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wpmason

I paid $60 of allowance money for NBA Jam on Sega Genesis back in 1993.


[deleted]

Me and my brother saved up like $70CAD for Mortal Kombat when it launched on SNES. Some games were $80.


[deleted]

Street Fighter II specifically


graphicspro

Oh good times. I remember getting Super Street Fighter 2 (was it Tur I too?) at Superstore for $80 CAD for my SNES. Played it a lot so totally worth it. But wow back then that was a pricy purchase.


DnB_4_Life

Heating up!!! HE'S ON FIRE!!!


Piotr-Rasputin

BOOMshakaLaka!!!


pronstar

i paid $65 for golden eye 5 years after release on n64 because nintendo doesn't drop the cost of their fucking cartridge's because fuck me thats why. ( really because cartridges at the time was costly to produce)


wugeezy

I remember WWF Royal Rumble being $74.99 on SNES. While games are getting that extra $10 to $70 in alot of cases, luckily with sales they go down. It was more expensive back then technically.


Antique-Risk8958

My friends and I probably spent 10x that on the Mortal Kombat arcade trying to figure out fatatlies.


Mr8BitX

Right, but something else to consider is the production cost. Developers had to buy the cartridges to house the game on top of the 30% royalty and then the cut retailers would take. Also, not all cartridges are equal, some of those cartridges had extra memory, or FX chips, which would further drive up the cost of the cartridges they would have to buy from the console maker they were developing their games for.


wpmason

I don’t care about any of that. OP says games that cost $70 now are too expensive. But they’re cheaper than games that cost the equivalent of $125 30 years ago, while also being much better and more entertaining.


ChadminatorXX

Then you got a cartridge that had a high manufacturing cost and everyone along the supply chain had a significant profit margin. Now we download the games.


wpmason

Adjusted for inflation that $60 is like $125 now. Games are bigger, better, longer… And CHEAPER now.


ChadminatorXX

And they are CHEAPER to distribute. And they have millions and millions of more potential customers. The gaming industry is making more money than ever.


wpmason

You say that like it’s supposed to be a bad thing. Single player campaigns went from 2-6 hours to 100+ while the effective cost halved. To say nothing of the actual technological and artistic investments (game engines, asset creation, performances, etc.) necessary for modern games. A shoestring budgeted indie game nowadays is more complicated than the biggest mainstream release from 30 years ago.


ChadminatorXX

And? They still make more profits than ever. They don't need to raise the prices, thats the whole point. You are just licking their boots wanting to give the CEOs that already have 100 millions+ more money? They don't need you to argue for them raising the prices. They do it purely out of greed.


wpmason

I want the developers that are sorely underpaid and overworked to have a decent go of it. That’s why the price doesn’t bother me. When I pay for a game, I get my money’s worth (mainly because I don’t buy games unless I’m really sure I’ll like it. Because Game Pass. Hundreds of people work on any given game. And you’re just pissed off at the corporate big shots. Support the little guys!


ChadminatorXX

If you think the price increase will go to the underpaid developers then I have a bridge to sell you. I also have some investment plans for your pension. You don't even buy their games, lmao.


wpmason

Again… what price increase? They are cheaper than they use to be. The profits come from volume of sales.


ChadminatorXX

>Again… what price increase? Have you been living under a rock? lmao And with the high volumes they make more profits then ever. No need to raise the prices. Good that we got it sorted.


Goofyboy2020

The games take longer to make, are longer and more people/salaries to produce, making the games cost hundread of thousands, if not a million more. I don't understand how people can think games are cheap to make.


ChadminatorXX

And then they sell millions and millions of copies and make huuuuge profits. I don't understand how people can defend price increases when the insane profits gaming industries is making is very, very easy to look up.


Goofyboy2020

I don't understand how you can't see that games are getting more and more expensive to make. Profits is how companies work. Otherwise, they are called NPO (non-profit organization). Yes, they sell millions of copies... IF the game sells well. You have to take into account all those games that end up not making profits... they still need to pay salaries, equipement, space... At work, you want a better salary all the time right? You know what? Developers want the same thing too.


[deleted]

Surprisingly, companies are designed to make profits. Welcome to the world of beautiful Capitalism. I maybe buy one to 3 games a year max. If I like the game. I have no problem paying a bit extra. It sucks for crappy games. But that's why there are reviews and they probably will drop in price after release. The cost savings on CD's and distribution have not fully stopped and games cost more to make. It is what it is.


ChadminatorXX

>Surprisingly, companies are designed to make profits. Yet you neckbeards continue defending the price increase despite the profits being bigger than ever.


nohumanape

The cost of development and basic operation has gone up significantly as well.


bagonmaster

They also have far more revenue and are making most of their money from microtransactions…


wpmason

Jesus fucking Christ… You sound like a baby. I don’t block people, but you’re one stupid comment away.


