80 euros for new games is not too much? | Column by Santi

New price standard for PC games

In the game price gallop, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is pushing ahead, the basic hull should cost 70 euros, with the addition of the Vault Edition it is already 100 euros. Sony have similar numbers in mind for The Last of Us Part 1. On the one hand, the standard edition is available for 79.99 euros, which contains the entire story of The Last of Us including the prologue chapter “Left Behind”. On the other hand, there is also a Digital Deluxe Edition, which offers a few other smaller features and therefore costs 10 euros more.

Not with me!

Okay, today’s games are much more complex overall, but the games can’t cost infinitely much either! Precisely because the games industry is not exactly starving and the surcharge does not necessarily go to the developer, who I would not begrudge it, but the upstream publisher swallows it. But butter by the fish – my last situation, in which I actually preferred to wait before I struck, was Dragonball Z Kakarot, also for 80 euros at the time of release. I’m really a fangirl, but it was just too much for me. But I could wait, so some time passed and I later bought it for 30 euros at the Steam sale. I was also extremely patient with Cyberpunk, which I had to be because I wasn’t up for the beta bugfest self-flagellation. I haven’t played it yet, but my expectations are still high! I’ll probably wait for the DLCs though. And there we have the salad: there’s hardly a game that’s completely finished when you buy it these days! Full price for a beta version? How about No! I don’t pay 80 or 40 or anything for that, I just wait for a playable status or just let it be!

Everything used to be different

I’ll row back a few decades. In the “good old D-Mark days”. Of course, a game cost up to 140 marks and more. We all know the argument. But which finished PC or even console game was such a bugfest as Cyberpunk or the current Battlefield. Nobody should have allowed themselves such impertinence as nowadays. And which game with D-Mark prices came with a subscription model, an in-game shop or any other kind of compulsion to throw in more money?!

The times when you installed a game for Christmas and could start right away are long gone. So I buy a game, I’m keen to get started, but I crash for hours downloading it, no, because the loading bar grows slower than my houseplant. I’d better not start with additional paid content, which is usually also offered as an option. And all the flashing overlays and pop-ups that distract from the flow of the game. I consider the game subscriptions of the various stores to be one of the few good developments. This is a relatively cheap option if you want to test whether some games are even suitable for you and I don’t have to risk a grab bag at full price right away. But the package also has to be right. It’s only worth it for me if I want to play multiple titles. I also don’t feel the need to “own” every game. It’s enough to have played it through! I simply use several stores alternately. Stupid only if the subscription continues unused. It’s just a matter of organization! At least I’m sticking to my strategy of keeping my feet still for the time being, which has worked well for me so far.