dlvr.it
Game Consoles Are Pricing Themselves Out of Relevance
For a long time, the common wisdom was that game consoles would usurp PC gaming, leaving it a niche hobby, ignored by the greater gaming community. And indeed, for a long time consoles were the most popular way to play mainstream games. But recently, especially since the release of the current generation of consoles, the very opposite seems to be coming true. PC gaming has been expanding while consoles falter.
Looking forward to the next Xbox and PlayStation consoles, analysts are predicting $900 as the low end of possible pricing--and that number is seeming more and more optimistic. That's a lot of money to spend for a dedicated machine that, for most console owners, is just used for playing Call of Duty or the latest football game. Consoles are becoming too expensive for all but the most dedicated gamers to justify--especially when gamers in their teens and early 20s have grown up in a world where a console is no longer needed to play the vast majority of games.
While the gaming industry as a whole is still massive, the traditional sector of games are struggling. Games industry sales tracker Circana reported that last year, games spending in general dropped by 4% compared to last year. Hardware spending specifically dropped 27% percent. Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 sales dropped by 70% and 40%, respectively. Nintendo's numbers were bolstered by the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, but still saw a 10% drop. Both PS5 and the current Xbox consoles have seen multiple price hikes in the last 18 months, and the Nintendo Switch 2 launched at $450 in the US, 50% higher than the launch price of the first Switch.Continue Reading at GameSpot
