The sticker price of a game has barely moved in fifteen years while production costs multiplied. The difference is collected after purchase.
Contents
Where the money comes from now
- Season passes and cosmetic stores.
- Subscription libraries that pay publishers per engagement.
- Microtransactions in free-to-play titles.
- Early access and premium editions.
What it does to design
Systems get tuned to sustain attention across months rather than deliver a satisfying ending. That is not automatically worse, but it produces different games: more progression, less closure.
What it does to buyers
A game is now a relationship with a price curve. Waiting a year often means a complete edition at half the launch price, at the cost of playing alongside a smaller community.
The reasonable stance
Decide what a game is worth to you before launch, buy at that price, and ignore the store afterwards. The model is designed to defeat that resolve.
Bottom line: the industry did not get greedier; it got better at billing after the sale.