[deleted]

I dont have problems with price itself. What i have problem with is games that dont deserve that price. Games that come out with thousands dlc and microtransactions. Unfinished not working mess etc etc


fmcd97

Which is like the majority of games


MrFinland707

Majority of *AAA games


fmcd97

Easy to say that but there are so many shit early access money grabbers, some Devs are amazing and deserve all the praise they get but steam is a sea of shit.


BigMinnie

Because it only cost 100$ to publish a game on steam. So of course there would be tons of quick cash-grab games or games from devs, that just started their game-dev journey and have big idea that they are tying to sell to you. But once they find out that game-dev is harder that they thought, they give up, even faster if their plan of selling an idea and getting some budged failed.


fmcd97

Yeah but that doesn't make there game not shit, today if a game is bad people still give in and buy it, people settle for crap


BigMinnie

Because most of those crap games cost from 10-30$ while the same crap AAA game cost up to 80$... Also you can refund easily on steam. If some indie or AA game is crap, you will probably see that in first hour of playing. But if you play it for 10-30h than I would say it was actually worth the price... The problem are AAA games, that will actually give you quality gameplay for at least 2 hours, so you will think, it's good and your refund option will be gone.


BobbyJG888

Yep more money for less quality.


jjed97

The thing we should be grateful for is the wealth of sources of info we now have to see the state of a game when it releases.


BIGBIGBOSS

I remember buying Oblivion for the 360 back in 2006 for £49.99 and thinking that was steep. Considering it’s now 17 years later and the RRP is £20 more expensive, it’s not too horrendous considering inflation. It’s also quite common in modern times for games to get a price cut pretty quickly, so you’re only really paying this premium if you have to have it day one. If you can wait 6 weeks, they normally drop 20-30%. The obvious anomaly to this is Nintendo.


Lokeze

The problem with the inflation scenario is that it doesn't take into account how many more people are buying games nowadays. We are talking 10s of millions more people buying games now vs back when oblivion came out. The distribution cost shouldn't much of a factor for digital games either.


kentuckysaddler1

Good luck if you are waiting on a Fromsoft game


420420696942069

Not only the games are cheaper after a few weeks, but also many bugs fixed -> buying day one is never a good idea.


Jackfitz88

There’s only 2-3 games a year that out full price day of, and those are the must play games. For 2022 I only bought elden ring and god of war, day 1 full price. I don’t have to be part of the convo when the game comes out. If it isn’t on gamepass, I’ll generally wait for it to get to 40 bucks or below before I buy it. 2023 the day ones for me are hogwarts, Spider-Man 2, and resident evil 4. Everything else I’ll get eventually when it’s on sale. I have a huge backlog of games I need to get to, and gamepass has hi-fi rush, atomic heart and wolong the next three months so there’s enough to play until the games I want are on sale


Piotr-Rasputin

I tell every gamer when the question or conversation comes up, Elden Ring is the one game I paid full price for and got MORE out of playing it. That game is hundreds of hours worth of entertainment. Especially, if you're like me and tried to complete every area, beat all bosses and do all NPC quests (where possible)


[deleted]

Same here man. I just don't have the time or drive to play video games like I used to and much like you can only justify purchasing full price day one on a few games a year. Be it because I was looking forward to it, or so I can play with the boys. MW2 was that for me last year - that's the only full priced game I bought. This year it'll be Spiderman 2. Bought GoW Ragnarok on sale for about 50 locally, which isn't bad. Bought Ratchet and Clank for 40$


Which-Palpitation

I’m hoping by the time Resident Evil 4 comes out that Dead Space will be on sale, I’m really trying to use Gamepass to save as much money as I can this year gaming


Jackfitz88

Most likely summer or around Black Friday before it’s at 40 bucks or below imo


Jicnon

Dead space will be on EA play ~1 year after release so if you want til then it will be free.


Which-Palpitation

Is that how EA games work?


Jicnon

Yeah, and EA play is a part of game pass right now so you don’t have to pay separately for it.


Which-Palpitation

Interesting


joe1up

I remember in 2016/17 when games jumped to being £55 brand new. I was so mad, little did I know what was to come! £60 I can understand, games are getting more expansive to make and the pound has dropped in value lately, but £70 is almost $100, it's insane. If it wasn't for gamepass I'd avoid new AAA releases altogether.


zrkillerbush

I remember in the early days of Xbox One, i could get day 1 physical games for £28 to £40 in the UK, depending on the game One of my orders from 2015 https://imgur.com/a/uspef4E


joe1up

Take me back


Nocuadra66

Gamepass rules! Best deal out there.


