Part of it is honestly going to be from inflation (since new games have routinely been $70); but what they don't understand is that the price point for games has been $60 for mass consumption for a reason. Most people will never think your game is worth $80 on launch generally, no matter how much money you put into it.
You should probably just stop putting hundreds of millions of dollars into your bloated game development; but none of these corporate developers want to do that.
I got limited time to reply so this will be a short and messy:
inflation yes, but audience size also bigger than ever. No one asks you to spend 50+ million per game, learn to manage small teams on projects and sell it at below 60 from the get and you will see more success.
Gamers are not not buying games. They're waiting for 75% off.
Old games meant the price covered everything you ever got, so the products needed to be far more robust than the complete shitshows many companies throw out now. Paradox released a new DLC about a month ago and so far are up to patch 17 of the new update fixing things and there's still so much shit that either doesn't work properly because it's broken, or simply hasn't been updated to work with the new 4.0 revamp of the game. There are multiple threads on the PDX forum and Reddit sub about these things and all it does it paint a picture of an extremely substandard product shipped way too fucking early yet still full priced.
Luckily for many the new DLCs get cracked fast so at least they don't have to pay for their whole game to repeatedly break over the first few weeks and months of a new update.
I don't disagree with this, and moreover, I would argue that substandard product is still the same evidence of the effects of inflation. The only way around the effects of inflation is to have the largest corporations built the cheapest possible product at the largest possible scale.
Fundamentally, I still think these companies need to lower the size of the product (shrinkflation), but I don't think that's a problem because of the bloat that is already in games.
Inflation means nothing versus what people think your product is worth. Unlike "required" markets like food or gas, games are a hobby. If someone is getting priced out they will just stop buying shit. And if you can't afford to keep making the product without charging too much for people to buy it, that's called a failed business/market and history is littered with them.
Very few games have shown themselves to be worth the price increase whatsoever. In fact, most of them launch with so many MTX and battle passes that they should be fucking F2P. If we aren't getting more bang for our increased buck, with all the numerous tech advances and ease of access the industry has now, then why are they demanding absurd amounts more?
The inflation thing would hold a lot more power if every game didn't launch with 2+ extra editions that sometimes double the cost, plus a few expected DLC payments later and a bunch of nickle and dimed addons. So for what used to cost us 60$ for all of it, they are actually trying to sell for well over a hundred and just hiding the additional cost like a contract salesman (first month 1$!). Sure you can skip most of that, but now you are getting loss content compared to what a game used to just have by expectation.
So without even getting into the bloated cost problem, its a complete farce of their raw greed to even dare ask for more money without cutting back on all their other milking nonsense.
Inflation means nothing versus what people think your product is worth
That's not true. Inflation is the increase in currency supply causing price rises. If the Cantillon Effect is in play, and the general population is getting the benefits of inflation last, then the price rises will hurt them because of the lost purchasing power. If we frame the value of games per working hour, or energy used by the consumer, we should see the fact that the consumer will need to work more to purchase a game.
if you can't afford to keep making the product without charging too much for people to buy it, that's called a failed business/market and history is littered with them.
This I 100% agree with. The benefit of the entertainment industry is that you don't need large capital investments to get people to consume your entertainment. They can cut costs, the industry is just refusing to because there is so much bloat that a lot of people are going to lose careers if they do, despite the fact that they should lose their careers because they are unnecessary.
why are they demanding absurd amounts more? ... So without even getting into the bloated cost problem, its a complete farce of their raw greed to even dare ask for more money without cutting back on all their other milking nonsense.
Capital investors from the financial markets who know nothing about entertainment or games, and are demanding arbitrary growth and revenue targets out of complete ignorance.
I have an argument that Corporations are actually Socialist Legal Fictions designed create a wealth distribution scheme using finance as a weapon against itself, and that this shit doesn't happen as much with fully private businesses (which is why those are taxed so aggressively and given no legal protections).
Inflation is the increase in currency supply causing price rises
I meant the inflation argument. Everyone can say "games cost more because inflation!" all they want, but if the product isn't registering as worth more money then it doesn't matter if it relatively costs the same.
Just like McDonald's learned earlier this year, wages haven't kept up with inflation so the argument means nothing to the common man who the increasing cost just ends up more expensive, period.
I agree. I'd go even further and say McDonald's has a more justifiable problem because their business model only works at maximum scale, so they must take aggressive cost cutting measures to maintain profit (by automating everything and hiring less people).
For video games it's about spending less time rendering walls that the player character will never access. It's a much easier effort to just not waste time on stuff that won't actually facilitate the player's enjoyment.
