Console gaming’s affordability crisis
Early this year I wrote about macroeconomic pressures freezing the console and PC gaming markets in place. It’s only gotten more challenging in the months since.
Thanks to tariffs and an AI boom that has increased demand for RAM and other hardware, a PS5 Digital now costs $600 USD, while an Xbox Series X costs $650. Closed ecosystems ensure expenses beyond the hardware aren’t getting any cheaper either. It costs at least $80 to $100 for a year of multiplayer access. Full price AAA games are considering $80 price tags.
Circana research from Mat Piscatella underlines how console gaming is increasingly a hobby for the rich. Back in Q1 2022, 40% of households that purchased new video game hardware made more than $100k, while 31% earned less than $50k. By Q4 2025, 53% made more than $100k annually, while just 19% made less than $50k.
Yet Microsoft and Sony are making a bad situation even worse. Both corporations seem to have no plan for the future beyond catering to an increasingly high income enthusiast base.
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