Are VideoGames worth $80 ($79.99)
A growing trend in the videogame industry is the narrative that rising development costs are forcing publishers to pass the burden onto consumers. Not long ago, brand new games were priced at $49.99. Over the years, that price crept up to $59.99 and now many titles launch at $69.99 or more. The justification? We're told these increases are necessary to pay programmers, artists, animators, and voice actors. But when you follow the money, it’s clear who’s benefiting the most: the executives at the top, pocketing millions, sometimes billions, while everyday developers face stagnant wages, mass layoffs, or job insecurity. In just the last five years, we’ve seen publishers cutting hundreds of positions while simultaneously granting themselves record-setting bonuses and salary increases. To then turn around and claim that videogames are “too expensive to make” feels like a slap in the face to both the workers who build these games and the players who support them. Videogames are meant ...
