Boycott AAA game pricing and buy indie titles? Send them a message.

[Undeathical]

As the title says, these up-charges for games that under-deliver, especially when they heavily advertise and incite hype to increase FOMO on buying at this price, not to mention the included content they are selling separately on the day of selling their over-priced release. Send triple A studios a message by supporting indie developers, who work harder on their games for their communities, at a more humble price tag.

[Undeathical]

If they want to sell games at $70-$100, I expect content and quality to match this. If they are releasing a game as complete, (i.e. not in EA) then I will hold it to the standard and quality that I'd expect an indie dev releasing their game into 1.0. By that i mean how complete the game is, where bugs are minor and scarce.

[KnowledgeCoffee]

the cost the develop games has gone up and its been $60 for years and years.... This $10 isnt a big deal and im surprised it didn't happen sooner

[ImOnYourSide]

I'm not trying to defend inflation as it's very bad but the AAA games are way bigger and harder to do than before. I don't like it but it's honestly not even in line with what inflation is.

[Petrus24]

Not happening. Gamers aren't your buddies

[NormireX]

I get people think 70 bux is too much, but is it though? Look at game pricing since the 80's and 90's the price has barely budged, you should be lucky it is only 70 bux just now. When Chrono Trigger came out on SNES it was 80 bux. I think I paid 60 for Secret of Evermore when it came out on SNES. Games are far more sophisticated now and require larger teams to work on them so a price increase was inevitable at some point. So take the price increase or look for publishers/devs to monetize their game by other means like MT.

We've had it good as gamers with the prices remaining basically the same for all these years, everything else goes up in price, why should we expect games to stay at the same price point?

Oh one final thing. The Neo Geo games back in the day were over 100 bux new. I don't remember back in the 80's and 90's people crying about how expensive games were like people do these days. Believe me I want them cheap as well but you have to look at things realistically and games were never going to be able to stay the same price forever.

[Nightmarian]

Not every AAA title is $70. Take very careful note of who the publishers are of the games that are and slap yourself if you're shocked.

Originally posted by NormireX:

snip.

I hate people like you so much. I'm not going to go full ham on you since I doubt you'd bother becoming a better human being, but let me point some stuff out:

1) Old-school gaming was poorly supported and a much smaller industry, making it costly and harder to profit from. Now it's one of the biggest entertainment industries around and poised to become the top one, with global support, and a huge audience.

2) Games now are widely bought as digital, throwing out ALL overhead from physical production, transportation, and storage. However, with the rampant increase of online markets and the streamlining of supply lines, even physical sales have become A LOT cheaper.

3) Game development has become cheaper, not more expensive. Everything is streamlined, the industry is oversaturated with talent, stuff like mocap and voice talent is formalized and many publishers have their own permanent studios/long-term contractors to save on costs, engines like Unreal are available at no or low cost meaning you no longer have to develop your own engine every time. This is literally why indie developers not only exist, but can survive.

So games should be CHEAPER, not more EXPENSIVE. And we've seen that trend from not lunatic developers/publishers. Games off steam sell for 20% brand new because devleopers can take the cut easily digitally, and indies always sell for far less but so do many games from AAA developers like Hi Fi Rush.

If you believe this bull, all you're doing is proving you're an idiot and that no one should listen to you.

[Undeathical]

Originally posted by NormireX:

I get people think 70 bux is too much, but is it though? Look at game pricing since the 80's and 90's the price has barely budged, you should be lucky it is only 70 bux just now. When Chrono Trigger came out on SNES it was 80 bux. I think I paid 60 for Secret of Evermore when it came out on SNES. Games are far more sophisticated now and require larger teams to work on them so a price increase was inevitable at some point. So take the price increase or look for publishers/devs to monetize their game by other means like MT.

We've had it good as gamers with the prices remaining basically the same for all these years, everything else goes up in price, why should we expect games to stay at the same price point?

Oh one final thing. The Neo Geo games back in the day were over 100 bux new. I don't remember back in the 80's and 90's people crying about how expensive games were like people do these days. Believe me I want them cheap as well but you have to look at things realistically and games were never going to be able to stay the same price forever.

The gaming market wasnt as competitive then as it is now. There are more humble games with better content and support at a lower price, than that of a AAA company. I agree some fans will buy from companies that they have loved since their childhood, but these AAA companies are releasing games with lower quality than many Indie games that exist in the market, yet demand a price of 2 or even 3 times what the indie game asks for. AAA studios are riding on their brand and influence, trying to justify it.

