Study: Gamers are Tired of Paying $80 for New Releases - Most Await Discounts

The main reason for this is the rising cost of AAA games. In this generation, prices have already reached the $80 mark, with Mario Kart World being one example. Players are increasingly opting to wait for discounts, major sales, or the game's inclusion in subscription services.

The study also revealed generational differences. Among Generation X, only 20% buy games at full price. For millennials, this figure is 38%, and for Generation Z, it's 42%.

Sources of information about new releases also differ. Generation X more often uses Google, millennials primarily watch YouTube, and younger players almost entirely rely on social media.

Older players tend to choose story-driven single-player games, while Generation Z prefers multiplayer and social features.

Christopher Dring, co-founder of The Games Business, stated that the market is currently "oversaturated." According to him, players no longer feel the urgent need to buy new releases. An additional problem has been the technical state of many releases.

Players are accustomed to modern projects often being released unfinished and requiring months of patches. Because of this, the strategy of "wait until it's fixed and the price drops" has become a way to save not only money but also nerves.

However, exclusives still remain the main reason for buying a specific console, as indicated by data from the analytical company Circana.