I watched the gaming industry price itself out of the market, and indie games are the real winners

Published Aug 9, 2026, 4:30 PM EDT Simon is a Computer Science BSc graduate who has been writing about technology since 2014, and using Windows machines since 3.1. After working for an indie game studio and acting as the family's go-to technician for all computer issues, he found his passion for writing and decided to use his skill set to write about all things tech. Since beginning his writing career, he has written for many different publications such as WorldStart, Listverse, and MakeTechEasier. However, after finding his home at MakeUseOf in February 2019, he would eventually move on to its sister site, XDA, to bring the latest and greatest in Windows, Linux, and DIY electronics. The AI boom caused a huge spike in PC hardware demand, which, in turn, drove up prices. Everything from GPUs to sticks of RAM saw price increases, to the point where it became unfeasible for gaming hardware manufacturers to continue selling their devices at their current prices. So, pretty much across the board, all gaming hardware manufacturers increased their prices. However, it seems the price hikes have had an inverse effect on what the companies wanted. Fewer sales were expected, but less profit was the real stinger —I'm not 100% surprised. The Steam Deck's price hike resulted in an estimated 72% drop in revenue It sold 82% fewer units, too The issue came to my attention when I reported on how badly the Steam Deck price hike had supposedly affected sales of the device. The entry-level Steam Deck OLED had a price increase from $549 to $789, and the website Boiling Steam investigated how badly that affected its sales. Valve hasn't revealed official sales figures, so Boiling Steam did some very smart napkin math based on the Steam Deck's position on the Top Sellers chart before and after the price increase. What it found was pretty dire: Metric Pre-Adjustment (2025) Post-Adjustment (Mid-2026) Shift Chart Position #4 to #5 #10 to #15 -8 to -10 ranks Weekly Gross Revenue $6.0M to $10.0M $1.2M to $2.5M ≈ -72% Average Selling Price ~$540 ~$835 +54% Weekly Units Sold 11k to 18k units 1.4k to 3k units ≈ -82% Yes, that's an 82% decrease in units sold per week, and a 72% decrease in money coming in. The Steam Deck went from selling a maximum predicted count of 18,000 units a week to just 3,000. These numbers are by no means a guarantee that Valve is making less money now than it did before the price increase, but if this data is even remotely accurate, things look really bad. The PlayStation 5 didn't see much luck either The PS5 saw worse sales than a quarter century ago As for the world of consoles, things didn't look so great for them, either. The PlayStation 5 saw price increases, and while we don't have any hard data to tell us how much it affected sales, what we have heard sounds really bad. IGN ran a piece on just how damaging these price increases were. The month after Sony increased the PS5 price, the company saw a 58% decrease in hardware sales, the worst sales for May since 2000. For perspective, 2000 was the year after the launch of the PlayStation 2 in Japan and a few months before it launched in the EU and US. Not only that, but PS5 spending fell 43% year-on-year. So, not only were people not buying PS5s as much as they used to, but the people already with PS5s were beginning to tighten their wallets, too. Gamers are getting sick and tired of price increases... It's having a damaging effect on sales So, why are sales so abysmal post-price hike? In my opinion, it's because gaming has gotten very, very expensive lately. Yes, the hardware crisis has caused the devices themselves to increase in price, but we're also seeing the games themselves asking for more money. As a result, we're seeing a nasty pincer attack where both sides of the gaming coin are demanding more from gamers' wallets. People in the hobby just don't have the cash to splash on a more expensive console that features more expensive games on it anymore. And the worst part is, the hardware crisis is still going, meaning that we'll likely see a few more price hikes in the future. ...but indie titles and free games are hotter than ever You get a lot of bang for your buck So, you're looking at the current state of gaming. You see that consoles and high-end gaming PCs are spiraling out of control in terms of cost. Even if you scrape together the funds for one, you'll need to pay a premium for games that take advantage of that hardware. If there was nothing else there to act as a pressure release, people may very well feel forced to sink money into this gaming market. But then you realize: you don't need to sink any money into anything, actually. After all, you have a good enough PC to run indie games. And those indie games cost a fraction of what the big leagues are asking for. For the $80 that Rockstar wants for Grand Theft Auto 6, you can buy several indie titles that will give you hours of fun. Hollow Knight: Silksong, Slay the Spire 2, Mina the Hollower, and Meccha Chameleon, to name just a few of 2026's biggest hitters. I think this hit home for me when I picked up RV There Yet? for $8. My friends and I got 10 hours out of that game, and that was only on the first map. The game contains a whole different second map, and a third one is in the works. And trust me when I say I had a ton more fun with that game than I have with some triple-A titles. And I haven't even touched upon free-to-play games yet. You don't need a high-end PC or deep pockets to play League of Legends, Dead by Daylight, or even Roblox. In a world where gaming hardware and software are more expensive than they've ever been, a free game that runs off a toaster is the perfect escape. When prices increase, the luxury option becomes unprofitable With so many cheap and free games to play, people don't have to purchase triple-A games and the latest hardware to enjoy the hobby. It's why I think the price increases for hardware have backfired on the people setting it; people refuse to swallow the bitter pill of their hobby getting more expensive. Not when there are perfectly good, cheap, and free options available.