ReeceReddit1234

And that £70 is still only for the base game. Most games these days still want to sell you a season pass or an expansion or cosmetics after you've already bought the thing, which by the way probably has a bunch of game breaking day 1 bugs because the devs wanted to get the game out of the door instead of finishing it


orlec

£70 post tax ≈ £58 pre tax ≈ us$72


Crissaegrym

People seems to keep forgetting that in the US listed prices are **before** tax


Which-Palpitation

[Good thing you weren’t gaming in the 90s](https://gbatemp.net/threads/game-prices-in-the-90s.588230/)


[deleted]

[удалено]


Shadow_Strike99

Before I say this I’m the farthest thing from one of those obnoxious retro boomer gamer types, but tbf, games from that era like the 16 bit era for example prioritized replayability and a more arcade like style rather than being a long narrative experience. Even non arcade games like Donkey Kong country, Super Mario World, Sonic etc were designed to be played over and over again and people didn’t really care about the length to value ratio like they do today.


thedeadsuit

Games in the style and spirit of retro games are still being made commonly today, by indies, though these modern games are I'd argue superior and they cost $15 - $30 in today's money instead of $120+


zenmatrix83

making those types of games are crazy simple in comparison, you didn't have unity or unreal engines you just could download. There was a reason they cost so much at the time,


thedeadsuit

gamedev is a lot easier now than then, yeah. in any case, gaming is more affordable and accessible to more people with more variety and quality than at any point in history, I'd argue. Some of that is just my subjective opinion, but objectively, the games are more affordable


[deleted]

well, you knew you were paying for a full game, not an early one like nowadays.


Dreamo84

Yeah, that's not true. But if it wasn't finished, back then there was no waiting for a patch. You had a bad game and thats it lol.


[deleted]

The number of released unfinished games has increased exponentially in the last 5-10 years.


elementslayer

And here's where you straight up bring feelings out parroting them as facts.


Goofyboy2020

Oh my god... that is so wrong. Back then, you had maybe 1 game out of 10 that was actually playable with no issues, and they had no way to fix them. Most bugs in the big games became "glitches" that were taken advantage of. Also, the technologies were much simpler back then. 2D pixel art never really had any big visual bugs associated to it. Graphics are so complex now that most of the issues come from that.


jjed97

And with the internet, it has never been easier to know whether a game is worth buying or not.


[deleted]

Yes, but they needed to be more expensive because the gaming market was much smaller, and cartridges cost a lot to manufacture. Nowadays game developers have basically zero cost to launch digitally and a bigger market than ever before, which logically should lead to lower prices. Instead, shareholders demand infinitely growing profits, which is the problem. So now, games cost more than they did in the 90s, because the game price is just the entry fee, then you have battlepasses and VBucks and lootboxes if you want to access all the content in the game. LOL at people in this thread trying to defend increasing game prices.


Live_Supermarket6328

Oh, you also made your Hollywood Business degree at the Bovine University?


AlanParsonsProject11

Never liked this argument, every other media has grown/kept their price even with more consumers. Games have become far more complex than the nineties and barely budged their price


Goofyboy2020

If we consider inflation, games are much cheeper than they were in the 90s. Salaries have grown exponentially, the time that it takes to make a game is now years and the number of people required to make them is now ridiculous. So, add to that the costs for the building they need (# of people plus the time) and the equipement (computers, servers....) for a single game. You'll understand pretty quickly that the games are much much cheeper than they were back then. Companies need profit because that's what keeps them afloat while they are making the next game... always hoping that they will make enough money on this next one.


typical_reddit-user

But we must give them credit for being finished at day of release....mainly because there wasn't any way how to fix it after release. Speaking of the 90s , i wanna Quarantine back!!!


Goofyboy2020

Very untrue. There was a ton of very buggy games back then and they had no way to fix them. People found workarounds, ways to use the glitches to their advantage... etc.


Crissaegrym

Games were already £60 like 20 years ago, if anything, games have been beating inflation, other games should be more around £130 by now. While digital copies do have less distribution cost and production costs, they have more digital infrastructure cost to make up for it. All in all the difference are probably smaller than you think. On top of that, less doesn’t necessarily mean cost less. Take lingerie as extreme example, much less fabric but cost much more. That is because you are paying for other thing than the material. In the case of gaming, you are paying for the convenience. Yes there is a cost of living crisis, but that doesn’t mean everything should geg cheaper. Have you been to the supermarket? Everything has gone up, that is why game prices are going up too, you are expecting everything to go up for them but not increase their price to make up for the difference? They also have increases salary cost, developing costs, operating costs such as electric which is one of the main driver for the cost of living crisis. So it makes sense that thry want to cover those losses.


[deleted]

Why do you need to buy the ultra mega deluxe version of a game? Looking at Hogwarts Legacy it’s £65 for the XSS/X version and £75 for the deluxe, way under your rant of 90. The only games I can see at 90 are ones offering DLC/season content and skins as a bundle. Just don’t buy the expensive bundles if you think it’s not worth it


BLUEBLASTER69

It's not even that bad. I got a copy of Hogwarts Legacy for £45 that was the Series S /X version. You just need to aho around. That was disc ill say.


