Can you even spend $80 on a game?

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

Have you ever heard of the term "developer's difficulty"? It's a well-documented phenomenon that occurs when games are tested over and over by the same team that made them, causing the overall difficulty to shoot up dramatically because they have both mastered their own creation and lost all sense of perspective on how the game would play for a new player.

I feel that the industry is experiencing a similar issue when it comes to pricing their games — we will call it "developer's money."

I'll admit that this started off as a joke on my part, but there might be something to it...

I mean, if you were working with mind-boggling amounts of money and had a budget sitting in the literal billions, would an $80 — or even $100 — price tag sound like too much to you? No, it really wouldn't — hell, it may even sound generous from that POV.

But I sure as hell can't pay north of $50 for a new game, and I'd honestly be surprised if the average gamer can, either.

So, let me ask you: can you fork out that much money (which seems to be the industry's new goal) without putting yourself in an awkward financial situation — or even just while feeling you can justify it?

Remember: I'm not asking if you SHOULD, only if you CAN — because that's what it all boils down to, and what will ultimately determine whether or not this industry is happily heading toward an iceberg.

 

[LiberoVulpesLiberoVulpes's icon]

Even with regional pricing, its far too much after conversion from USD.

I can literally afford food for 2 weeks for that price, or a bunch of books, or a few new board games.

Its not worth it, I can gain far more for the same price in other things.

 

[Sheepy765]

That's worth an entire 8 hour shift where I used to work. I could buy so many more games for that same price.

 

[Jeff]

$80 for a game is very steep (Welcome to the 90s SNES and Genesis/Mega Drive era), developers keep cramming in everything for the new console to be powerful enough but then backfires after revealing those ridiculous prices which causes the boulder of the industry to roll down the hill instead of being push back to the top. I would have to buy 1-2 weeks worth of groceries, new clothing or toys than buying that much for a game that's either not fully completed or no physical media.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

Even with regional pricing, its far too much after conversion from USD.

I can literally afford food for 2 weeks for that price, or a bunch of books, or a few new board games.

Its not worth it, I can gain far more for the same price in other things.

Exactly! I can buy a ton of better and/or more useful things for that money.

Gaming fails when its prices make it inconvenient for the demographic most vital to its survival: casual players.

 

[030079AR]

yes i could, as long as i really want it. if not, i won't even bother to spend any.
I usually thinking about how much i will spend with replayability or long games that maybe hold for one or two months, usually RPG or open world. if the game is short, or just barely any gameplay, i would wait for price to comes down.

 

[Tsukishima]

Have you ever heard of the term "developer's difficulty"? It's a well-documented phenomenon that occurs when games are tested over and over by the same team that made them, causing the overall difficulty to shoot up dramatically because they have both mastered their own creation and lost all sense of perspective on how the game would play for a new player.

I feel that the industry is experiencing a similar issue when it comes to pricing their games — we will call it "developer's money."

I'll admit that this started off as a joke on my part, but there might be something to it...

I mean, if you were working with mind-boggling amounts of money and had a budget sitting in the literal billions, would an $80 — or even $100 — price tag sound like too much to you? No, it really wouldn't — hell, it may even sound generous from that POV.

But I sure as hell can't pay north of $50 for a new game, and I'd honestly be surprised if the average gamer can, either.

So, let me ask you: can you fork out that much money (which seems to be the industry's new goal) without putting yourself in an awkward financial situation — or even just while feeling you can justify it?

Remember: I'm not asking if you SHOULD, only if you CAN — because that's what it all boils down to, and what will ultimately determine whether or not this industry is happily heading toward an iceberg.

More and more industry giants are ( yes, i'm so terribly sorry to even bring it up in the first place) are openly admitting to using AI to develop video games and it's an insult to the blood, sweat and tears put into a video game that could typically defend a price tag, even a high one.

They're asking for more money for doing less. It's not a video-game industry anymore; it's a monopoly.

I can fork out that money, but that doesn't mean they will even receive a slither of it.

 

[TruxtonTatsujin]

A brand new modern game? Absolutely not. But for a physical copy of a genuinely uncommon old game? I'd consider it. Depends how much I want it and if I think the opportunity to buy it will ever come up again.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

A brand new modern game? Absolutely not. But for a physical copy of a genuinely uncommon old game? I'd consider it. Depends how much I want it and if I think the opportunity to buy it will ever come up again.

That's an important distinction (and I'm glad you brought it up), but I'm specifically talking about the GTA VIs of the world.

