The cost of PC gaming keeps getting worse every year and the near future doesn’t look very promising. With fewer gamers being able to afford upgrades, I except that will have a chilling effect on game studios and independent developers as well.
On one hand yes, on the other, you don’t really need the newest games, as you definitely have a backlog full of games to play. I am very slowly looking for maybe an upgrade to my 6yo PC, but maybe a sidegrade is all I need. Maybe a switch 2? There’s a lot less pressure on constant upgrades if you don’t chase the big trends and upgrade every cycle
I hear you, and I agree. I did just upgrade my ok PC because I had saved up the money and wanted to get the most for them before the tariffs take effect. Before that I was gaming in a decently capable laptop about 4 years old, and before that I used hand-me-downs and upgraded maybe every 5-10 years. With the exception of this last upgrade, I’ve stayed about mid-tier for GPU and other components.
While consoles may be less expensive up front, I don’t care about exclusives and I grew up as a PC gamer who still can’t use a controller right. I’m also a developer so I can justify the upgrades when I have the money for it.
When asked, I typically tell people to pick a budget and get the most computer you can get within that. If you’re always wanting “the best” your can always spend more money for some increase in performance. Don’t spend money you don’t have.
The cost of PC gaming keeps getting worse every year and the near future doesn’t look very promising. With fewer gamers being able to afford upgrades, I except that will have a chilling effect on game studios and independent developers as well.
I wonder how things are going to go with the tariff penalty stacking with rear earth metal ban.
On one hand yes, on the other, you don’t really need the newest games, as you definitely have a backlog full of games to play. I am very slowly looking for maybe an upgrade to my 6yo PC, but maybe a sidegrade is all I need. Maybe a switch 2? There’s a lot less pressure on constant upgrades if you don’t chase the big trends and upgrade every cycle
I hear you, and I agree. I did just upgrade my ok PC because I had saved up the money and wanted to get the most for them before the tariffs take effect. Before that I was gaming in a decently capable laptop about 4 years old, and before that I used hand-me-downs and upgraded maybe every 5-10 years. With the exception of this last upgrade, I’ve stayed about mid-tier for GPU and other components.
While consoles may be less expensive up front, I don’t care about exclusives and I grew up as a PC gamer who still can’t use a controller right. I’m also a developer so I can justify the upgrades when I have the money for it.
When asked, I typically tell people to pick a budget and get the most computer you can get within that. If you’re always wanting “the best” your can always spend more money for some increase in performance. Don’t spend money you don’t have.