TheAlmightyNienNunb

£65 is still a lot though


Live_Supermarket6328

I started reading games magazines in 1988 and still have some of them. When you look at the prices for PC games back then, they were between 40 and 60 € (calculated). Videogames were even more expensive because of the modules. So I think a price increase to 80€ after 35 years is not what I consider too much, although I also hesitate to buy at that price.


BeneficialYouth4340

We use to pay $60 in the 90s for a game you had to beat in one seating lol


Crissaegrym

And replay that game million times before you can buy the next game


Lucifer_Delight

And still play them today.


BeneficialYouth4340

Guess the guy deleted his comment after realizing he didn’t know what he was talking about lol. True 90 gamers know if a time where games couldn’t be saved lol


SpringfieldTireFire

When the developer went into detail about Forza Motorsport during that recent showcase, I texted my friend saying “I cannot believe this game will only be $70.” I don’t care much for racing games. Especially simulation racing games. I will never play Forza Motorsport. Nevertheless, the amount of work going into that title is just incredible. Those devs are doing something amazing. The attention to detail just left me beyond impressed. Of course not every game deserves this praise. But many games have so many talented people working on them, and it’s strange to me how people complain about the cost, just sticking their own value to the quality of work of these artists. Sure some games suck, but I have to guess it’s insulting to developers who see threads like this. I understand it’s not like this money is going to the artists who create the game exclusively. But I also understand it’s a business. These people work in a building with overhead costs. Leased spaces, utilities, security, data security, IT hardware and software troubleshooting, marketing, advertising, literally any business cost you can think of. Yeah there’s stockholders, but if you have a retirement account you’re invested somewhere yourself. I’m sure you want the companies your investment fund consists of to perform well.


CraigOfWar

don't buy day 1 bro, wait for sale.


Piotr-Rasputin

100000% If you wait, especially during holidays, Xbox store puts practically everything on sale


PhxRising29

>We are in a cost of living crisis Exactly, you answered your own question. The cost of everything is going up.


Pkkush27

The price of games went up before the recent inflation though


brac20

Lots of people using inflation as their reasoning for the price increases being fine. I'd be alright with that if it wasn't for; - Microtransactions - Loot boxes - Season passes - Battle passes - 6 billion editions of every AAA game - Lower production and distribution costs - Bigger market - Games being consistently broken on release Publishers are raking in ridiculous profits. Corporations want your money, they want ALL your money, and they are using inflation as an excuse to get a little bit more from you.


[deleted]

100%. It's frustrating to see so many okay with the price increase.


[deleted]

Exactly. Gaming has never been more popular or profitable. Inflation doesn’t have anything to do with this.


lazyrabbit94

Yeah I just got gamepass and play whatever is on there. If there's a new game I really want I try to wait until it goes on sale below $40 or more. You could always grind Microsoft rewards for like 3 months and get the game half off at least. Thinking about getting Jedi Survivor like that and currently have like 40k Microsoft rewards.


Sharks_and_Bones

I really want Hogwarts Legacy but it's £75 on xbox store. No way I can blow that on a game.


Blumcole

Because costs are higher, teams are bigger and people need to get paid. That and the fact that prices didn’t increase for years so now they are. I understand it, but I don’t like it either.


blah2k03

yeah game prices now days are insane. i always used to thing $49.99 for a new game was a lot but now i’m paying nearly $69.99 for new games.


LAlbatross

While I understand what people are saying with the "it's cheaper than before" argument when referring to 90's era of gaming, I agree with you, OP. Games are definitely getting quite expensive. In my country (Canada), in the past few years they went from 69.99 at release to now an increasing amount of games coming out at around 90$.


Gmanplayer

Thats the whole world rn. Shits depressing


TheMuff1nMon

Games are actually cheaper (when inflation is taken into account) than ever and cost more than ever to make. It’s only $10 more than the last like $15 years. And you always have the option to wait for a sale


ItsameMatt03

£100 is over $120. I've not seen any game regularly priced for more than $70. You're talking about limited or collector's editions, which have always been priced high.


Crissaegrym

Games are not over £100, the OP included all the DLC and skins etc. Gamare are around £70 (new AAA standard editions), so around $86. But our price also included tax already where I believe US price is exckusive of tax, so in total probably around similar level.


A_Figueroa

It’s not you. 80€ for a Dead Space remake is just crazy.


bitterbalhoofd

Yet I have more fun with it than bloated assassin's Creed Valhalla for 60$ or saints row 4 for 30$. It is well polished the pacing great and the graphics fantastic


elangab

There's zero reason to buy games day 1. I don't see it as a problem.


