The Tide Has Slowly Turned Against $80 Video Games

After a Nintendo Direct revealed that upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 games would retail for $80, there was widespread anxiety among gamers that other big publishers might use this as an opportunity to raise their own expensive game prices. Regrettably, it appeared that this was becoming a common practice in the gaming industry, with titles like “The Outer Worlds 2” and “Borderlands 4” announced to adopt the same pricing strategy. Studio executives seemed to justify the price increase as a means to cover rising production costs of AAA games. However, by mid-June of 2025, there was a shift in this trend.








