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$80 games meet empty wallets: Young gamers forced to cut back on purchases [1]

['Grant St. Clair']

Date: 2025-08-12

In other news, water is wet, but this kind of plummet is unprecedented. It's no secret that gaming as a hobby has become more and more expensive in recent months, whether it be the impact of Trump's barely-considered tariffs or simple corporate greed. With games now supposedly 80 dollars a pop and GTA 6 reportedly raising that bar even higher — making for three price jumps in a single generation — it's little surprise that the 18-24 demographic (which I remain a proud part of) has cut back hard on game spending.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal study, spending among this age group has dropped by a full 13%, not just on games but on everything. Prices seem to be going up everywhere while job prospects vanish and the minimum wage hasn't budged in more than a decade — as someone in this demographic, the spreading sense of ennui among it is a very real phenomenon. It doesn't take an economist to work out that this isn't sustainable.

Video game spend among 18 to 24's is down sharply."Young grads are having a much tougher time finding jobs. Student-loan payments are restarting for millions of borrowers… credit-card delinquency rates have risen to their highest points since before the pandemic…"www.wsj.com/personal-fin… — Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2025-07-01T14:25:35.367Z

Mat Piscatella, an analyst for the group the WSJ hired to conduct this study, said it best: "The rug's not just being pulled out from under young people, it's being burned while they're still standing on it." I have a feeling the ramifications of this are going to hit a wide range of industries before long, with video games at the top of that list, as seen above. I'm not saying the industry needs another crash like the 80s, but it certainly couldn't hurt to hit the reset button.

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2025/08/12/80-games-meet-empty-wallets-young-gamers-forced-to-cut-back-on-purchases.html

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