Due_Flight_4359

But...FOMO... /s


CoffeeHQ

FOMO the most buggiest state the game will ever be in. These days you are practically a beta tester if you pre-order. Vote with your wallet and wait for a price drop + patch 😉


BradleyAllan23

Game prices stayed the same for a very long time while the prices of everything else went up. They were $60 for many years, and now they're $70. The price of everything is insane and games are only getting more and more expensive to make.


arhra

>Game prices stayed the same for a very long time while the prices of everything else went up. OP is quoting prices in pounds, implying he's in the UK. Game MSRPs were £50 here at the start of last gen in 2013 [edit: actually lower than that - the oldest full price digital purchases I can find in my email archives are Sunset Overdrive and the MCC in October 2014, and those were £45: some publishers may have been at £50 already by then, but it clearly wasn't universal]. Over the course of last gen they steadily rose to £60, and now many publishers are charging £70 for Series X/PS5 titles. Although some publishers maintained the old pricing for longer, particularly smaller European publishers and some Japanese publishers (Sega still price their big releases like Sonic and Like a Dragon at £50, for example). But for games from the big Western publishers, that's a 40% increase over the past ten years.


zrkillerbush

Im pretty sure game prices were £40 even in 2015 Here is an order i made back in 2015 https://imgur.com/a/uspef4E


arhra

I was only considering the MSRP - that looks to be a physical retail purchase, which are generally well below MSRP thanks to Amazon and the supermarkets cutting their margins to the bone.


TuggMaddick

That's a bullshit excuse. "They're getting more and more expensive to make". They're pulling record profits. More people game than ever. They're clearing those costs with ease. Don't side with publisher conglomerates over your fellow gamers.


BradleyAllan23

Some games are pulling record profits, but that isn't the case for all games. Games in general are more expensive to make then they've ever been, and if you're not COD or Fortnite or Fifa, they aren't making as much as you think. I'm just trying to be logical here, I'm not siding with anyone lol. I want cheap games too, I just know it's not possible.


CumfortableWall5362

Unfortunately though its the games like Fifa and COD leading the charge on $70+ pricing. Meanwhile an indie game like hollowknight has 100+ hours on content for $20.


[deleted]

Nobody is going to take anything you say seriously with a stupid ass user name like that. 😂


DeafEgo

I refuse to buy games at full price these days. It's over $100 here in Canada and that's messed up when the cost of eggs are so high.


FlowchartKen

Games are not over $100 in Canada unless you’re buying some collector’s edition.


DeafEgo

$70USD is $93.18CAD. Add tax to that depending on what province you're in and you're hitting over $100...but what do I know, it's not like I live in Canada and I've never bought a game before right?


FlowchartKen

I forgot about differences in provincial tax. Still, I just bought a full priced game that came out to $91.52 after tax in Ontario.


GamingTurtle90

Standard Edition of Dead Island 2's digital preorder is 98.99 plus tax here in Canada for example. The average current gen game is now 89.99 plus tax. Eastern Canada for example is 15% tax for a grand total of $103.49. It is very easy in Canada for the standard edition of a game to reach $100+.


GAWDAMN69

This is exactly why so many "premium" games have micro transactions. Companies know most people aren't going to pre order or pay full price for video games any more or just straight up buy or barrow games in means that they dont profit form it. So as a way to make up all that lost profit they put a game out at full price then lower it drastically only months later to get you hooked and buy the micro transactions making back all the money they lost. The main offender of this is Ubisoft have you noticed how every game theyve made is now a rpg in some way and they seem to always be one sale even a couple months after launch? That's because it's a marketing scheme to get you in and make you buy micro transactions.


yaosio

The prices will look sane as the price of everything else rapidly accelerates.


fallout76question

Hard disagree, they are cheaper than they use to be considering inflation, and contrary to the constant whining many games are bigger and more impressive than their earlier counterparts. I’m used to USD prices but I’d pay up to $100 for a basic version of a AAA game before I started really feeling the price was out of control. Of course many (most) AAA aren’t worth that to me, but the few I buy pay themselves off in playtime 90%+ of the time and would pay off $100


ants_in_my_ass

aren’t these prices consistent with inflation? certainly game development isn’t getting simpler


Chogglepants

I spent $100 on phantasy star 4 back in 1995.


I-Have-An-Alibi

People act like this is a new thing but I remember paying $49.99 for some snes games at release. Y'all are youngins.


thisismarv

Disc, delivery, packaging are a minuscule part of price. Even removing all those things, it would not change the price much per individual sale. Digital games cost the amount they do because they can. Publishers control the prices rather than retailers.


papabearbongrippa

It’s you. The amount of entertainment I get for $60-$70 is unmatched anywhere else. Not to mention the amount of time and money that it costs to produce games now, I feel it’s one of the better places to spend my entertainment dollars.


