As Video Games Get More Expensive, I’m Turning to Subscriptions

The increasing cost of video games has been a steady trend over many years. While we could go ahead and blame Nintendo or Microsoft for raising prices, this is something that has to happen over time. Price increases are caused by a mix of economic factors and changing consumer expectations. Fortunately, you have options to keep costs down.

Games Are More Expensive Over Time

While it may seem like games are getting more expensive for no reason, the passing of time and inflation have a lot to do with it. In the 1980s, a high-end game might have cost around $50, but after accounting for inflation, that would be over $130 today. Even so, modern AAA games, often priced at $80, usually require much more money to develop than older titles did.

Sure, games are bigger earners thanks to a growing industry, but the costs of making games are rising just as fast. A major reason for rising prices is the huge growth in development budgets. Video games are not an inexpensive art form to produce, and many cost more to make than big-budget Hollywood movies.

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Gamers today don’t just next-gen visuals and masterful sound design; they expect huge open worlds, deep stories, and long playtimes. As players expect more, studios have to spend more on advanced tools, bigger teams, and longer development times. A small group might have made a game in a year in the past, but now dozens or even hundreds of people have worked for many years polishing and fixing bugs in a single title.

This change is especially noticeable in big AAA games, where ultra-realistic graphics, detailed sound design, and complex game mechanics are now expected. Building these kinds of worlds, with advanced physics and rendering technology, requires hiring specialized talent.

Marketing and distribution also add a lot to the final price. While digital downloads have reduced some costs like manufacturing and shipping, advertising and promotion expenses have grown massively. Buying prime ad space, hosting big launch events, and paying influencers all adds up. Marketing can cost as much or even more than the actual development.

It’s clear that games will only get more expensive over time. What was once a lot easier to get into now has a much higher asking price to join and stay up to date with. It’s getting to the point where you must question whether it’s worth spending $80 for every new game.

Consoles Are No Longer a Requirement

The gaming industry has changed in a big way. For many years, consoles were the obvious way to get the newest games, but now, cloud gaming services have started to appear. These options have made gaming more open to everyone, giving players more choices that are flexible and easier to access.

Cloud gaming services are basically a way to make consoles unnecessary. Platforms like GeForce Now, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and PlayStation Plus are just a few names leading the charge to a more digital future. Streaming uses internet servers to send games directly to many different devices.

This means players don’t need expensive, high-performance hardware at home. Instead, they can play the newest big-budget games on their phones, tablets, older computers, Fire Stick, VRs, or even many smart TVs (like Amazon and LG) with Cloud subscription services.

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Now, someone can play visually stunning games without spending a lot of money upfront on a top-tier PC or the latest console. A savings of $400 or more is really hard to pass up. The Fire Stick costs $29.99 on Amazon, which is much cheaper than a console.

You may need a better internet connection, but that is sometimes the difference between $10 to $20 a month. If a console costs $500, then it would take two years before you break even on how much a console costs if you had to raise your internet by $20. The biggest difference is that you will feel the $500 loss more than if you spread it out over a few years.

A fast internet connection is already necessary to play online games and stream on video streaming services. So, you may already have everything you need to skip the console altogether.

Subscriptions Are Cheaper in the Long Run

As the price of single video games keeps increasing, subscription services’ appeal grows stronger. Subscription services give users access to a collection of games for a monthly payment, which often turns out to be much more affordable than buying each game separately.

To quickly break down the numbers, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is $19.99 a month. Games are showing signs of increasing in cost to $80. That means it takes four months for Game Pass Ultimate to meet the cost of the average game. Buying three new games a year is a good estimate for someone who plays games as a casual hobby.

Game Pass adds multiple new games every single month, and there’s a library of hundreds to try that are new and beloved. The value increases even more when considering that many subscription services include extra benefits, like special discounts on game purchases, bonus in-game items, and early access to new releases.

These subscriptions allow you to test various styles and titles without spending the full price on a purchase. This is especially great for players who want to try new games or different games but are unsure about spending money on something they might not like. Since subscription services carry no risk, they let you experiment and discover new games, pushing you to try things you normally wouldn’t and possibly find great games you would have missed otherwise.

You cannot get plenty of games from subscriptions, but even if you play sports games and Call of Duty, you’ll find those in Game Pass. The service may keep rising in price, but it’s still a lot cheaper than getting a game.

You Can Finish a New Game for Less

I only tried Yakuza because of Game Pass, and I love the series now. I was able to play the games and beat each one in a week or two with a busy schedule. So you can basically play and beat games in a way that would cost you a lot more regularly.

Subscription services are designed to encourage gamers to log in and play regularly, but some games can be finished quickly. Certain major releases offer deep, story-focused experiences that can be completed in 20 to 30 hours of playtime.

Even if you have a full schedule and take a month to beat a new game, you’re still paying a quarter of the cost of that new game. Because of this, a gamer can pay for one month, play through an exciting big-budget game like Starfield, and then move on to get even more value for their dollar. Sure, you don’t own the games, but that’s becoming more true about digital purchases over time.

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With a service like GeForce Now and Game Pass, subscribers can play graphically impressive games without the cost of upgrading to the newest, most expensive hardware to run them. Powerful servers handle the heavy processing, and the game is streamed to the player, meaning gamers can play the newest releases on all kinds of devices, from older consoles to laptops.

In the end, the subscription model offers a better deal than regular purchases for anyone who buys new games. Players can enjoy the latest big-budget games for a short time with very little financial risk, and more are added monthly.

Plus, if you really love a game and want to own it outright then you can save a bit of money by waiting for a deep sale.