Look, I’m with you. I’m not super happy about the shift to triple-A games costing $80. It sucks, even when a developer tries to explain their reasoning in a slow voice like they’re talking to a small child. Yes, I understand that games are getting increasingly more expensive to make, and certain financial models aren’t sustainable. Yes, I know that there were games that cost $80 in the 1990s back when Gen X had bucolic summer jobs at the town fair or whatever. Yes, I know that some developers posit that “real fans” - 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:whatever the stupid hell that means - wi𝐆ll gladꩵly fork over extra cash for their favorite games.

And, yes, I know that I’mꦦ part of the problem in that I’m probably going to shake my head to show my displeasure while still spending twenty more dollars than usual. But, all I ask - and I think this is reasonable - is that when I sꦺpend $80 on a game, I get the actual whole game.

$80 Is Too Much Money For A Video Game To Still Screw You Over

It’s not like we don’t all know we’ve been getting fl🧸eeced for years. It feels like 90 percent of the time I buy a major new game on Steam, there’s a regular version for $60 and then the “Special Edition” for ten or tಞwenty dollars more, including anything from bonus equipment to costumes I’ll never put my character in to future content that will otherwise itself be blocked behind a different paywall (more on that in a second).

Whether you want those extras or not, whether you care about season passes, when you buy thꦿe base version of a game with a ton of extras available at a premium cost, you are not getting the “full” game. Maybe it’s worth a few more bucks to get the “Deluxe Super Special Digital Boxed Set.” Maybe it’s not. You can probably guess which option the studio would prefer you to c💙hoose. It’s the most expensive one. They want you to buy that one.

So, again, if I’m spending $80 on a game, I’m going to need the whole game. I mean, yeah,♑ fine, whatever, if you need some pre-order bonus where I start off with 50 more gold pieces, sure. I know incentives can be a powerful thing. But you know what else is a powerful thing? $80 freaking dollars.

borderlands 4 character using electricity to beat enemies.
via 2K

For some people with expendable income, that might not be too much of a difference. 🦩For others, especially kids, that might be the difference between buying a new game at all or maybe just sticking with the thousands of free-to-play games that consistently provide content while taking a slower approach to draining fans. Despite 🍸what the says, it’s not always a matter of being a hardcore fan versus a tourist. It’s a matter of budgeting during a time in which America set the world economy to “shuffle.” I guess you can’t be a real Borderlands fan if you’re also a fan of buying food for that week.

But since we don’t have a choice, give me the whole game. And maybe 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Borderlands 4 will have that! Right now, the for the game doesn’t list any upgraded versions yet. Who knows? It’s very possible that they charge $80 and only $80 and that gives all players the same content for the same game. I don’t quite expectꦫ that to happen, but I’d be happy if it did.

At least it would be a nice sign that players are getting the full game for the full price. It may sound dumb for me to split hairs on extra weapons or easier unlocks, but I also believe that it would be better if we all got to have the ability to experience all o⛎f it - including crap I might not care about. I don’t want to have to buy a game like I order at a sushi restaurant, hop𒉰ing I’m choosing the right pieces at the right prices for the table to be happy. Especially if the eel roll costs, I don’t know, $80.

Special Editions Are Fine, But Don't Take Gamers For A Ride

A Psycho aiming a sword in Borderlands 4.

This isn’t to say I’m against actual special editions that contain things outside the game. You want to offer me a package with the soundtrack and an art book? Sure! Throw an extra ten bucks on the price. You want to upsell the game with a humiliating sci-fi helmet that’s too small to wear and too big to hide when actual human beings come over? Fantastic. Those don’t affect the actual theoretical piece of art itself. Those are what extras should be. So, if you want to make more money off suckers like me and offer up a ? Not exactly good! Not exactly moral! But 🔯a different problem than the one I’m talking about here.

And, you know what? I’ll maybe even extend that to major DLC made after the game was released. If you’ve finished a complete story and then later release what’s basically an entirꩲe sequel’s worth of content within the game, yeah, I could see spending🌺 another $20 or $30 on that down the line. But at least give us a minute here! When a game and a season pass are available at the literally exact same time, all that makes me think is that the base game isn’t complete and I’m going to have to both wait longer and pay more to make it complete within a few months. So not only am I getting an unfinished game, I have to follow a “road map” to see when it’s actually in a state worth playing. Or has the full story.

I’m just saying, I swear to God, if I have to spend $80 on a fighting game and half of the character boxes are greyed out with a padlock icon over them and an option to buy them now, I’m going to lose my mind. That’s basically just mocking players. If I have to spend $20 more than usual and still get screwed with the same extra expenses, I’m going to be furious. I’ll still fall for it every time, because I’m a chump and the industry runs on chumps, but I’m going to be furious. If we’re raising prices on games because they’re getting more expensive to make - and I’m taking this argument in good faith here - then we should be raising the threshold for charging for extras. If we’re spending more because it costs to make more, that’s not a reason for companies to nickel and dime us even more. That’s what I’m afraid of.

If $80 flattens out all the different stupid editions of a game into one, actually complete product, amazing! Fine. I know it sucks all the way to the bottom of the glass, but at least that would seem like the🦩y’re trying to right the ship. But I’m worried that we’re just going to see the same crap pulled again and again, but now for even more money. If you’re raising costs commensurate with the price of making a game then, one last time, give me the whole game.

borderlands-4-cover.jpg
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Borderlands 4
Looter Shooter
Action
Adventure
RPG
Systems
Released
September 12, 2025
ESRB
Rating Pending
Publisher(s)
2K

WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL