How much disposable income does the average twenty something have? The article doesn’t get too specific.
*“This group is struggling more than older cohorts,” an economist with Wells Fargo told WSJ. “Since younger consumers are not only spending less today but also probably saving less, that could dent their ability to build wealth in the future.”*
garret126 on
I mean, yeah. The games that come out nowadays are way too expensive when other forms of media (like hanging out outside with friends) is cheaper. I can go out to the zoo or a museum for under $20.
Plus, it’s easy to get 10/10 games for like $5 that are a few years old, or just play free live action games
reuery on
> Circana found both online and retail purchases among ages 18-to-24 dropped by 13% from January to April compared to the year prior. In particular, Circana found that young zoomers were spending nearly 25% less per week on video games than in 2024.
> While purchases for accessories, small appliances, technology, and “total general merchandise” had all dropped with young adults, video gaming took the lead in Circana’s data.
> The drop off was enormous for 18-to-24-year-old gamers, as data on other age groups revealed a minor, single-digit decline well under 5%.
SkippyWagner on
Alright now check their gacha purchases.
shillingbut4me on
I could see a few factors here. Economy for younger people is definitely one of them. Video games are competing for eye balls with things like tik tok, and may be losing. As much as vocal gamers hate them, games as a service have been really really successful and many people just play the same 1-2 games for years.
pxan on
Video game spending is super elastic for the generation that grew up on free games. The amount of games you don’t have to pay for has literally never been higher.
GreatnessToTheMoon on
Games don’t hit like they used too. If I’m not playing with friends/family I don’t play much anymore
earththejerry on
When did Vice come back
Okbuddyliberals on
Gamers are losing! 👊💥🌱
Froztnova on
The AAA ‘blockbuster game’ industry is having a really bad time right now. Graphical fidelity has hit diminishing returns so they don’t really have much to distinguish themselves from the indie market, which is usually cheaper and more fun because the smaller teams are able to experiment more nimbly with their gameplay loops and mechanics, rather than being beholden to a design-by-committee process.
F2P and liveservice games are also eating everyone’s lunch, both in money spent and, perhaps more importantly *time invested.* If you’re already spending a few hours a day playing Genshin or whatever, you probably don’t need that much more in your life game-wise.
gregorijat on
I can’t remember the last time I bought a game at full price. There are just so many good games for chump change, and now with things like subscriptions for game catalogs which all get the newest games asap, there really isn’t a reason to spend more than like 10-20 bucks a month.
fuggitdude22 on
Gamer-gate brought Trump in some shape or form so this isn’t a bad thing
Frost-eee on
All the money went into gambling and microtransactions
_csy on
People are gonna look at this as a personal finance thing, but I think the industry has changed to benefit the consumer in a lot of ways over the last two decades.
A lot of the most popular games of all time now were 1 time purchases that are STILL receiving active support and free content additions over a decade later in some cases (Minecraft, Terraria come to mind)
For as much as people complain about rising costs of AAA games, most video games are still an insane deal compared to comparable entertainment. I just went to the aquarium this week for 2 hours and it cost me $40. If I wanted to go see a movie it would be similar, probably at least $30 for around 2 hours. Video games are often expected to give 100s if not 1000s of hours for anywhere from $10-$80
14 Comments
How much disposable income does the average twenty something have? The article doesn’t get too specific.
*“This group is struggling more than older cohorts,” an economist with Wells Fargo told WSJ. “Since younger consumers are not only spending less today but also probably saving less, that could dent their ability to build wealth in the future.”*
I mean, yeah. The games that come out nowadays are way too expensive when other forms of media (like hanging out outside with friends) is cheaper. I can go out to the zoo or a museum for under $20.
Plus, it’s easy to get 10/10 games for like $5 that are a few years old, or just play free live action games
> Circana found both online and retail purchases among ages 18-to-24 dropped by 13% from January to April compared to the year prior. In particular, Circana found that young zoomers were spending nearly 25% less per week on video games than in 2024.
> While purchases for accessories, small appliances, technology, and “total general merchandise” had all dropped with young adults, video gaming took the lead in Circana’s data.
> The drop off was enormous for 18-to-24-year-old gamers, as data on other age groups revealed a minor, single-digit decline well under 5%.
Alright now check their gacha purchases.
I could see a few factors here. Economy for younger people is definitely one of them. Video games are competing for eye balls with things like tik tok, and may be losing. As much as vocal gamers hate them, games as a service have been really really successful and many people just play the same 1-2 games for years.
Video game spending is super elastic for the generation that grew up on free games. The amount of games you don’t have to pay for has literally never been higher.
Games don’t hit like they used too. If I’m not playing with friends/family I don’t play much anymore
When did Vice come back
Gamers are losing! 👊💥🌱
The AAA ‘blockbuster game’ industry is having a really bad time right now. Graphical fidelity has hit diminishing returns so they don’t really have much to distinguish themselves from the indie market, which is usually cheaper and more fun because the smaller teams are able to experiment more nimbly with their gameplay loops and mechanics, rather than being beholden to a design-by-committee process.
F2P and liveservice games are also eating everyone’s lunch, both in money spent and, perhaps more importantly *time invested.* If you’re already spending a few hours a day playing Genshin or whatever, you probably don’t need that much more in your life game-wise.
I can’t remember the last time I bought a game at full price. There are just so many good games for chump change, and now with things like subscriptions for game catalogs which all get the newest games asap, there really isn’t a reason to spend more than like 10-20 bucks a month.
Gamer-gate brought Trump in some shape or form so this isn’t a bad thing
All the money went into gambling and microtransactions
People are gonna look at this as a personal finance thing, but I think the industry has changed to benefit the consumer in a lot of ways over the last two decades.
A lot of the most popular games of all time now were 1 time purchases that are STILL receiving active support and free content additions over a decade later in some cases (Minecraft, Terraria come to mind)
For as much as people complain about rising costs of AAA games, most video games are still an insane deal compared to comparable entertainment. I just went to the aquarium this week for 2 hours and it cost me $40. If I wanted to go see a movie it would be similar, probably at least $30 for around 2 hours. Video games are often expected to give 100s if not 1000s of hours for anywhere from $10-$80