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Recommended reading Gaming Industry 'Patient gaming' only gets more attractive when $70 games get heavy Steam sale discounts just months after launch The Outer Worlds 2 director offers the most sympathetic answer I've yet heard for the $80 game question: 'We don't set the prices for our games,' and 'You'd have to honestly talk to the Xbox folks' Battlefield 6 probably isn't going to cost $80: 'We're not looking to make any changes on pricing at this stage,' EA CEO says Graphics Cards Graphics card prices are totally ridiculous and it's creating a barrier to entry that makes me fear for the future of PC gaming Gaming Industry PC's sky-high growth has carried Japan's games market on its back for 7 years, but the forecast is it's set to slow down Gaming Industry 'Knowing Steam players are hoarders explains why you give Valve that 30%,' analyst tells devs: 'You get access to a bunch of drunken sailors who spend money irresponsibly' Gaming Industry Xbox bet that Game Pass would be the future of gaming, and we're all paying for it Gaming Industry New study shows that Gen Z is spending way less money on videogames than older gamers Stevie Bonifield 10 August 2025 Young people can't even afford gaming anymore. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Young people are so strapped for cash that even video games are getting too expensive for them. A June study by Circana, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, found that spending among 18-to-24-year-olds dropped by 13% from January to April 2025 compared to last year. Video game purchases were hit particularly hard, falling nearly 25% according to a chart Circana's Mat Piscatella shared on BlueSky. For context, Piscatella shared another chart comparing the drop in spending among Gen Z to spending changes in older generations. The difference is dramatic. Where older generations' spending dropped less than 5%, Gen Z's is plummeting. It's particularly surprising to see such a sharp drop in spending on video games, which historically cater toward young people. 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...— @matpiscatella.bsky.social (@matpiscatella.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-08-10T21:01:24.815Z This is part of a larger trend resulting from a perfect storm of harsh economic factors hitting Gen Z all at once, from a tough job market to student loans and rising prices. As Piscatella commented on BlueSky, "The rug's not just being pulled out from under young people, it's being burned while they're still standing on it." Related Articles 'Patient gaming' only gets more attractive when $70 games get heavy Steam sale discounts just months after launch The Outer Worlds 2 director offers the most sympathetic answer I've yet heard for the $80 game question: 'We don't set the prices for our games,' and 'You'd have to honestly talk to the Xbox folks' Battlefield 6 probably isn't going to cost $80: 'We're not looking to make any changes on pricing at this stage,' EA CEO says Rising prices in the gaming industry are likely only making matters worse. If young adults are having a hard time justifying gaming purchases already, $70 or $80 becoming the new norm for AAA games isn't going to help. The same applies to consoles and PC hardware getting more expensive (I'm looking at you, Switch 2). That doesn't mean young people aren't still gaming. As of March 2025, 28% of gamers are between 18 and 29 years old. Gen Z is still a huge part of the gaming community, they're just spending less money than older generations, possibly opting for more free-to-play games, buying less expensive indie games, or waiting for sales. The rise of less expensive, co-op focused "friendslop" games such as Peak, Repo, and Lethal Company might actually be a sign of the times, too. These games are usually very affordable⁠—around $10 or less⁠—and act as a way for players to socialize and goof around together without having to go out or spend loads of money. Most "friendslop" games don't even require a particularly powerful PC, further lowering their barrier to entry. 2025 games: This year's upcoming releases Best PC games: Our all-time favorites Free PC games: Freebie fest Best FPS games: Finest gunplay Best RPGs: Grand adventures Best co-op games: Better together The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Stevie Bonifield Contributor Stevie Bonifield is a freelance tech journalist specializing in mobile tech, gaming gear, and accessories. Outside of writing, Stevie loves indie games, TTRPGs, and building way too many custom keyboards. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. 'Patient gaming' only gets more attractive when $70 games get heavy Steam sale discounts just months after launch The Outer Worlds 2 director offers the most sympathetic answer I've yet heard for the $80 game question: 'We don't set the prices for our games,' and 'You'd have to honestly talk to the Xbox folks' Battlefield 6 probably isn't going to cost $80: 'We're not looking to make any changes on pricing at this stage,' EA CEO says Graphics card prices are totally ridiculous and it's creating a barrier to entry that makes me fear for the future of PC gaming PC's sky-high growth has carried Japan's games market on its back for 7 years, but the forecast is it's set to slow down 'Knowing Steam players are hoarders explains why you give Valve that 30%,' analyst tells devs: 'You get access to a bunch of drunken sailors who spend money irresponsibly' Latest in Gaming Industry A guy in California is suing Microsoft for discontinuing Windows 10, demanding free extended support AOL discontinues its dial-up internet, and we're just surprised they even offered it in 2025 New report lays out Israeli military use of Microsoft services that prompted employee protests and a boycott of Xbox and Game Pass Diablo boss Rod Fergusson is leaving Blizzard for a 'new adventure' Less than 2 months after releasing Tron: Catalyst, developer Bithell Games lays off the majority of full-time staff It looks like Microsoft's cuts got another one: Avalanche has stopped work on its 1970s smuggling sim Contraband to 'evaluate the project's future' Latest in News A guy in California is suing Microsoft for discontinuing Windows 10, demanding free extended support It almost feels like AMD hoped no one would notice the quiet launch of its ultra-budget RX 7400 GPU The US Air Force wants to test blowing up Cybertrucks because 'it is likely the type of vehicles used by the enemy may transition to Tesla Cyber trucks' The Battlefield 6 beta has broken Call of Duty's Steam player count record, surging past half a million concurrents 'Let's just kill everyone on the station:' The videogame audio log was apparently invented to avoid 'awkward' RPG dialogue trees Steam has a sale celebrating small developers, and you can get my favorite post-Balatro deckbuilder for just $2 HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES LATEST GAME REVIEWS Best PCIe 5.0 SSD for gaming in 2025: the only Gen 5 drives I will allow in my PC Best graphics cards in 2025: I've tested pretty much every AMD and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today's top cards Best gaming laptop in 2025: I've put the best of this new generation head-to-head and we have a winner Best gaming chair in 2025: I've tested a ton of gaming chairs and these are the seats I'd suggest for any PC gamer Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads Wildgate review — A brilliant concept that's too clever for its own good Acer Predator GM9000 2 TB NVMe SSD review Biwin Black Opal NV7400 SSD review Fractal Design Scape review Framework Desktop PC review PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. 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