[NormireX]

Originally posted by Undeathical:

Originally posted by NormireX:

I get people think 70 bux is too much, but is it though? Look at game pricing since the 80's and 90's the price has barely budged, you should be lucky it is only 70 bux just now. When Chrono Trigger came out on SNES it was 80 bux. I think I paid 60 for Secret of Evermore when it came out on SNES. Games are far more sophisticated now and require larger teams to work on them so a price increase was inevitable at some point. So take the price increase or look for publishers/devs to monetize their game by other means like MT.

We've had it good as gamers with the prices remaining basically the same for all these years, everything else goes up in price, why should we expect games to stay at the same price point?

Oh one final thing. The Neo Geo games back in the day were over 100 bux new. I don't remember back in the 80's and 90's people crying about how expensive games were like people do these days. Believe me I want them cheap as well but you have to look at things realistically and games were never going to be able to stay the same price forever.

The gaming market wasnt as competitive then as it is now. There are more humble games with better content and support at a lower price, than that of a AAA company. I agree some fans will buy from companies that they have loved since their childhood, but these AAA games are releasing games with lower quality than many Indie games that exist in the market, yet demand a price of 2 or even 3 times what the indie game asks for. AAA studios are riding on their brand and influence, trying to justify it.

Show me a true indie game with the same quality as a AAA that costs that much less please, just one example. Also indie devs are small teams, less paychecks to dole out. Indies profit sharing is far higher than that of a big studio so you have to factor that in as well.

Again this is mainly a publisher issue, not a dev or consumer issue as far as game quality.

Also income is higher than it was and so it makes sense that things adjust to be more expensive.

Action figures are also double or triple the price of what they used to be. Trying to find Transformers for my nephew and seeing 10 or 20 bux for 1 figure is crazy to me.

I was lucky to get Chrono Trigger for Christmas back in the day as my Grandpa had a good paying job. It's actually because of him I ever had a NES. Was stuck with a used 2600 for several years in the 80's and I was happy with that but I had played SMB at my cousin's house and so I knew there was something better out there at that point.heh And the average wage back in those days was 4-5 bux on the high end if you were lucky.

Anyway the price hike shouldn't surprise anyone if you understand how long the prices have remained the same. Things have to change at some point and people can piss and moan all they want but it is here and we can only hope the price doesn't go higher than 70 for the next 30 years.

[Nightmarian]

Originally posted by NormireX:

Originally posted by Undeathical:

The gaming market wasnt as competitive then as it is now. There are more humble games with better content and support at a lower price, than that of a AAA company. I agree some fans will buy from companies that they have loved since their childhood, but these AAA games are releasing games with lower quality than many Indie games that exist in the market, yet demand a price of 2 or even 3 times what the indie game asks for. AAA studios are riding on their brand and influence, trying to justify it.

Show me a true indie game with the same quality as a AAA that costs that much less please, just one example. Also indie devs are small teams, less paychecks to dole out. Indies profit sharing is far higher than that of a big studio so you have to factor that in as well.

Again this is mainly a publisher issue, not a dev or consumer issue as far as game quality.

Also income is higher than it was and so it makes sense that things adjust to be more expensive.

Action figures are also double or triple the price of what they used to be. Trying to find Transformers for my nephew and seeing 10 or 20 bux for 1 figure is crazy to me.

I was lucky to get Chrono Trigger for Christmas back in the day as my Grandpa had a good paying job. It's actually because of him I ever had a NES. Was stuck with a used 2600 for several years in the 80's and I was happy with that but I had played SMB at my cousin's house and so I knew there was something better out there at that point.heh And the average wage back in those days was 4-5 bux on the high end if you were lucky.

Anyway the price hike shouldn't surprise anyone if you understand how long the prices have remained the same. Things have to change at some point and people can piss and moan all they want but it is here and we can only hope the price doesn't go higher than 70 for the next 30 years.

Read my prior post responding to your ignorance. Also, indie and AAA are kind of pointless terms these days outside of the top end movie-likes such as God of War. Hi-Fi Rush isn't an indie but had a smallish team and feels like an indie.

Meanwhile, Obsidian and Larian were both indies for a brief while (Larian still is) and both make full AAA games.

[Clerericus]

Originally posted by NormireX:

Show me a true indie game with the same quality as a AAA that costs that much less please, just one example. Also indie devs are small teams, less paychecks to dole out. Indies profit sharing is far higher than that of a big studio so you have to factor that in as well.

Stray
No Man's Sky - "No Man’s Sky is being developed by Hello Games, a tiny indie studio in Guildford, UK." they themselves admitted it so I put it on the list, you can find this quote on their website.
Cuphead
Subnautica
Rocket League - "At The Game Awards 2015 in December, Rocket League won the award for Best Independent Game and Best Sports/Racing Game, and was nominated for Best Multiplayer."
Hades
Cult of the Lamb
Undertale

And the list goes on mate.

