What's the point of selling expensively! This year's high-scoring games are almost all under $50!
In the current industry context where 3A games generally rise to US$80, statistics from the promoter @Okami13_ show that all games with Metacritic scores of more than 85 points in 2024-2025 maintained a affordable price of less than US$50.
Among them, "Light and Shadow: Expedition Team No. 33" and "Double Shadow Wonderland" ranked the top two in the media ratings in 2025 with a price of US$50, while the 2024 TGA annual nominated game "The Joker" achieved a sales record of tens of millions for only US$15.
This phenomenon is in a strong contrast with the price increase strategies of mainstream game manufacturers. According to information leaked by Swiss retailers, "GTA6" may be priced at up to $112 (about 847 yuan), while Nintendo Switch2's first masterpiece "Mario Kart: World" has been confirmed to be released for $80.
Player survey data shows that 73% of respondents regard US$50 as the psychological price upper limit, and if you exceed this price, you will choose to wait for a discount. The analysis pointed out that these cost-effective games generally adopt the "simplified development" strategy - the "Blue Path Prince" development team said that they voluntarily gave up elements such as open world and multiplayer mode, concentrated resources to polish the core puzzle gameplay, thereby keeping the development cost within US$3 million.
