Gaming can be an expensive hobby. From dropping hundreds of dollars on the console or PC setup alone, it isn’t for everybody.
There are ways to save money on gaming, like buying used consoles or games. But, people ask a common question — why are video game prices so high? You can find a lot of great indie games on sites like Steam, but a brand-new, highly anticipated game will probably be $60 — and that’s only if you buy the standard edition. If you want a special addition, a single game can be over $100.
Higher prices may be because of the cost of their development. Highly complex games like the Fallout or Bioshock series take years to develop and thousands of hours. With the number of people working on a single game and the amount of time it takes to create them, you can justify the higher price. In many cases, you can sell your old games once you’re done with them to get money back for future games.
However, more recently, new trends in the gaming industry have been highly criticized. Read on to learn more about these trends and how you can save money on gaming.
Video Game Prices on the Rise
Some recent trends in games have added extra costs to players even after they’ve purchased the game. Below are a few newer trends in gaming:
- Microtransactions: This is a part of lots of mobile games, and more recently, on consoles, too. During gameplay, you can choose to spend extra money to speed up processes or earn new in-game items. Loot boxes are a common type of microtransaction. You can choose to spend a certain amount of money — they often come in different price points, with more expensive ones giving more and better items. But, with loot boxes, there’s no guarantee for what’s inside.
- Downloadable Content (DLC): Lots of big game developers release downloadable content (DLC) for big titles. DLC is basically extra, post-game stuff. It will give you new missions, new gear and more. DLC can feel like a scam in some cases because it costs extra on top of the price of the original game — if DLC content was ready at the time of the game’s release, why wasn’t it part of the main game? DLC can also be pretty expensive and sometimes doesn’t have all that much new content at all.
For a lot of gamers, DLC and microtransactions are infuriating. Many feel that game developers use them just to make more money while taking advantage of their customers. While you can choose not to buy DLC or microtransactions, for some games, it really affects the in-game experience. For example, some don’t allow you to unlock the full game unless you buy all the extra stuff. Microtransactions can quickly add up to being way more than what you paid for the original game.
If you hate games with microtransactions and DLC, just don’t buy them. If developers keep seeing low sales in these types of games, they will eventually stop making them like that.
Video game prices can be high, but there are ways to save money. Getting a membership with a store like GameStop will let you save on new and used games, give you coupons and higher trade-in value for used games. You can buy and sell used games at other spots too, including Record Head! Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
