Everyone would agree that games are too expensive now, and when I say everyone, I mean everyone.
The first was thatthe CMA Activision-Microsoft merger reportclaimedtriple-A projects can have budgets that go into the billions.
The second was thatthe $70 price point is putting a lot of players off buying new games.
Together, these two stories paint a picture of an unsustainable future.
CD Projekt Redspent $316 millionon makingCyberpunk 2077, and that’s before you account for its astronomical marketing.
For those making them, games are just too expensive.
It’s impossible to compare a video game released today to a video game released in the 1990s.
They are a different species.
In the 1980s, you’d go to the cinema and seeStar Wars.
In the 2020s, it’s theMCU.
That’s a fairly consistent media market.
Gaming has changed far more drastically.
This is not to argue the $70 price point is fair.
If it doesn’t make sense for your audience, then it’s not fair.
That’s the bottom line here.
Usually it’s whichever answer you already thought, what are the chances?
There are times when these high development prices seem worth it, and everyone just goes about their lives.
Studios are taking their time and spending a lot of cash, but they’re making masterpieces.
Except most of them aren’t.
The stars do not seem aligned forSuicide Squad: Kill The Justice Leagueeither.
Modern game development means every studio is always seeking to make a masterpiece.
It’s always paying for it, and it’s always charging for it.
Even in a medium where the critics are generous with perfect scores, they often fall short.
But they’ve already paid for it.
So they’re still going to charge you for it.
Here is the crux of the issue.
When I was a kid, my favourite games wereCrash Bandicoot,Spyro, andTomb Raider.
I got a new game from all of them every year.
From 1996 to 2003, Tomb Raider had one game every year - two in the year 2000.
Crash went back to back ‘96-‘98.
Spyro had a decade long unbroken streak from 1998-2008, although admittedly they weren’t all winners.
I know some of these games, even the great ones, don’t hold up today.
And as I mentioned above, the audience is very different.
Length used to come from challenging difficulty, now it comes from easy filler.
Studios have to charge us that much, because it cost them $700 million to make and market.
Things can’t keep going this way - it’s just too expensive.
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