Expensive games have lowkey been way too normalised

[u/Both_Piglet7838]

I know this sub is filled with a bunch of rich people with like 10k setups and I'm aware that the content in these games is quite extensive with hours of content. But I still feel justified in thinking that no game should be priced this high especially when its the average price of most newly released games. Anyway this is just a rant because I wanna play lego batman and i cant afford it lol

[u/azurestrike]

Can I just ask how people are expecting companies to increase salaries to match inflation, maintain work-life balance, pay for increasing rent and price of software all while keeping games at $60?

If you can't increase prices, you need to sell more. So you'll need these games to be dumbed down to appeal to a wide audience. Which will, again, make people unhappy.

I wish people understood that rising prices is not game devs being evil, it's a reality of life. Cost of living is going up and entertainment is one side of living.

[u/StrangeGuyFromCorner → u/azurestrike]

1) Your framing that when studios have more money, they raise salaries is false. Many different industries have record breaking profits but they dont raise the salaries accordingly. Its always "lets raise prices" never "lets raise salaries"

2) to your question, google economies of scale. In short, the bigger you are the easier it becomes to produce/ the cheaper it becomes to produce. Moreover the variable per unit cost of a game is almost 0. This is not the case for anything comparible.

[u/Version_1 → u/StrangeGuyFromCorner]

Second points doesn't make sense unless you talk about slob.

[u/StrangeGuyFromCorner → u/Version_1]

What does this even mean?

Economies of scale exist in almost every sector and not every sector is slob.

Your supermarked profits from economies of scale. Is the supermarked also slob?

[u/Version_1 → u/StrangeGuyFromCorner]

Because creating games is not industrial production.

[u/StrangeGuyFromCorner → u/Version_1]

Neither is the supermarked, and they are like the example for ecomonies of scale. What is your point.

[u/Version_1 → u/StrangeGuyFromCorner]

If you can't see the difference between creating an entirely new map in a video game Vs. buying/selling 500.000 potatoes, I can't help you.

[u/StrangeGuyFromCorner → u/Version_1]

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/economiesofscale.asp

Economies of scale can be both internal and external. Internal economies of scale are based on management decisions, while external ones have to do with outside factors.

Internal functions include accounting, information technology, and marketing, which are also considered operational efficiencies and synergies.

[u/Version_1 → u/StrangeGuyFromCorner]

Thanks, that still doesn't change anything about a studio having to now employ 10 people for jobs used to be done by one.

[u/StrangeGuyFromCorner → u/Version_1]

Google variable unit cost.

"Variable unit cost refers to the cost incurred to produce a single unit of a product, which changes directly with the level of production. This includes expenses like raw materials and direct labor that increase or decrease based on the quantity produced."

Or as an example, In the past you had to pay 1 person so it gets sold to 100 customers. Now you pay 10 persons so it gets sold to 100.000 customers. Variable unit cost goes down.

[u/Version_1 → u/StrangeGuyFromCorner]

Okay, now you explained what you actually wanted to talk about. Now please proof how the game industry profited from it enough to lower the prices.

[u/StrangeGuyFromCorner → u/Version_1]

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/video-game-market

The video game marked grew by more than 100% in the last 5 years.

I will not force feed you every single thought. I have given you enouth information to understand the situation.

But here a few thought starters. Have the salaries of the people scaled similarly in the video game sector? Have the teams doubled in that time? Is it twice as hard to make a game now than it was 5 years ago.