And really even with AAA funding and price, you are not entitled nor promised to a AAA quality of game. so your call on that, it's your wallet after all.

[Nightmarian]

Originally posted by Clerericus:

Originally posted by NormireX:

Show me a true indie game with the same quality as a AAA that costs that much less please, just one example. Also indie devs are small teams, less paychecks to dole out. Indies profit sharing is far higher than that of a big studio so you have to factor that in as well.

Stray
No Man's Sky - "No Man’s Sky is being developed by Hello Games, a tiny indie studio in Guildford, UK." they themselves admitted it so I put it on the list, you can find this quote on their website.
Cuphead
Subnautica
Rocket League - "At The Game Awards 2015 in December, Rocket League won the award for Best Independent Game and Best Sports/Racing Game, and was nominated for Best Multiplayer."
Hades
Cult of the Lamb
Undertale

And the list goes on mate.

And really even with AAA money and price, you are not entitled to AAA quality of game. so your call on that, it's your wallet after all.

Baldur's Gate 3 is an especially recent relevant one. Indie game with full on AAA production quality, large budget, and a pretty large studio.

Rocket League is no longer an indie game though.

[Clerericus]

Originally posted by Nightmarian:

Originally posted by Clerericus:

Stray
No Man's Sky - "No Man’s Sky is being developed by Hello Games, a tiny indie studio in Guildford, UK." they themselves admitted it so I put it on the list, you can find this quote on their website.
Cuphead
Subnautica
Rocket League - "At The Game Awards 2015 in December, Rocket League won the award for Best Independent Game and Best Sports/Racing Game, and was nominated for Best Multiplayer."
Hades
Cult of the Lamb
Undertale

And the list goes on mate.

And really even with AAA money and price, you are not entitled to AAA quality of game. so your call on that, it's your wallet after all.

Baldur's Gate 3 is an especially recent relevant one. Indie game with full on AAA production quality, large budget, and a pretty large studio.

Rocket League is no longer an indie game though.

Doubt the dude would even bat an eye with all of the example we gave. Feign ignorance is a thing.

Yea, I just put it there because they started as an Indie and grow big over the years. but yea that's just my opinion after all.

[Clockeye]

Originally posted by Clerericus:

Originally posted by NormireX:

Show me a true indie game with the same quality as a AAA that costs that much less please, just one example. Also indie devs are small teams, less paychecks to dole out. Indies profit sharing is far higher than that of a big studio so you have to factor that in as well.

Stray
No Man's Sky - "No Man’s Sky is being developed by Hello Games, a tiny indie studio in Guildford, UK." they themselves admitted it so I put it on the list, you can find this quote on their website.
Cuphead
Subnautica
Rocket League - "At The Game Awards 2015 in December, Rocket League won the award for Best Independent Game and Best Sports/Racing Game, and was nominated for Best Multiplayer."
Hades
Cult of the Lamb
Undertale

And the list goes on mate.

And really even with AAA funding and price, you are not entitled nor promised to a AAA quality of game. so your call on that, it's your wallet after all.

watch come up with some nonsense like, "Oh yea, well I disagree. so there, i win."

[StarryEyes]

I'm just not a huge fan of random strangers over the internet telling me how to spend my money. paying 70 dollars for a game I'm interested in is worth it for me and doesn't phase me one bit. It's one of the reasons why i work my ass off, so i can afford nice things for me and my family.

[Clerericus]

Originally posted by StarryEyes:

I'm just not a huge fan of random strangers over the internet telling me how to spend my money. paying 70 dollars for a game I'm interested in is worth it for me and doesn't phase me one bit. It's one of the reasons why i work my ass off, so i can afford nice things for me and my family.

And you are not wrong, buying what you prefer is mostly your choice after all.

But OP isn't wrong as well, all in all vote with your wallet is a thing, and that reflects toward their sales chart, and that is powerful enough statement to make a dent on what they have to sell to their audience.

And I don't say that OP is entirely true too tho. Payroll for specific role is already on the rise, and that expenses were reflected towards the price that someone has to pay for them to get those things (plus their profits of course).

But if they expect to sell # number of copies and dilute its expanses towards a target of certain number of copies wouldn't it be better to sell them at an affordable price and target for more people to buy the game instead of putting a high price-tag? food for thought.

But yea, last year I did look forward to this, because it could be something like Borderlands, but with different setting, but eventually gone back to wait and see.