Gaming prices to increase for the next generation

And given those trends, they’ll likely keep jacking up prices until only those with deep pockets afford them (tbh we’re getting to that point, now). I still like physical retail because I like having a collection to display; storing games digitally doesn’t have the same novelty. Slow, incremental increases is how they get you to just accept it to the point of apathy.

Gaming journalists, whether it’s IGN or Gamespot, are total clowns when it comes to games, and I’m not particularly fond of their embrace of radical social politics, but it’s still important to get information from people you disagree with and/or dislike: They might know something you don’t.

There’s another issue that comes to mind when faced with a next-gen price hike: the health and well-being of the talented people responsible for creating these costlier Series X and PS5 games. Will the developers themselves see any of these extra dollars, in both their base salaries and their bonus packages? Will their working conditions – all too often exposed as a punishing “crunch” by investigative reports – improve? Publishers owe it to their teams to pay it forward so that all this extra revenue isn’t simply going to go straight into the pockets of executives and shareholders. We need assurances from any publisher who decides to charge more for their games that they are treating their workers fairly and ethically. In fact, we need that from all publishers, regardless of what they’re charging – but especially those demanding top dollar.

I thought this was at least a good point. If perhaps I knew those who put the blood, sweat and tears into making the product would benefit from price increases then it might not be so bad but chances are their wage increases, assuming they get any, will be negligible. Being a AAA developer sounds like living hell; it’s probably going to get worse for them.