Now is not a good time to buy a new games console.
The shock waves from Donald Trump’s will-he-won’t-he approach to trade tariffs were always going to hit video games, an industry that relies on incredibly complex global supply chains. On Monday, Nikkei Asia reported on analysis from a major electronics supplier suggesting that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be subject to Trump’s 145% tariff on goods imported to the US from China, despite his apparent decision to exempt smartphones and computers.
This came after Nintendo announced it would delay US pre-orders on the console, “in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions.” Meanwhile, the Guardian has reported on Sony’s plans to increase the price of the PS5 by 25% in the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, citing “a challenging economic environment, including high inflation and fluctuating exchange rates.”
The games industry is already struggling with the punishing economics of triple-A game development. The past two years has seen a slew of studio closures, mass layoffs and project cancellations; the traditional revenue model of premium priced games, sequels and downloadable content has been torn apart by the huge success of live service games such as Fortnite and Valorant, which are free to play and which generate revenue through cosmetic purchases (like fancy weapons skins and limited-edition costumes) and “battle pass” subscriptions.
There is also controversy over the price of premium games. Nintendo’s decision to charge £74.99 and $79.99 for the Switch 2 launch game Mario Kart World is expected to set a new benchmark for other game publishers and has led to much handwringing. All eyes will be on the price of Grand Theft Auto VI when it launches later this year, with one reliable industry analyst, Matthew Ball of investment strategy firm Epyllion, predicting that other publishers will follow suit if Rockstar opens the door to $80-$100 retail price points.
Beneath all of these epic financial tumults, however, is something much more important: the personal economic decisions all gamers make. PC Gamer recently reported on a Reddit thread where readers had discovered a little known feature of the dominant digital game store, Steam. By navigating to a section of the Help menu entitled “External funds used” you can see exactly how much you’ve spent on games since you started purchasing. The originator of the thread was in shock, realising they had spent $35,000. One member of PC Gamer’s staff discovered their total was $16,000 – “Oh god,” was their reported response.
Here’s the thing: cost is relatively easy to calculate, but value isn’t – and value is what’s really important on an individual level. In the mid-90s, when people like me were buying imported games for the Neo-Geo and PC Engine consoles, we were paying between £80 and £120 for new titles – but then I got to play an arcade perfect version of R-Type in my own home, which was valuable to me. When I look at games in my collection, such as Minecraft, Mario Kart 8, Elden Ring and Call of Duty (sorry), I can’t even calculate how much joy they’ve brought me. We’re told these days to spend our money on experiences, not things, but video games awkwardly straddle those two concepts – they are consumer products that lead to stories and experiences that we couldn’t have predicted and that we can recall for years.
It’s going to be sensible over the next few years to rethink our relationship with the mainstream games industry. To pick very carefully which triple-A titles we buy immediately at full price; to take a chance on a wider range of smaller independent titles that will offer very different experiences at much lower price points. Most open world titles are designed for many months of exploration, yet many players only see a fraction of the content laid out for them before they move on. In the past, when games were physical objects (remember manuals?), we had software clubs and games rentals; public libraries used to lend games. The industry hated all of these – but it survived.
As a consumer and a player, I know I need to manage my own economy of fun. At times, that will mean divesting from the pipeline of big game and console purchases and speculating on more exotic markets such as Itch.io and Pico8; it might mean retro gaming, going back to rinse old favourites. It’s OK to step off the treadmill. Sony and Nintendo have to react to the whims of mad kings and markets, but we don’t. We can play a different game.
What to play
OK, I know, we usually like to highlight smaller indie titles and innovative newcomers in this section – but Call of Duty has always been my guiltiest of pleasures, so here we are.
The new season of its Warzone battle royale mode brings back the game’s original Verdansk map, a sprawling killzone of high rise blocks, the legendary superstore and that old labyrinthine prison complex. A number of intricate changes have been made, but this feels like a return to what made Warzone interesting, in that it’s almost a survival game first and shooter second, with lots of exploring and looting between skirmishes. I’m enjoying it a lot.
If you’re a lapsed fan or a newcomer with a couple of willing pals, now is the time to jump in.
Available on: PC, PS5, Xbox
Estimated playtime: 20+ hours
What to read
Respawn Entertainment, the developer behind the acclaimed Star Wars Jedi games, has announced a new tie-in, Star Wars Zero Company: a single player, turn-based strategy game, possibly set during the Clone Wars. Is it just me that gets disappointed when any new Star wars game isn’t set in that era?
Game developer Will Luton has written a thought-provoking piece about how Nir Eyal’s book Hooked killed the games industry. Well, he admits the title is slightly hyperbolic, but the gist is that the book showed developers how to exploit the psychology of addictive behaviours and none of us have been the same since.
I find it really difficult to keep up with the world of analog games, so I was very grateful to see Polygon has written an excellent list of the best board games of 2025 so far. It includes a Metal Gear Solid board game, which I was disappointed to discover doesn’t involve people taking it in turns to hide in a cardboard box.
What to click
Plaything – how Black Mirror took on its scariest ever subject: a 1990s PC games magazine
Blue Prince – exploring this game may become your new obsession | ★★★★★
Risks to children playing Roblox ‘deeply disturbing’, say researchers
Question Block
This question came in collaboratively from two Bluesky users, David and Biscuits, which sounds like a folk music group or a cartoon crime-fighting duo.
“Which copycat games were better than the iconic/innovative game they were copying?”
This is a complicated one, because assimilation and iteration are key building blocks of the games industry. Is Galaxians a “copycat” of Space Invaders, or a hugely valuable step in the evolution of the shooting genre? The examples given by David and Biscuits (I’m just going to keep writing that) are Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing being a better mascot racing game than Mario Kart 8 and Fortnite being a better battle royale than PUBG.
My examples are pretty obvious: Minecraft is better than Infiniminer; Angry Birds is better than Crush the Castle; Nioh is better than Dark Souls. Alright, I may have just slipped the last one in to annoy From Software fans. There’s a case that Stardew Valley is better than Harvest Moon, perhaps? And was The Simpson’s Hit & Run better than Grand Theft Auto III?
Whatever, as we started with Sega I’m going to end with Sega and suggest – as a ridiculously partial fan of that great company – that Columns on Game Gear is better than Tetris on Game Boy. In the words of Street Fighter (which was better than Karate Champ): fight!
If you’ve got a question for Question Block – or anything else to say about the newsletter – hit reply or email us on pushingbuttons@theguardian.com.