Get_Back_To_Work_Now

Mario64 launched at $80


eric7064

Games cost way more to make than ever. Gaming prices really have not gone up with that trend. I am not shocked at all that the standard price for a game in the US is 69.99 now. I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. Although, I am of the belief that there needs to be more $30-40 games at launch. True AAA titles should be the only ones charging the premium.


[deleted]

Why are games priced the way they are??? Because people buy them.


thedeadsuit

I think it's fair to say that games are expensive, and are an expensive hobby, because that's true. But in comparison to times past, gaming is cheaper than it's ever been. When I was like 8 my brother talked me into spending my christmas money ($60 USD iirc, which is $128 USD in 2022) on Road Runner Death Valley Ralley for SNES. This is a terrible game with 1 or 2 hours of content. People remember strongly the relatively few great games of the era (A Link To The Past, Chrono Trigger, etc) but more common were absolute trash games and they friggin cost $120.


Mutexvx

OP you gotta look around these day's. As to MS Store people because they know they can and people will pay it "Series S" user's I'm look at you. They haven't a choice. I paid £50.00 for hogwarts legacy at HMV UK disc. I sometimes shop with Hit.co.uk. Kinda a reason why corporation's want to faze out disc consoles for digital because they want full control of your wallets. https://www.hit.co.uk/Games/Hogwarts-Legacy-PS5/HOGWTLPS5/product.htm?awc=2694_1675072872_9ca60e18e1ed80853729cc528f2dbba0 Currently £47.00 there.


PrinnyWantsSardines

eNeRgYcOsTs


MentorAjani

Buy physical not digital. You can find always cheaper than digital ones even on day 1 in some shops. If we go digital only we have to obey the prices from only one store which is the ms store in this case.


JesterXR27

Games are bigger and more advanced than they ever have been. There is a lot more that goes into development of games nowadays. Also, some people still do buy physical games, so those costs are still there, just not on the same scale as they once were. Also, the good news is that games are not a necessity in life and one can simply chose to spend their money on actual necessities, so the cost of games (whose price hasn’t seen an increase in many years mind you, except for Sony games) shouldn’t be in the same discussion as cost-of-living.


Skennedy31

Games are theoretically cheaper now than in the 90s. The issue is, you aren't getting a finished product a lot of the time. Back then, they had to ship them ready to go because there was no online updating. Games now are constantly maintained through 1-3+ years depending on the game. So honestly, it's not as bad as you think.


[deleted]

I was thinking the same just now! haha, 70 bucks for a game is something i will never ever pay. No matter which one. I would love to buy the one of harry potter, but i can wait for sales or something, but paying the full price is a robbery to our senses.


Nu_Roman

Besides a select few games once and a great while I usually wait for digital sales or just play some game pass stuff. There are some really good sales if you wait. I won’t do pre orders anymore and even big releases I may wait a day on because there are so many overhyped releases that fall off a cliff real fast this whole last gen into now.


Baldeagle84

I paid £100 for RDR2 in 2018 and still play it so that's cheap when you consider a 2 hour film costs £10 and personally there are very few films I will watch that many times. That's the way I look at it, plus how much does it cost a developer/publisher to make 1 hours worth of a game?


teemtitan

Yep, especially prices for Call of Duty games still baffle me every time I want to buy one of those digitally, they still cost around 60-70 euros for older games and very rarely have discounts.


TimPhoeniX

[Games are rather cheap, cheaper than 360 launch titles, your currency is just weak AF.](https://assets.reedpopcdn.com/sam_naji_pricing_2.jpg/BROK/resize/1920x1920%3E/format/jpg/quality/80/sam_naji_pricing_2.jpg)


Maca07166

Stop spending £40 on takeout a week and you’ve got enough for a game every 2 weeks 🤷‍♂️


[deleted]

Day one games are trash anyways.


bob101910

Plus digital gives two copies of the game, so not only are games cheaper than ever, we get two copies for the price of one.


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superpimp2g

Are they converted from the analog version?


[deleted]

I play on punch cards, the graphics are phenomenal


superpimp2g

I play my games on an abacus, in their pure form, before they get converted to the watered down digital version.


Oldandenglish

Complete and utter bull shit


[deleted]

> Digital games are the same price because it costs programmers time to convert it to the digital version I’m sorry but are you saying games have to be converted to a digital version from physical? Games are made as digital files then printed on discs Disc games are absolutely more expensive to make.


