Gaming is Getting Too Expensive In The US – Here’s Why

Gaming is in a strange spot at the moment.

Microsoft has announced its next console, Valve’s highly anticipated Steam Machine is on the way, and there are even rumors that the PlayStation 6 could drop as early as 2027.

In normal economic times, excitement levels would be off the scale, yet everything feels so underwhelming.

RAM and hardware shortages have become gamers’ worst nightmare, while rising development costs mean studios are pumping out games that are either unfinished or obscenely overpriced.

It’s not a pretty picture for what was once a booming industry and the huge question now is even if the next generation turns out to be a step up from the stale ninth generation, will the average gamer even be able to afford to take part?

Nintendo has been warning us for months that the Switch 2 will soon go up in price having already been released last summer, so gaming looks set to become even pricier than it already is.

And if you’re scratching your head wondering what on earth is going on with gaming, you’re not alone.

Bizarrely, gaming is more accessible than it’s ever been.

Yet despite how easy it is to order a Switch 2 or download F2P games on Android or iOS, gaming itself is the most expensive it’s ever been, with new AAA releases hitting the market at anywhere from $70 to $80 and your average console costing an arm and a leg.

It’s been going on ever since the COVID-19 days — so we’re now experiencing a market that’s been highly inflated for over half a decade — and Gen Z has even decided to start cutting back on video game purchases as a result.

Studios and publishers know that gamers are the heartbeat of the industry and driving them away is only going to hurt their own interests, but it seems as though they’re either unable or unwilling to compromise at the moment.

After all, US consumer spending on video games totalled $60.7 billion in 2025, not far off the pandemic era boom, so it’s not like the studios need to back down on this when they can rely on things like microtransactions and subscriptions to keep profits rolling in.

Off the back of this, it’s no surprise that 75% of PC gamers think AAA games have gotten too expensive and purchases of actual gaming hardware YoY have been going down for a while now.

When GTA 6, the most anticipated video game of all time, hopefully releases later this year in November, Rockstar could be in for a surprise if they release the game at $100 and unit sales fall short, as today’s typical gamer just doesn’t want to spend the big bucks anymore.

On the flip side, GTA 6 could smash all sales projections and set a new precedent for the industry where studios feel confident releasing flagships at $100.

This would be catastrophic for the wider industry, which is why there’s a lot riding on the release of GTA 6 and what it entails.

Why Gaming Has Gone from an Affordable to Premium Hobby

The truth is that there is no one single reason why gaming in the US and even other parts of the world has gotten unaffordable.

If you were to nail down the key issue, the fault isn’t actually with gaming itself: the average person just has less disposable income than they did a decade ago. When you’ve got cash to splash, as is the case with a growing number of Americans, video games are the least of your priorities. It’s the same reason why holiday spending is down and people are concerned about rising grocery costs.

When it comes to the actual gaming industry itself and the problems going on within it, some of the big ones include development costs going through the roof, live-service support costs, and high marketing spend. On top of this, there’s also the overwhelming issue of corporate greed, as just like we’ve seen with the Switch 2 first year sales, a lot of publishers have now realized they can charge highly inflated prices and still maintain a significant portion of their userbases.

So, when you combine a struggling economy with a gaming industry that’s plagued by development costs and rising greed, you get exactly what we see today. It’s far from the ‘golden era’ of before and has Gen Z and Millennials feeling overwhelmingly nostalgic for years gone by across TikTok and Reddit. Sure, gaming is still gaming, but it comes at a premium price now with significantly less magic and innovation than previous eras.

Free-to-Play Market is Booming Following Industry Uncertainty

With the gaming industry in the spot it’s currently in, one of the least surprising trends has been the rise of the free-to-play market.

It’s now reached a point where around 3.2 billion gamers primarily engage with F2P titles and 82% of global gaming revenue comes from these same games.

Simply put, the F2P market is keeping gaming alive at the moment and it’s even started to create other interesting sub-markets, like free-to-play sweepstakes casinos. Just recently, Vision NL Limited even decided to get in on this action by releasing Card Crush, a sweepstakes casino and RPG-style card game rolled into one that anyone can play for free according to the SweepsKings review. When gamers are so obsessed with free-to-play games that they’re even stepping inside virtual casinos, it says a lot about how much consumer behaviours have changed simply because of rising AAA game costs.

The downside of the F2P market is that the games tend to be ad-ridden and heavily monetized, but at the end of the day they ultimately let people play for free and that can only be a good thing. Without F2Ps, gamers on a budget in this economy would be pretty much stuck, which is why the market is booming so much. It provides a cost-free way for people to keep playing in a time when AAA games are pushing upwards of $80.

PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S Sales Drop, While Switch 2 Sales Struggle

Another worrying sign for US gaming has been the noticeable decline in sales for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Microsoft has been hit the hardest, having recently reported all-time low sales for its flagship console line, symbolizing what has been an incredibly underwhelming post-pandemic era for gaming.

Even Nintendo has recently conceded that Switch 2 sales outside of Japan have been below expectations after the popular handheld released at $449.99 in the US with games that have all substantially gone up in price.

When juggernauts like Microsoft and Nintendo aren’t getting the level of market success they used to in the past, it’s arguably the greatest signifier that the gaming industry is going through a major evolution at the moment that will require at least some solutions in the near future in order to get casual gamers back on side.

Should Gamers Be Worried?

There’s plenty to be worried about in the gaming world.

Costs have skyrocketed, game quality has dipped, and it seems as though only GTA 6 could turn the ship around at this point.

Gamers can, of course, continue to enjoy popular free-to-play titles and the occasional good AAA games that still manage to get released these days, but some serious changes are needed for things to get back to normal.

Indie releases like Slay the Spire 2, which has already sold over 3 million units on Steam, also give a struggling industry some hope in a time where most charts are starting to get dominated by ‘AI slop’ releases.

It’s also worth mentioning that cloud gaming could turn out to be gaming’s savior if hardware costs do indeed continue in the direction they’ve been going, as it will at least allow struggling gamers to stay plugged in without having to worry about splashing out on expensive physical consoles and other hardware.

One thing for sure is that 2026 and 2027 will largely dictate where gaming goes next, so there’s plenty to keep tabs on.