lol they can do whatever the hell they want. I will never buy a $60 game, let alone 80+ they can all get fucked. i only buy Indy dev games now in the proce range of $1 to 45$ at the most. I typically stick around the 30$ range and have had way more enjoyment, I complete these games and want to revisit them. I cannot say I have fun with AAAA crap. it's all junk

Not if I have anything to say about it. I'm putting a cap at $59.99 for must have AAA titles with tons of replay value. I will wait until they meet me there. Most games don't meet that standard for me, so most I will be waiting much longer.

Yup.... they really need to learn their inflated executive salaries and marketing budget does not make us want to spend more on a game.

In 2004 $50 was the going rate for a AAA game. When you plug that into an inflation calculator, it comes to about $80. However, today's AAA games do not hold up against AAA games of 20 years ago. That graphics might be better but that is about it.

Publishers really are stupid. They don't get it Gamers want to give you our money. We want to open our wallet and shower publishers with money. But we want to do that for gaming experiences that at a minimum equal and surpass gaming experiences we used to get 15 years ago. Games nowadays do not feel even equivalent to games we used to play. So we aren't giving you our money. Honestly, if there was a game that was $80, but it was so groundbreaking it was like Halo CE, or Halo 2, or Super Mario 64, or anything like that, then people would pay it. No games now have the same impact. Therefore, they are not worth such a high cost.

Also keep in mind all the cost of the disc (or for some Nintendo products, cost of the cartridge), printing the manual, box art, and all other physical products required to deliver the game, all that cost used to cut into the game cost. Nowadays publishers mostly sell digital _for the exact same price_, meaning all of that cost is converted into pure profit.

That’s just rose tinted glasses, there are loads of unique games that are leaps and bounds above Mario 64 or Halo, even from AAA studios. Off top of my head (so probably skewed toward recent releases): Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Tears of the Kingdom, Unicorn Overlord, Helldivers 2, Alan Wake 2, Baldur’s Gate 3, Elden Ring, Returnal, Half Life: Alyx. Saying there are no impactful games is disrespectful to amazing work that’s still being done. They don’t have as much of a visible impact because new generation of gamers chose to play Fortnite instead.

Yes and, Steam takes 30% off the top. So no you don't have the cost of physical distribution but digital distribution isn't free.

Brick and mortar averaged 50% cut, 30% is a deal.