After the deal with SEGA Sammy to co-publish the Japanese firm’s ESPN franchise of games, which saw a reduction of the prices to just under $20, Take-Two have announced that they envisage a return to the standard $40 retail price when the next-generation of consoles make their appearance at the end of 2005.

Commenting on the possible move, Cindi Buckwalter Take-Two Executive Vice President said, “We continue to evaluate pricing…When the next-generation hardware comes out, we do expect to introduce the sports products at premium prices."

Sports rival EA must have recognised that the ESPN line had started to make in-roads sine they recently dropped the prices on some of their licensed sports titles, but whether the EPSN range will continue to push forward is yet to be seen.

We’ll have more on the ESPN franchise shortly…