---
layout: post
title: "Why Your £70 Game Might Not Be Worth It Anymore"
description: "Game prices are skyrocketing, but players are rebelling. Here's what's actually happening in the industry."
date: 2026-02-21 22:00:25 +0530
author: adam
image: 'https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1768622180477-5043d6dcdfcc?q=80&w=2070'
video_embed:
tags: [news, tech, business]
tags_color: '#1f78b4'
---
You walk into a game shop, pull down a new AAA title, and nearly drop it when you see the price tag. Seventy quid. In the UK, that's become the new normal for big releases. But here's the thing: the gaming industry might have finally overplayed its hand.
Back in 2025, Nintendo set what seemed like an audacious benchmark by pricing major Switch titles like Mario Kart World at £74.99. Not to be outdone, rumors swirled that Grand Theft Auto 6 could become the first game ever to hit the $100 mark. It sounds absurd until you remember that <a href="https://infeeds.com/tags/?tag=business">Business</a> always pushes boundaries, especially when they think they can get away with it.
But something unexpected happened. While the big publishers kept raising prices, a strange shift occurred in the market.
## The Rebels Started Winning
Games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Split Fiction, and ARC Raiders launched at £30-£40, and critics went absolutely nuts for them. Clair Obscur alone racked up 436 game of the year awards. That's not just winning a competition, that's dominating it.
Alexis Garavaryan, the boss of publisher Kepler Interactive, was pretty honest about why they priced their game lower than industry standards. "We've kind of taken the opposite action," he told the BBC. Instead of thinking about what they could charge, they thought about what the game was actually worth and priced it lower intentionally.
The strategy was deliberate and almost revolutionary in its simplicity: make players feel respected.
"We want them to feel like we are respectful of their money, respectful of their time," Garavaryan said. "Every time they buy a game from us, they're getting a great deal." Think about that for a second. A major publisher is using the word "respect" when talking about pricing. That's how broken things had gotten.
## The Math Doesn't Add Up Anymore
Here's where it gets really interesting. A recent consumer study found that most gamers are spending less on new games. Only 4% of US video game players buy a new game more than once a month. A third of players aren't buying any new games at all.
That's not a market problem. That's a market signal.
And it's getting worse. With the price of RAM alone more than doubling since October 2025, the costs of making these massive games just keep climbing. Someone has to pay for it. Publishers want it to be you. Garavaryan's counter-offer is that you could play five or six different experiences from Kepler for the same price as one traditional AAA game.
The crazy part? Players are actually interested in that deal.
## But Wait, Don't Count Out the Blockbusters Just Yet
Before you think the industry is about to collapse under its own weight, hold on. Rebekah Valentine, a senior reporter at IGN, pointed out something important: the games that consistently pull the most players are the forever games. Fortnite. Call of Duty. The titles that keep getting updated, that you play with your friends, that become almost like platforms rather than products.
"There are dozens, hundreds of really unique, interesting games published every week," Valentine told the BBC. "Most of which do not sell well nor do they gain this level of attention."
Christopher Dring, editor-in-chief of The Game Business, echoed that sentiment. Yes, sometimes smaller-budget games deliver major success, but the most anticipated games of 2026 are still the blockbusters. Resident Evil Requiem. GTA 6. The titans.
What's changed isn't that scale doesn't matter anymore. It's that attention matters more than ever, and attention is scarce.
## So What's Actually Happening?
The industry is fragmenting. You've got your blockbuster multiplayer games that justify premium pricing because they're live services you'll play forever. You've got your single-player experiences that used to demand £70 but are now learning they can charge £35 and still thrive. And you've got thousands of smaller games that most people will never hear about.
The £70 price tag isn't guaranteed to mean quality. It's become a gamble. Sometimes you get the scope and spectacle it promises. Sometimes you get a bloated mess that costs way too much to develop and sells less than expected.
Kepler Interactive's decision to price lower was about respecting players, sure, but it was also about standing out in a market drowning in choices. Garavaryan even mentioned they're working on a physical magazine in an era when everything is digital. "As people move away from the more physical, the more human touch, we want to find that as a place where we find comfort," he said.
That's a strange thing to hear from a <a href="https://infeeds.com/tags/?tag=technology">Technology</a> company, but maybe it's the smartest thing anyone's said about the industry in years.
The real competition for your money isn't between games. It's for your attention, and your trust.