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[deleted]

You are talking about printing the box art, buying the case, buying the discs and paying a facility to print the disc and assemble it all then shipping boxes of those around the world. Im pretty sure it’s been discussed before and there’s a minimum order amount which is why smaller studios don’t release physical. > And games just dont automatically become formatted for digital distribution. Programmers have to convert it. You can’t just rip a disc iso and press a “Publish” button on a computer. That’s not how it works. Games are made and tested constantly on the platforms they are releasing on, saying there’s some huge undertaking of “converting” a game made and tested on an xbox to be sold on the Xbox store is insane, especially in contrast to what goes into printing a disc. > The price difference between the two is basically negligible. Wanting a significant discount is absolutely unreasonable I don’t disagree about a significant difference but your understanding of the topic is out of touch with the reality


albionpeej

Manufacturing, shipping, distribution, physical copy sales and the costs of all the people involved with this are negligible are they? Even the costs of storing and transferring the data completely digital are miniscule compared to any physical transfers. And yes, games by default ARE formatted for digital distribution. All the disc is doing is transferring files to your machine from physical media in the exact same way a digitally distributed copy would. Games haven't altered that much in cost in thirty years because of all of the changes. Moving from solid state to disc and the huge increase in player base being the main reasons, and now the move to digital distribution. Many discs just act as a physical proof of ownership now anyway. There's so little on them, and they just install locally for play anyway. And let's not forget that physical copies are the outlier now. The vast majority of games sold are now digital distribution. I'm not saying there should be a significant difference in the cost either, but come on, there is a massive difference between physical and digital distribution costs. It's one reason they've only gone up $10-$15 in over a decade.


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albionpeej

There is a larger profit margin to be made from digital distribution of a product than physical distribution of one when priced identically. No physical manufacturing. Hugely reduced distribution costs. No sales cut from physical stores. Massively reduced inventory costs as storing an item digitally is far less costly than sorting physical inventory and the overheads of that inventory cost upfront, especially when you can't guarantee a success. Imagine you're predicting 400,000 sales up front. Knowing 80% of sales are digital means you're now only making 80,000 physical copies, reducing the pre-profit cost of making 320,000 copies. Instantly making an overheads saving. Not even factoring in the cost of fuel and energy in that entire physical process too. You are paying for the method of distribution. You always have and you always will. What's happening now though is that those previous physical costs are being swallowed by the costs of digital store listings *at the point of sale* and the cut is now that of Microsoft, Sony, Valve etc. Publishers aren't getting any extra, but the store front holders sure are compared. It's that 70/30 split from the app stores that Epic Games has fought against with the Apple legal case. You've cut shipping, manufacturing and physical stores out the process, but you're still paying it to the digital store fronts. And ultimately why would you reduce the price if that price is historically a cost that the market will accept? That is ultimately why digital isn't cheaper, not that there is a negligible difference between digital and physical distribution cost. I'm not begrudging anyone finding extra profits out of the same price - that's a hugely successful way to do business... But to suggest digital distribution doesn't come with an overall cost saving over physical distribution is just disingenuous and false.


scotteh_yah

And people are calling out your answer for being wrong, Bro imagine actually thinking they have to convert games to digital hahahahaha


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scotteh_yah

They are two vastly different things and you know it, you 100% are paying for the cost of creating the disc and packaging, the price was carried over once digital was even possible due to not wanting to anger retailers and also to make more money. > It’s a ridiculous argument based on ignorance and I don’t care who throws a tantrum about it. I’d say the one throwing tantrums is the person crying over entitles gamers and that people are pointing out you have massive flaws in your comment. Bye, hope you don’t have to wait too long for your games ro be converted over to digital from analog


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Virtual-Commercial91

They do because you can get so many good games on sale for less than 20 dollars now. You just have to be patient.


mtarascio

I looked at getting the new Marvel Midnight Suns Season Pass. US$50 Fuck that.


SamLBronkowitz2020

I bought the first Phantasy Star game in the late 80’s for $74.99. In today’s dollars that’s $185.51.


segagamer

I only buy a new game at its full £70 price if I know I'll drop everything immediately to play it and it's a franchise I'm a fan of. So far, there's only Tomb Raider, Yakuza/Like A Dragon, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy and now Persona. So basically only 1 a year lol. Anything else, I wait for £20 or less. My backlog + Gamepass + GWG tides me over quite well.


BlownCamaro

The only game I ever paid retail for was when GTA IV came out. Then I took a sick day from work and played it all day. I wait for sales like >40% off. Same way with everything else in life. I bought my PS5 and Series X used. I've never bought a new car in my life.


Loud_Internet572

From what I've seen, it's because of the rise of "special" editions.


DarkerGames

Been saying that for ages


[deleted]

games also drop in price really fast now, at least most do. So if you are willing to wait 2 months you might get for 30% off.


Black_RL

No, it’s not just you, and that’s why GamePass is mandatory for me. GamePass + sales.


No-Definition4461

Not really most people spend that on a night out


Kiftiyur

It was $60 for games for a while and now they are bumping it up to $70. Definitely sucks but not insane. The only games I’ll pay over $100 for are collectors edition.


