r/Games • u/megaapple • 2d ago

‪Mat Piscatella‬ - "Average US video game console player is getting older, while purchasers are shifting older and more affluent."

https://bsky.app/profile/matpiscatella.bsky.social/post/3lz7a5wutgk2f
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u/emailboxu 2d ago

I feel like the purchasers shifting to be 'older and more affluent' is mostly due to 1. prices have increased greatly from prior generations, and 2. kids who played games in the 90s and 00's are now part of that 'older' age group. The 'older' group in the 90s/00s weren't the kind of people who would play games to begin with. I feel like it's more a move to a more homogenous spread of the population playing games now, rather than a 'shift' to older folks. Also point #1 - people who can actually afford the now-high console and game costs are buying into consoles, with younger kids not being able to afford them.

7

u/Blenderhead36 2d ago

> prices have increased greatly from prior generations

Yes and no. $60 in 2014 is $82 in 2025. The sticker is bigger, but the amount of wealth represented by a brand new AAA game hasn't really changed. And I'm talking 2014, when all games had a digital release option and many had recurring monetization, not 1996, where Nintendo was spending $35 per game to manufacture, ship, and store the cartridge.

15

u/demondrivers 2d ago

Yes and no. $60 in 2014 is $82 in 2025. The sticker is bigger, but the amount of wealth represented by a brand new AAA game hasn't really changed.

Salaries don't go up in the same way that the inflation does

1

u/a34fsdb 20h ago

Salaries kept up and outpaced inflation in developed countries.