Game prices have nothing to do with inflation (or even production costs) and everything to do with arbitrary price points the industry just settles upon. Nothing forces them to charge that much, yet they do it because they think they can get away with it for now.
Rising prices have had an effect on me - I’m definitely not buying as many games as I used to, least of all impulsively on hearsay, and I’m not trusting any publisher enough to preorder stuff anymore. So they went past my pain point, sorry. If they keep doing this, they’ll run over everybody. I don’t think this is a sustainable direction.
“Inflation decreases” means “the prices are being raised slower”.
What you are looking for, prices going down, is “deflation”. Governments generally do their best to avoid that, because people would start holding off on purchases expecting lower prices next week, month, quarter,… and it would tank the economy.
If not so much about holding purchases. Is about money sitting. With deflation your money is worth more each day. So investment is discouraged. Why risk money if money by itself grow?
In a economy based on investments that not desired
I think its because deflation is when the money supply is contracting and less debt is being created, so asset values begin to be valued at their actual value instead of their inflated nominal value, and people are no longer encouraged to attain the cantillon effect that drives up asset values.
Which an inflated nominal value then causes more consumption via the wealth effect, and the misallocation of capital known as the business cycle, that requires bailouts via money printing in order to debase people on fixed income which provides riskier debt issuance and more innovation.
Governments generally do their best to avoid that, because people would start holding off on purchases expecting lower prices next week, month, quarter,… and it would tank the economy.
That’s not how human nature works. If people need groceries, they aren’t going to hold off purchases until the prices go down.
Right, but instead of spending 1200 a month they are only spending 800.
In my local currency (Aussie Dollars) AAA games cost $120. Like, man, I’m not spending $120 on a game. I can’t remember the last time I bought a game at that price.
Prices will only come down if the company decides to stop being greedy. Inflation is just a word to oppress the poor, theres no need to keep prices raised if record breaking profits are made.
Finally, video games cost as much as Chrono Trigger did when it came out!
That’s not how inflation works.
I just want to say inflation decreasing doesn’t mean that prices will go down
If anything, inflation measures the acceleration of price increases.
If this acceleration still is positive, but, less than before, there is still a price increase.
It is only less than it would have if it hadn’t decreased
Why are people so desperate to play new games, I’ve got a large pile of games I bought on sale that I haven’t even played once yet. Why would I ever pay launch price for a game knowing full well it’ll be worth 10$ a couple of years down the line, and till then I’ll play the games I already own.
It’s basically FOMO, people just want to be a part of living culture.
And game companies and media outlets advertise the shit out of them because they drive console sales.
I much prefer to be on Steam, think, “Oh, that looks cool,” then forget about it on my wishlist for two years until it pops up at 80% off.
A headline in the near future:
“are millennials killing the gaming industry?”
Millennials are no longer the media scapegoat; we’ve aged out. Gen Z are copping all the blame now!
The problem with millennials is that they firmly believe a McChicken should never cost more than a dollar.
A McChicken is definitely not worth more than $1 lol
I was born in 85 and I think 1.50 would have been an appropriate price for McDoubles and McChickens. But not three fucking dollars
PC + emulators = fuck greedy corporations. Get fucked Microsoft. Get fucked Nintendo. And Sony? Fuck you too. Indie devs tho, you’re cool.
Yeah, thankfully with PC gaming there are no large corporations involved.
Allow me to introduce you you Expedition 33.
I haven’t finished it yet but it’s fucking great. I bought it and thought it was on sale. Turns out that was just the MSRP.
Yeah, prices will only go down if sales go down massively. And since video games are likely being used as an emotional coping mechanism, that seems unlikely.
The thing about demand/supply ratios is there’s also cost.
AAA games aren’t coming down in sticker price without actual deflation. That’s just not how it works. That they were selling at $60 for so long is a function of cost reductions in an industry where the only thing left to cut is employee costs or the widespread adoption of AI dreck.
If you want a game for less than $80 you’re going to have to buy games with smaller development scopes.
True. This may actually be a boon to smaller devoplers who can sell games for less money because there development costs are less ambitious.
So glad I went back to PC gaming recently before all the price hikes. I am more than happy to wait for a good game to mature at a discount when I’m ready to jump on it.
Inflation positive --> prices increasing
Inflation near zero --> prices stable
Inflation negative --> prices decreasing, but you are in a huge economic crisis
Inflation near zero and salaries increase -> purchasing power increasing, which is something we can only dream about
That’s not something that can be solved by changing interest rates. To increase wages you need unions and for those unions to go on strike.
The US was on its way to that, until Trump and Republicans decided to trash the entire world economy.
It is possible, but financial types will tell you that you will lose your job. Which is funny, because most products and services require labor to make any money from them, so it sounds to me that if deflation occurs and profit is still required, you have the option to layoff a bunch of people or get creative.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’d be a lot happier if I had a bunch of employees that know how the business works and know where things can be improved and do it. Maybe like getting rid of managers who only know how to change the headcount of their bit of the org.
