We haven't even gotten over the sting of $70 games and now Nintendo's asking people to pay $80 for Mario Kart

(Image credit: Nintendo)

In late 2022, Activision pulled PC gaming into the $70-for-triple-A-games era that the consoles were already living in, becoming the first major publisher on Steam to abandon the old $60 standard for its launch of Modern Warfare 2. Two and a half years later, I'm only now starting to accept the reality of being expected to exchange 70 United States dollars for the privilege of pretending I'm a guy who hits lizards with swords.

It's good that I haven't gotten too comfortable, because a champion for an $80 standard has already come forward.

So no, it isn't surprising that games are continuing to get more expensive. But when wages in the US have remained stagnant compared to the steadily rising cost of living, any additional increase—justifiable or not—becomes harder to stomach. Even if it's delightful that Nintendo is letting cows drive now.

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Lincoln has been writing about games for 12 years—unless you include the essays about procedural storytelling in Dwarf Fortress he convinced his college professors to accept. Leveraging the brainworms from a youth spent in World of Warcraft to write for sites like Waypoint, Polygon, and Fanbyte, Lincoln spent three years freelancing for PC Gamer before joining on as a full-time News Writer in 2024, bringing an expertise in Caves of Qud bird diplomacy, getting sons killed in Crusader Kings, and hitting dinosaurs with hammers in Monster Hunter.

With contributions from

Tyler WildeEditor-in-Chief, US

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