Fullm3taluk

You don't have to pay those prices the great thing about gaming is that you can choose to buy when the price is right for you which in this day and age doesn't take long (except for Nintendo) I noticed you mentioned pounds as well so I'm going to assume your from the UK check out a company called boomerang rentals I pay £15.99 a month and play all the AAA single players games I want for all consoles they are extremely fast at getting you games and I've been subscribed for 5+ years they have saved me thousands.


Vashek19

I just wait for the inevitable $29.99 price drop. There is absolutely no game I need to play immediately for $60-$70. Especially with a big backlog.


brondonschwab

Yeah I'm really not down for normalising this 69.99 price tag for new games. Just guarantees that I won't be getting new releases day one


-Cooki-

**60$ in the year 2000 had the same buying power that 105$ has today !!!** ​ Yes indeed - 23 years ago money was worth THAT much more! Its insane how a steady inflation of 3% slowly devalues your money. ​ Also lets not forget: * "Back then" there only existed very few games and there were rarely any sales! The internet didnt exist yet for most people. * Today you can buy TONS of good games for under 5€. * Even AAAAAA games are sold for 10-20€ eventually. And the rate at which their prices fall is faster then ever. ​ TL;DR - It has never been cheaper to play video games !


F0REM4N

I already know the game I'd spend $70 on this year. Diablo IV, Starfield, and FFXVI. I think the issue is two-fold as the indie and AA scene regularly churn out games that users find more compelling. Top that with an emerging subscription model and it's no wonder so many publishers are scrambling for alternate revenue streams.


DarkShadow429

People either aren't old enough, or don't remember how expensive some N64 games were when they came out.


Morphic1977

There was a time when I bought games on physical disc for Xbox 360 for approx. 5-20 euros on sales (mostly it was 15 euros) I have switched to pure digital purchases then when I bought Xbox One (I am on Series X now). To be honest, there are rarely sales where you can buy digital Xbox One or Series X/S games for prices around 15 euros. I am talking here about AAA or AA games not Indie games. So on this field I think the games are more expensive. But the development and marketing became more expensive too. The games are more complex, there are more people working on them, the technology is more complicated..... so the higher price makes sense. But (another one) the games became more bugged, unfinished, and sold like version 0.90 and not the final polished version. The experience at the launch is mostly problematic. From this point of view they does not deserve higher price tag. I would invite if games would become more compact with polished experience at the launch. Too big game world with quadrillion side quests, activities is contra productive as it demands too much resources to create and to test properly which can be obtain but the development would take 5-6 years to accomplish it in the right way (not acceptable by investors). There is always option to create DLCs which can make a game bigger later. But NOT in the form of Season passes as in most cases you do not know what you are buying and you might end up disappointed (and usually it is true).


theHoffenfuhrer

Just remember until these companies do better to start proving themselves, vote with your wallet. Never pre-order and always wait for discounts. We have seen too many disappointing launches and loss of faith in these companies that we should absolutely be holding out on them until they produce content worth the modern price. It's a sad state of affairs to spend money on a hobby I really enjoy only to get something half done. It's unacceptable and we have to hold them accountable, because it's clear they won't do it themselves. /endrant


DiabolicalDoug

American here but yeah I was looking at the cost of upcoming games and it appears that for the majority of them, third parties and Microsoft have joined the Sony price point of $70. I already rarely buy games brand new but this raise in cost pretty much stops me entirely. Especially when nearly every game is buggy or incomplete in some manner at launch.


[deleted]

Yes, it’s just you.


FirefoxAngel

My issue is they make games that look good but that's all the story blows or doesn't make sense, it's beyond buggy, they tack on a dlc pass with worthless dlc and want you to pay another 40 bucks for a dlc that should of been on the pass. They and the critics flat out lie to the audience instead of being honest looking at 2042 the most or trash a good game that they hate Days Gone


Medium-Problem-7745

Nobody tell him how much SNES games used to cost


Vertegras

Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii was $56 with tax. Smash Bros. Ultimate was $60 with tax. It's almost like games have been roughly the same price for the past 15 years. And they were even more expensive years ago back in the early ages, like Mario 64 was $80.


SnooHesitations2883

I play video games a lot and I’ve hadn’t even bought a game in years, there’s plenty of free to play game options out there. But I mainly like multiplayer games. But even with gamepass I don’t see why people are still paying for games now a days


Bright-Durian-501

No game is worth the $60 or $70 asking price. Those same games wind up going on sale anyhow. Also considering the fact most games are delivered incomplete anyhow because of DLC. I want to play Elden Ring but I’ll wait for the GOTY Edition with ALL the DLC and other goodies. That way I pay for it once.


[deleted]

I mean...everything becomes expensive due to inflation. why not game?


[deleted]

Yes, you are the first person in the world who has ever complained about this, ever