Gaming Prices

We all complain about the cost of DLC and the lack of content in the main game. But are games really that expensive?

Game prices seem to have been stuck at $60 since the late 90's/early 2000's. Inflation tends to double prices every 20 years or so, so games should cost approximately $120 nowadays. The prices of games have halved, and this is not entirely due to the introduction of CD's over cartridges (which were very expensive to produce, so higher price) because CD's were used around that same time.

The high cost of advertising and developing games combined with declining prices for video games may be forcing developers to release the optional DLC's that everyone complains about.

As consumers and fans of video games, should we really be complaining about the prices of video games? Should we instead focus our efforts on insuring that AAA companies and other companies listen to their fans on what they want in a game? Or is the current pricing still unreasonable?

if i got anything incorrect here please correct me :)

Tbh I'm happy to pay about £40 for a game, more often than not I really get my money's worth out of them and have a good time along the way. Games that spend years in development (e.g. Final Fantasy XV) undoubtedly honestly deserve the price tag imo and with all the skill and time that go into the majority of games these days, in general the price is justified.

I never complain about game prices. I think 60 is good and would not mind paying 100 for a finely made game. When I was growing up with Super Nintendo games cost usually 70-80 dollars. Granted back then I was not always buying my own games and when I did as a kid I had to save up a lot, but I knew that it was not a cheap hobby and me buying them sometimes taught me that.

I'm fine with spending money to support the people who made the game, irregardless of price. I generally buy online since it's a little cheaper, more reliable and there's no game shop nearby around here. It's more convenient.

It was more of an issue before I had an income but it's not something I worry too much about since I don't buy frequently enough for it to backfire and I've realised they're not too expensive in the grand scheme of things.

BadSheep said:

The high cost of advertising and developing games combined with declining prices for video games may be forcing developers to release the optional DLC's that everyone complains about.

Click to expand...

Well, more often than not, this is actually the result of the way game revenue works.

Namely, a game will receive the bulk of its sales and revenue the month of its release (usually the first couple of weeks, iirc), but after that, the sales will fall exponentially to an unreliable number, and save for rare cases the developer/publisher will not be able to depend on any sales spikes in the future (used games do play a part in this as that initial wave of sales will also result in a large amount of trade-ins, and as such, down the line the vast majority of consumers will be buying those same used copies, thus giving money straight to the third-party retailer rather than the dev/pub). As a result, to lengthen a game's lifespan (and profitability), a company will put out DLC months down the line so that they can see a small bump in revenue when otherwise they would see virtually no money at all during that period.

Not saying it doesn't get abused, of course.

machomuu said:

Well, more often than not, this is actually the result of the way game revenue works.

Namely, a game will receive the bulk of its sales and revenue the month of its release (usually the first couple of weeks, iirc), but after that, the sales will fall exponentially to an unreliable number, and save for rare cases the developer/publisher will not be able to depend on any sales spikes in the future (used games do play a part in this as that initial wave of sales will also result in a large amount of trade-ins, and as such, down the line the vast majority of consumers will be buying those same used copies, thus giving money straight to the third-party retailer rather than the dev/pub). As a result, to lengthen a game's lifespan (and profitability), a company will put out DLC months down the line so that they can see a small bump in revenue when otherwise they would see virtually no money at all during that period.

Not saying it doesn't get abused, of course.

Click to expand...

That makes sense: the video game industry is very seasonal, relying on the holidays to boost sales. So they need to make revenue more consistent after the holidays.

hmm i don't think so price is i think it's good not so high my friend??

I'm not hot on how the price for AAA games or any game is really worked out, so I can't give much insight there, but I do find if a game is over 20€, I wont even think about it. The last game I did this for was Overwatch, and I barely play the game. I should but I don't know enough people to play with, and I hate playing online games alone. Regardless, I tend to wait for sales and stuff, unless it's a game that I really want. As is happening with NieR Automata. Holy hell I want that game so bad and it's like, 60€ or something. But it looks so goooooood.

But too much. Unless I really get a hand in the YouTube scene, I'm going to hold off buying games unless they're on sale/under 20€ anyway, because it's just too much to keep forking out over every new game, especially when game developers these days seem to focus on the hype selling rather than an actually good quality game *cough* Mass Effect Andromeda *cough*

I'm ok for paying around 40$-60$ a game, that is a fair price considering how much work and effort some developers put into these games.

The real problems are mobile games demanding far more money just to stay on toe with others.

If I actually had $60 I would probably be fine with the price. c;

It really depends on the developer, the game, the reviews and other factors besides for me. One thing I'll never ever do is preorder a game for such a price. Or any game for that matter. Preordering is bad, unless its a special edition with like, some model or exclusive that isn't software.

Very recently AAA games have been on sale day 1 for around 60-70$. Titles like Battlefront and No Mans Sky for example, Battlefront was 70$ day 1 iirc, and NMS was 60$. Correct me if I'm wrong. But mainly the price rise is linked to pre-orders prevailing, and developers cashing in on the initial hype for their games.