Part of it is honestly going to be from inflation (since new games have routinely been $70); but what they don't understand is that the price point for games has been $60 for mass consumption for a reason. Most people will never think your game is worth $80 on launch generally, no matter how much money you put into it.
You should probably just stop putting hundreds of millions of dollars into your bloated game development; but none of these corporate developers want to do that.
I got limited time to reply so this will be a short and messy:
inflation yes, but audience size also bigger than ever. No one asks you to spend 50+ million per game, learn to manage small teams on projects and sell it at below 60 from the get and you will see more success.
Gamers are not not buying games. They're waiting for 75% off.
I agree with that
Old games meant the price covered everything you ever got, so the products needed to be far more robust than the complete shitshows many companies throw out now. Paradox released a new DLC about a month ago and so far are up to patch 17 of the new update fixing things and there's still so much shit that either doesn't work properly because it's broken, or simply hasn't been updated to work with the new 4.0 revamp of the game. There are multiple threads on the PDX forum and Reddit sub about these things and all it does it paint a picture of an extremely substandard product shipped way too fucking early yet still full priced.
Luckily for many the new DLCs get cracked fast so at least they don't have to pay for their whole game to repeatedly break over the first few weeks and months of a new update.
I don't disagree with this, and moreover, I would argue that substandard product is still the same evidence of the effects of inflation. The only way around the effects of inflation is to have the largest corporations built the cheapest possible product at the largest possible scale.
Fundamentally, I still think these companies need to lower the size of the product (shrinkflation), but I don't think that's a problem because of the bloat that is already in games.
Inflation means nothing versus what people think your product is worth. Unlike "required" markets like food or gas, games are a hobby. If someone is getting priced out they will just stop buying shit. And if you can't afford to keep making the product without charging too much for people to buy it, that's called a failed business/market and history is littered with them.
Very few games have shown themselves to be worth the price increase whatsoever. In fact, most of them launch with so many MTX and battle passes that they should be fucking F2P. If we aren't getting more bang for our increased buck, with all the numerous tech advances and ease of access the industry has now, then why are they demanding absurd amounts more?
The inflation thing would hold a lot more power if every game didn't launch with 2+ extra editions that sometimes double the cost, plus a few expected DLC payments later and a bunch of nickle and dimed addons. So for what used to cost us 60$ for all of it, they are actually trying to sell for well over a hundred and just hiding the additional cost like a contract salesman (first month 1$!). Sure you can skip most of that, but now you are getting loss content compared to what a game used to just have by expectation.
So without even getting into the bloated cost problem, its a complete farce of their raw greed to even dare ask for more money without cutting back on all their other milking nonsense.
When you think about it, the inflation argument is just Labor Theory of Value in a fiat funny money wrapper.
Keynesianism is a socialist monetary scheme, that is why it requires permanent inflation.
Deflation in normal. Deflationary pressures (like technological advancement, increases in efficiency, and careful consumer spending) are good.
That's not true. Inflation is the increase in currency supply causing price rises. If the Cantillon Effect is in play, and the general population is getting the benefits of inflation last, then the price rises will hurt them because of the lost purchasing power. If we frame the value of games per working hour, or energy used by the consumer, we should see the fact that the consumer will need to work more to purchase a game.
This I 100% agree with. The benefit of the entertainment industry is that you don't need large capital investments to get people to consume your entertainment. They can cut costs, the industry is just refusing to because there is so much bloat that a lot of people are going to lose careers if they do, despite the fact that they should lose their careers because they are unnecessary.
Capital investors from the financial markets who know nothing about entertainment or games, and are demanding arbitrary growth and revenue targets out of complete ignorance.
I have an argument that Corporations are actually Socialist Legal Fictions designed create a wealth distribution scheme using finance as a weapon against itself, and that this shit doesn't happen as much with fully private businesses (which is why those are taxed so aggressively and given no legal protections).
I meant the inflation argument. Everyone can say "games cost more because inflation!" all they want, but if the product isn't registering as worth more money then it doesn't matter if it relatively costs the same.
Just like McDonald's learned earlier this year, wages haven't kept up with inflation so the argument means nothing to the common man who the increasing cost just ends up more expensive, period.
I agree. I'd go even further and say McDonald's has a more justifiable problem because their business model only works at maximum scale, so they must take aggressive cost cutting measures to maintain profit (by automating everything and hiring less people).
For video games it's about spending less time rendering walls that the player character will never access. It's a much easier effort to just not waste time on stuff that won't actually facilitate the player's enjoyment.