Have you noticed that the price of video games and related equipment continues to rise? Recently, I was browsing Steam, an online gaming platform, and the brand-new Monster Hunter Wilds caught my eye, but, oh no – it costs a whopping $70. I guess I’ll have to settle for something older and cheaper.

Overall consumer spending on video games in the United States totalled $57.2bn in 2023, according to data from the Entertainment Software Association. As a gamer, I know how painful it is to spend huge amounts of money on my favourite pastime.

For example, the Nintendo Switch 2 that came out in June costs $450. For comparison, the regular Nintendo Switch costs around $300.

It is important to note that the changes between the two models are minimal, the only significant one being that the Switch 2 is slightly bigger than its predecessor. Even so, the battery life of the newer model is reported to be shorter than in the regular console.

And that’s without counting the prices of games, which average $60–$80 each. Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, for example, comes with a price tag of $65.

This shows how the cost of video game-related hobbies is rising, as well as a wider concern about the general availability of affordable hobbies in the future. Huge gaming companies, such as Nintendo and Dungeons & Dragons, are seemingly cashing in on elder millennials and Gen X who have stable incomes and are inclined to spend lots of money on hobbies – Gen Z and younger millennials, not so much.

Why did I bring up Dungeons & Dragons in the argument? It’s simple. The price of D&D sourcebooks has increased by 20%, bumping the average price for a physical edition of a printed handbook to almost $70 – seemingly for no apparent reason.

Let’s say you pay for Netflix only. But then, hey, HBO Max filmed a series based on your favourite comic, so now you have to get a subscription for it as well. A year later, you are reminded of your favourite childhood show, but it is only available on Disney+ – so you start paying for that as well.

Even if most subscriptions offer a free trial or are cancellable, many times you find yourself too lazy to do so, or just forget about cancelling it.

If this example demonstrates how much you need to spend to just enjoy movies, then imagine how much more expensive it is with video games. It is possible that the prices on pastimes will continue to rise – unless we do something about it.

Do you want to collect Pokémon cards again, just for your pleasure and not for chasing the card with the most monetary value? Then we better start thinking of solutions to this crisis, before it gets worse.