The Balatros and Silksongs of the world are the exception, not the rule. Game development, especially at high levels of production value, requires multi-talented teams of people to make work.
It’s not either/or. Games can be made at all levels of production value and come from teams of many different sizes. Even games made by very small teams can have trouble breaking even at $20, because hardly any game is going to sell as many copies as Hollow Knight: Silksong.
Pricing a game over $20 is hardly greed. If every game was $20, it would be extremely hard for most of them to break even.
Why should I care? I didn’t tell them to hire 400 people to make some generic mass market slop. I won’t even bother to pirate it.
The Balatros and Silksongs of the world are the exception, not the rule. Game development, especially at high levels of production value, requires multi-talented teams of people to make work.
I’ll spend my money on the few great exceptions then, rather than the mediocre slop.
It’s not either/or. Games can be made at all levels of production value and come from teams of many different sizes. Even games made by very small teams can have trouble breaking even at $20, because hardly any game is going to sell as many copies as Hollow Knight: Silksong.