 

[polter99]

To be fair, if developer willing to place regional pricing and let's pretend "Multi-variable conversion" as the "regional MSRP", a $79.99 game is about $40 range for a lot of region, especially poor countries like Vietnam and Indonesia. It's still $10 more than my $30 Rule, but if regional pricing is implemented for "Base $80" game, it becomes more affordable.

But we're not living in ideal world, and $80 from a perspective of someone living in poor country, yeah fuck that. I'm going to stick with $30 Rule. Maybe stretch it to $40 from time to time.

Steamwork Regional Pricing Tool​

As such, let's not forget that Schedule I and R.E.P.O. manage to become Platinum tier in product revenue in 2025 against the juggernaut of Wilds, ARC Raider, and Battlefield 6. Even Silksong and PEAK received Silver tier alongside Stellar Blade and Elden Ring.

 

[HoyeBoye]

Honestly, they can get away with it because it is FOR the masses. The people who aren’t buying indie titles. And the masses WILL buy an $80 GTA game because it’s a safe purchase. They know exactly what they are getting and will be entertained with it for a while.
I don’t think I can stomach an $80 AAA game. An $80 homebrew Genesis cart… maybe.

 

[ShinnAsukaYESTaylorSwiftNO]

No
It's just way too expensive for what you're (more often than not) getting in return.

 

[elMorton]

For a digital only release, I don't know. The game needs to have something special to justify that price. For a physical release I'd tolerate upward to ~$90 because having worked at a manufacturing company before, I understand the price of materials have gone insane since then.

But even so I'd still think three times before committing to it.

 

[Kovlak]

I can, but I would only pay that much for a game I trusted to be thoroughly enjoyable and highly replayable for me. Alas I don't trust any current gen game to satisfy me enough.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

(Added a poll because my dumbass didn't think to before).

 

[Netra]

I can, but I don't want to paid even 60 for a license to play a game.

 

[Metroid_Hybrid]

On one hand, no..

But on the other hand, still no (lol)..

But seriously, I vaguely remember dropping $70 on Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for SNES when it first came out. Which almost makes me sick, because according to the bls.gov inflation calculator, is about $148 in today's money..

 

[ichigoww]

The only scenario where I would, is if it was some sort of huge collection of games that haven't gotten a western release or are trapped in older hardware, I'm talking like 10+ games in one, where each one takes 5+ hours to beat

And maybe, just maybe, for a couple of developers I really like, like Falcom or Grasshopper

 

[Appiplyer]

Yeah no way, even considering the regional pricing like my country that's actually had a bunch of games that priced like 1$ after a big discount.

80$ would probably around 30-50 if it's regional pricing around here.

BUT STILL 80$ Was quite literally my living budget for a month (yeah i know i'm a university student and i'm petty as fuck) but considering 80$, was like 1.000.000+ IDR yeah i better off buying 5-7 years old game that's priced reasonably.

 

[Burzuru Burzuru]

i might buy a game that 80% off but not $80.

 

[Eduardo2010]

People are pre ordering this game as soon as they can afford it so they know they can play it on day 1

I also saw someone online justify this by calling the game 'a masterpiece' already...

The worlds gone mad

 

[PSVitaForever]

Maybe I could, but would I feel good? Probably not. The reason because I think I will give up on Switch 2, even if there are many titles that I would like to play.
Also, I have a huge backlog already and the hacked consoles (Vita and 3DS), so... those money can be used for more useful things for sure.

 

[diapered]

$80 for a game is very steep (Welcome to the 90s SNES and Genesis/Mega Drive era)

Huh, I never thought about it but adjusted for inflation, a snes game would be $110-150 today, so in a way, you could argue games are relatively cheap. But the problem is I think expenses like education, insurance, and rent/housing eats up more of a fraction of your take home pay than it did in the 90s. Yes, video games were an expensive luxury, but still something most could afford. I don't think that is true today with how much most are squeezed by the expenses I mentioned.

That said, I can only speak as someone from the US (and I was just born then >_< so take what I say with grain of salt) so hopefully we get someone itt that understands economics better then me >_< But yea, with prices for things now, $80 seems a lot to me O_o

 

[ThunderBoy]

 

[Eduardo2010]

Maybe I could, but would I feel good? Probably not. The reason because I think I will give up on Switch 2, even if there are many titles that I would like to play.
Also, I have a huge backlog already and the hacked consoles (Vita and 3DS), so... those money can be used for more useful things for sure.

I agree. Every time I think about buying a switch 2 or steam deck I pause and think: is there really nothing I would enjoy playing from vita, psp, ps1, SNES, MD etc. etc.?? and I always find something to play...