gta 6 at $80, nintendo too, so is this the new normal for games

VGC put up a piece today asking if $80 is the new normal for games, and honestly it's been on my mind since GTA 6 pre-orders went live. Standard edition is $79.99, which is basically $80 after tax or whatever. Nintendo's doing it too apparently. I remember when $60 felt like a lot, then $70 happened with the PS5 gen, and now we're creeping up again.

I get that games cost more to make now. GTA 6 has been in development for what feels like a decade, and the scale is insane. But $80 for a base game, plus a $100 ultimate edition, plus whatever online monetization comes later? It's a lot. And the pre-order bonus is just a vintage Vice City pack, not even a discount or anything.

What bugs me is that we're all just kind of accepting it. The pre-orders opened and people rushed in. I did too, not gonna lie. But I keep thinking about how many other games I could buy for that price, or how many months of Game Pass or whatever. And GTA 6 is probably going to sell 50 million copies regardless, so it's not like they need the extra $10 per unit to break even.

Maybe I'm just old. I remember buying San Andreas for $50 at launch and thinking that was steep. Now $80 is the floor for a big AAA game. And Nintendo, who used to be the holdout with $60 games, is now at $80 too? That's wild.

Anyway, VGC's article is worth a read if you want the industry perspective. But I'm curious what everyone here thinks. Are you fine with $80 for GTA 6, or does it sting a little?

Source: VGC · Curated content.