They no longer have to make and ship cartridges to distribute them. They just let you download said game. The margins are insanely large. Add in they not longer subsidize consoles and release a new one every few years... yea. also the technology isn't improving that much as we have reached a pretty big limit on screen size etc. No more big innovation to make graphics look perfect- it is just art style now and most of the games reuse what works.
I really want to see what "margin" you are specifically thinking of.
AAA game dev is one of the highest risk industries in the world. Games generate losses constantly. 2023 and 24 saw about 50'000 layoffs across the industry. With 1500 more in 2025.
One of the biggest game publishers in the world is on the brink of shuttering.
So please, be specific. What margins?
Edit: Go figure, the person I responded to mentioned nothing about "margins" and instead claimed "We have better tools, AI and Unreal Engine so games are easy and cheap to make now". What a fucking moron.
Mario Kart World is absolutely not a high risk release.
Mario Kart 8 made about 3 billion dollars on an estimated 100 million dollar budget.
Following your logic Mario Kart World should cost less than the average game, when it's actually more expensive than a riskier game they're releasing (Donkey Kong Banaza). The most recent Mario Kart (Tour) was also free to play.
Wouldn't it be sensible to put the higher price on the sure thing than on the game that seems far riskier? People WILL pay for Mario Kart. They won't pay a higher price for a 3D Donkey Kong.
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u/Loud_Interview4681 22h ago edited 22h ago
They no longer have to make and ship cartridges to distribute them. They just let you download said game. The margins are insanely large. Add in they not longer subsidize consoles and release a new one every few years... yea. also the technology isn't improving that much as we have reached a pretty big limit on screen size etc. No more big innovation to make graphics look perfect- it is just art style now and most of the games reuse what works.