Because most of those expenses go to expensive things like motion capture, voice acting, art, and marketing. And it’s pretty much an arms race in pushing the boundaries.

Devs and artists get pushed pretty hard to deliver bigger and better every time. Unfortunately, they don’t always get the time and means to do so. There’s a big disconnect between upper management and the actual devs/artists making the game.

The only games I play close to launch are games I play with friends. I always buy single player games much later on sale.

Anyone else bought a Steam Deck because new AAA games release broken and are more expensive than ever?

Kinda? A lot of new AAA games just don’t interest me as much. EA does release some good games, but their the EA app on PC is dogshit. And Ubisoft just only releases open world busywork that I dislike, and their launcher is shit too. That already cuts down on a lot of games. Unfortunately, it also limits older games since they forced them into the new launchers as well.

I’m mostly going back through “old” games I never really had time for due to adult life. Just finished Rise of Tomb Raider, which was great. Plenty of side content to dig my teeth in, but still just a 20-hour game, which is perfect for me.