Why Hold Off on New Games: A Look at Four Persuasive Arguments for a Gaming Break This Year

Key Takeaways

• Video games are expensive; one new game per month could cost close to $1000 a year.
• Subscription services offer access to new games without the need to buy outright.
• Massive backlogs of existing games provide enough entertainment for years; there’s no need to buy more.

I have almost 1000 Steam games, hundreds of Switch games, and probably just as many PlayStation games. I couldn’t finish all the games before the Grim Reaper comes to take me to the Great Arcade In The Sky, so why do we keep buying more? It’s time to stop, and four things in particular convinced me to wake up and smell the fiscal responsibility by taking a year-long break from buying video games.

Games Are Too Expensive

Yes, I know. Adjusted for inflation, video games are actually cheaper now than ever, but $70 is still a significant chunk of change! While I would love to try new games like Stellar Blade , I know it’s going to cost half within a few months of launch and the only thing I get for that extra money is a way to avoid FOMO . While it feels nice to be keep up with the gaming Joneses, it’s not worth the cost! Just buying one new game a month would get you close to $1000 a year, and you know just one isn’t that much.

They Come to Subscription Services Eventually

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Microsoft

Our game-buying abstinence does not include game subscription services. PlayStation Plus and Game Pass are a part of my monthly subscription budget, and for the cost of one AAA game each, I can have an entire year of access to these libraries, which will do more than enough to satisfy my desire to play more recent titles. I know titles like God of War Ragnarök , which I will only play once anyway, will come to a subscription service eventually. So with just a bit of patience, there’s no real pressure to buy anything outright.

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We Have Massive Backlogs

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I already alluded to this, but thanks to game bundles, free game giveaways on PC, and a never-ending procession of sales of older but still awesome games , I’ve built up an enormous library of digital titles over the last thirteen years since I first started buying digital games. Just my Nintendo Switch library alone would be enough to take me through the next decade, if I’m being honest.

With so many “bangers” (as the kids like to say) in my existing library, I feel like buying new games is plainly irrational. Especially since I can just wait until I have the actual time to play them, at which point they’ll be much cheaper.

New Games Are Buggy Anyway

While I’m putting a moratorium on buying any games in our home, this is particularly aimed at new games which, apart from being too expensive at launch, are also at their absolute worst at launch. Every game I’ve bought at the time of release in the last five years has been a buggy mess. Especially if you’re mainly a PC gamer like me. I paid a huge premium to play Diablo IV early, and for that entire early access period the game’s performance made it unplayable.

By abstaining from new games for as long as possible, your first experience ends up being as good as it’s going to get. I’ve been consciously dodging this bullet recently and only trying games after they’ve received months of patches. Paying to be the beta tester for an unfinished product can surely leave a sour taste in your mouth!

I’m about a month into not buying video games. Not even games for a single dollar on Steam. Instead, I’ve been digging back in to Baldur’s Gate 3, which I bought at full price when it launched and never finished. Hopefully, a year of abstaining from buying video games and actually playing one of the many amazing titles I already own will cure me of this poor habit for good.