Are Games too expensive?

One of the biggest topics in gaming right now is pricing. 2025 showed that amazing games don’t have to cost much. Hollow Knight Silksong, Blue Prince or Expedition 33 clearly show this. But at the same time AAA Developers push for higher prices. Mario Kart Worlds launch at 80€ was just one of many examples. But how do we determine if a game is worth its price tag or not?

Emotions are priceless

I’ve been a gamer since I turned 5. So in my 31 years of gaming I have seen and experienced a lot. When I asked myself how to figure out what a game is worth, emotions were the first thing that came to my mind.

Nowadays, it’s rare for a game to give me an entirely new experience or to fully immerse me with its characters, world, or gameplay. It’s an experience I’m searching and longing for. In recent memories some games managed to achieve this. 

Playing Breath of the Wild for the first time in 2017 was a purely magical experience. The sheer freedom of its world was something I never experienced so well done. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 in the same year also managed to evoke such a feeling for me but this time not because of its world but with its characters that I got deeply attached to.

A more recent example would be Elden Ring which invokes a feeling of wanting to explore every corner of its world like no other game has done before. So I asked myself how much are these games worth? The answer to me is simple, if a game really connects to my emotions on such a deep level those games are priceless to me. I would even pay 150€ for Breath of the Wild if that had been its price.

Quality over Quantity

Similar to the first topic, for me it doesn’t really matter how long a game is compared to its price. We live in a time where many games get stretched with empty open worlds and boring side quests just to be able to say “our game is 50 Hours long!”. But rarely a game really makes it worth your time.

I can understand the argument that people wouldn’t want to spend 70€ on a game that lasts only 10 hours. In the first moment this feels wrong. However for me the quality of the game is way more important than its length. Resident Evil games are a good example for this. Resident Evil 2 remake or village only lasts for around 10 hours. However, in those 10 hours I enjoy every single second of it. I never feel bored or feel like I’m forced to do something I don’t want to do.

Another good example is Super Mario Wonders. The game is full of creativity and no 2 levels are the same. I experienced a constant flow of surprise and joy while playing. Those 10 hours are really filled with quality and that alone makes it worth way more than 50 hours filled with mostly mid content.

Being a patient gamer and the social aspect

Let’s be honest: if you’re a patient gamer who doesn’t need to play the latest releases, gaming is cheaper than ever. Most games you get nowadays already for half the price only a few months after release. It’s a great option for people who just want to have fun and are on a tight budget. So why even buy games on release?

To me there are two reasons why I can’t be a purely patient gamer. One has to do with the sense of community and social media. When games are new it’s often way easier to talk about them and have a discussion and sometimes it can even enhance your experience greatly.

Let’s take the Elden Ring for example. One reason why this game was so magical to me was because the whole internet explored it together. There have been so many secrets and hidden areas that it was so fun to talk about it and share what you found. Same goes for Blue Prince. Talking about the game while everyone played it was as much fun as playing the game itself.

The second reason is of course Multiplayer. When a game is new and all your friends play it it will probably be worth paying the full price for it. To be part of the fun. So being smart and waiting for sales can make gaming very budget friendly but it can also result in missing out on some very special moments.

The worth of a game is different for everyone

As you can see those are things that help me on deciding if a game is worth it or not. But in the end it’s a very individual topic. We all value different things in games. For me games are Art and I find it almost impossible to put a price tag on that. A game is worth its price if it gives you a special feeling or an experience I really enjoy. I also feel we talk way too often about the topic of pricing and too little about the quality of a game.

I would pay 100€ for Hollow Knight Silksong and would feel like it was worth it, at the same time i wouldnt pay 10€ for a Call of Duty as it wouldn’t offer me anything meaningful. Of course we all would like for games to be more affordable but that shouldn’t be the main topic of discussion while talking about games.