are supposed to be region free. Still some good news for a change

Sony announces prices for first-party PS3 games