The Sixty Dollar Myth (The Jimquisition)

Insightful perspective, Jim! Some interesting points in here that I hadn't considered before, though I'm not sure I fully agree on your point about players / gamers not "asking" for bigger games. While I am 100% in alignment with you on the often unnecessary engine and graphical developments, I'd certainly argue that gamers have demanded bigger, more polished, and more content-rich games. The Witcher 3 is a perfect example of a game that raised the bar for open-world RPGs by doing everything you point out as being superfluous: brand new in-house engine, insane scope, and amazing attention to detail. Granted, CDPR's business model on TW3 was more than fair, so perhaps you're excluding it from your commentary on such.

cost for game production has gone up, but profits have risen to match and go over the rising costs of production, however we as the consumers are not seeing any of those profits reinvested into new IPs, good QA, etc etc. The employees aren't seeing any of those returns because they're being laid off. All the while the sleazy practises increase because it's easy money and shareholders are more or less expected to get their assets to operate in the same way if they don't want their share prices to become relatively undervalued and risk hostile takeover. Market forces are ruining video games in a world where ricardian competition has become the norm.

Iandrasil

Yep. NZ and Australia get to look forward to launch prices of $95.99, not $60.

Twit In A Hat

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It's amazing how many arguments are countered by themselves. Here for example. 1 Companies need these sleazy practices because games haven't got more expensive. 2 These sleazy practices mean games have gotten more expensive in practical terms.

Matthew Foweraker

While a whole lot of this is true and well-said, Jim, I've got to take issue with one thing: the idea that rich CEOs making huge amounts of money says much about how well the company is doing. As you noted in passing, major game companies now expand and contract with every big new title, hiring people on contract and then pushing them out the door when, or even before, the game ships. Aside from being shady and disloyal, it also suggests that many companies aren't quite as flush with liquidity as they might like their investors to believe. Keeping capable people below a certain tier on permanent retainer didn't use to be a luxury. I've known colleges and universities that took on presidents who made six and even seven-figure salaries for their perceived credentials and ability to attract donors, even while the schools themselves were shedding student services and facility maintenance budgets. Perception means a lot in an investor-fueled industry, and an Armani-clad face with a golden resume and a snappy patter doesn't always mean that everything beneath isn't quietly rotting. None of this is to say the practices and justifications aren't still a load of twaddle.

Kraken

I almost feel like I'd like to debate the core message, as I think there could still be a place for the extra costs and sales, but at the same time all the examples you've mentioned, and more, I am against as well. Witcher 3 aside is the only one to mind for now. Great video as always!

Bear1018

Isn´t the answer already given with games like Undertale and Shovel Knight being so big successes?

Your Resident Homestuck Guy, Gumba Masta

I wish games had a base price of only $60. In Australia, they're typically around $80, often more.

Hey Jim, great point at the end of the episode. Why do we need to subsidize the cost of all of these, arguably, unnecessary high end graphics, etc? Do they really care that much about what Digital Foundry has to say about their games?

Roberto Zayas

Crap like this has been enough to get me to quit buying video games unless they're on sale on Steam.

Jason Youngberg

*Standing ovation*

Jason Youngberg

Yeah, "funny" how the cost of items are adjusted for inflation but not salaries for millions of people.

Jason Youngberg

I've been a PC gamer since the 80s. PC titles cost $20 well into the 90s, even the "AAA" ones. Adjusted for inflation they should only cost $35 at most.

Kyle Williams

Never raised with inflation? What youngsters say that? It used to be $40!

Andy

My Strategy for this is simple: Wait a year, sometimes two. The reality is that so many games are coming out now, there's just no way to keep up. I find there's typically at least 10 or 20 games from the last year that go on sale for half price or more. I basically just wait until i see 50% off before I even consider buying. Typically these will be bundles including most or all of the DLC. Sadly this doesn't work for games where you want to be in at release for the multiplayer player base, or to be the first to discover content - like MMO's, Competitive Shooters etc... In my case I don't play those games, so it works out for me - but I can see why that would be a big problem for people who do. The micro transactions are really where the biggest issue is for me. I think that's a truly insidious, and damaging behavior on publishers parts. At least with the multiple tiers you know what you're getting and can decide if it's a value prop you agree with. I think your characterization of these micro targeting systems as "Gambling" is completely spot on, and I think it's going to become a big vulnerability for the industry as the tides start to shift on tech.

Birdoggydog

It's depressing, really. All of my excitement for major titles likes: Mass Effect: Andromeda, Lord of the Rings: Shadow of War, and Star Wars: Battlefront 2, for example, is almost immediately deflated as I learn more and more about the industry. After watching your video, Jim, and Super Bunnyhop's video on tax dodging by major publishers, I cannot help but feel that every purchase of products from these companies is damaging the world. I compare them to Fucking Cancer (as you would put it), as these companies represent the tumours that starve the body of nutrients, clog up the body by exponentially swelling up, and eventually consuming surrounding vital organs, all of this an offering nothing in return for the body, only eating it from the inside to feed it's mutated cells called: investors. I feel that purchasing any product from these companies only encourages their behaviour. They see no value in the product they sell. They have no interest in the medium. They have no love for the staff that support the company. They only see every component of video games as another artery to bring money to them and feed the insatiable tumours. They only want to do as little work as needed to have someone purchase something and they hoard as much money as they can for themselves. I can't bring myself to purchase games published by major publishers any more. I find myself becoming more and more cynical about games - and products in general - as I hear about things like this from people like you, Jim. I can never go back to being doe-eyed at purchasing a game or other thing without wondering if I and the country I bought it in are just being exploited by the company. I can't even look at E3 the same way again, knowing that all of it is a way to obscure their avaricious behaviours behind beautiful trailers, forced excitement, and out-right lies. The only positive I can find out of all of this is that I now only purchase independent games and those made by smaller studios/publishers. I no longer feed the tumours and only support those that need the support and have teams that have a passion for games, storytelling, and pushing the medium forward. The loss that these publishers won't notice will now go to the studios that do. I even found myself proud to purchase Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice as I knew it was going to a great experience and that the lion's share of the profits and success were going to the developers themselves. Then I remember that this is an industry. That eventually, studios like Ninja Theory, Full Sail, Larian Studios, Amplitude Studios, etc. only stay independent until those losses are noticed by the big publishers and then buy them out with the tax sheltered money they've legally stolen from our countries. It's like the tumour realizes that a significant amount of nutrients are not being given to it, it notice that it's because a viable organ is being fed to serve the body, it then rolls itself over to smother the organ, consume it, and ads the carcase to itself to continue to grow and grow while offering nothing in return. I'm going to boot up Hellblade. I need something to cheer me up.