As a gamer, I’ve been hearing a lot about how game prices are going up this year, and honestly, it’s not just games! It feels like everything is costing more these days.
With Nintendo potentially charging $80 for new Switch games and Xbox initially considering a high price for Outer Worlds 2 before changing course, many gamers are worried that enjoying new game releases right away will become a luxury only those with plenty of money can afford.
Many gamers expect GTA 6 to cost over $100 when it releases in 2026, and people were discussing this even before recent hardware price increases put a strain on gaming budgets. Interestingly, despite rising costs, some of the most popular games this year have actually been relatively inexpensive.
This year’s top-selling Steam releases weren’t back-to-back AAA blockbusters
The games my friends and I have enjoyed most this year have all been relatively inexpensive. I previously said I would spend my money on games with reasonable prices, and I followed through on that.
After Game Pass prices went up, I realized the subscription wasn’t worth the annual cost for me, since I mostly play less expensive games.
Just sharing my experience: I spent the last year playing games like Expedition 33, Ball x Pit, Blue Prince, and Vampire Survivors (and a special mention to Megabonk!). I didn’t buy any big-budget, $80 games – I even skipped Diablo 4 this year!
Putting my own experiences aside, I was encouraged by looking at the best-selling games on Steam. While many popular games are expensive, I noticed a lot of affordable titles are also performing well in 2025.
Steam displays its games in alphabetical order, not by how much money they’ve made. However, it does highlight the top-performing games with different tiers: Platinum for the highest earners, followed by Gold and then Silver. Here’s a look at some of the games in the top Platinum tier, along with their original prices.
- Arc Raiders – $39.99
- Borderlands 4 – $69.99
- Elden Ring Nightreign – $39.99
- Hollow Knight SilkSong – $19.99
- Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered – $49.99
- EA FC26 – $69.99
- Schedule I – $19.99
- Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 – $29.99
- Civilization VII – $69.99
- Battlefield 6 – $69.99
- Monster Hunter Wilds – $69.99
- Dune Awakening – $49.99
Many of the games are available for under $50. The Gold Tier specifically includes Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Split Fiction, and Dispatch, which are priced at $49.99, $49.99, and $29.99 respectively.
The Silver Tier includes several popular high-earning games, like R.E.P.O ($9.99), Grounded 2 ($29.99), Escape from Duckov ($17.99), Rematch ($29.99), and PEAK ($7.99), among others.
I was happy to see some of my favorite games, like Megabonk, Cloverpit, and Ball X Pit, listed in the Bronze tier, all priced under $15.
Most of our best-selling games are priced between $10 and $20, and lower-priced titles are achieving incredible sales numbers, especially in 2025. For instance, Schedule I sold over 8 million copies in May, and PEAK recently reached 15 million players, according to an announcement last week.
Even though some game publishers are defending their high prices of around $80, there are lots of great games available for half that price. Many gamers, like myself, are choosing to spend their money on more affordable options.
2025 was also the year of “Friendslop”
I was surprised to recently come across the term “friendslop” in gaming circles, and I’m sorry to introduce it to you if you’re not familiar! It refers to those fun, but often a little rough around the edges, co-op games like Lethal Company or R.E.P.O. The main draw isn’t high-end graphics or a super polished experience; it’s just having silly, lighthearted fun with your friends.
Many of the PC games my teenage son and his friends played this year were very popular, and likely made a lot of money on Steam. This is probably disappointing for larger game studios that spend millions on development.
Large-scale action role-playing games continued to do well, with titles like Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 proving that visually stunning games are still being made. More affordable games such as Clair Obscur, Split Fiction, Dispatch, and Silksong also gained attention, though they weren’t the big, expensive releases you see at the $70-$80 price point.
These games were all imaginative and affordable, making them appealing to gamers willing to try something new. I’m sure their availability on Xbox Game Pass also contributed to their popularity.
I think the economy will move gamers further away from AAA going forward
I don’t plan on changing how I spend money anytime soon, and I’ll continue to be careful with it. I can’t bring myself to spend $80 on a single game when that money could cover my gas for the whole month. There are plenty of great games available for much less. Gaming is a hobby, and I need to keep it that way – it shouldn’t become a financial strain. Unless a game is a must-have, I won’t pay a high price for it. That’s just how things are for me now.
Paychecks aren’t keeping up with the cost of games. Most gamers aren’t purchasing as many full-priced titles as they used to, and an $80 price tag is a tough sell. According to Valve’s Steam data, the average Steam user only tried out four new games in both 2024 and 2025.
Despite the current economic challenges, there’s a positive trend in gaming. Smaller game developers are doing well, and original, creative games are becoming popular. The industry is evolving, and even the biggest companies can’t ignore it. It’s not just about saving money anymore; these smaller games are genuinely more innovative and enjoyable right now.
Are people still interested in the $80 game? We’d like to know how much you’d actually pay for it. Share your thoughts in the comments and vote in the poll to let us know!
Read More
- Best Controller Settings for ARC Raiders
- Ashes of Creation Rogue Guide for Beginners
- Meet the cast of Mighty Nein: Every Critical Role character explained
- Bloober Team launches ‘Remosd Neul Serorehso Ovam Ceyerd’ countdown website
- Arc Raiders Guide – All Workbenches And How To Upgrade Them
- Kit Keenan Slams Claim Mom Cynthia Rowley Helped Buy Her NYC Apartment
- Avengers: Doomsday Finally Gives The X-Men What Fox Refused To
- 7 Fantasy Movies That Aged Incredibly Poorly
- The Thermodynamics of Change: From Fluctuations to Irreversibility
- Game of the Year: #3 – Split Fiction
2026-01-02 17:11