JPMar 3
"Gamers aren't buying games anymore":
https://www.vice.com/en/article/us-gamers-arent-buying-video-games-anymore-new-study-reveals
During the big platform subscription service push 6-8 years ago I was sounding the alarm about this. It seems inarguable now that the mass devaluation did happen and we are dealing with its consequences.
Show threadJP
Of course, two other dynamics that have significantly influenced this are "it's now possible for basically anyone to make and publish a game" and "hardware has lasted longer and companies aren't able to force stuff into obsolescence as easily" (thus people have much greater access to older works) - these are good things! We can't and won't turn back the clock on those. But they combine with the more deliberate corporate strategies to make the current landscape fraught.
Mar 3 at 9:01pmTusky
Show threadChristiaan MolemanMar 3

@jplebreton Another factor is all this is happening in a time of record inflation and exploding cost of living (esp energy) and massive uncertainty, which means people have considerably less disposable income to spend on non-essential things.

Most couldn't afford to buy all the games at full price even if they wanted to. Raising prices and doing away with deep sales as some have suggested would only make things worse. People will just buy even fewer games with same amount of money.