4 ways PC gaming is becoming too expensive

A universally agreed-upon concept is that PC gaming is a great thing for everyone. The diversity of experiences and the level of quality in video games that a PC can provide are unlike anything else. The games' industry as we know it today owes its existence to the advancements made on PCs decades ago. But as good as gaming on a PC can be for everyone with access to a computer, there's one growing problem that won't ever go away. It can be very expensive to enjoy the fruits of playing PC games.

With technology constantly changing and games becoming more complicated as the years pass, so too does the price of being able to get into the hobby. If you want a good enough setup to play some of the best games available on PC, then it's going to cost a pretty penny. Here are ways that PC gaming is becoming too expensive for everybody right now.

4 Games are getting bigger

They're taking up so much space

Over the last few decades, video games released across all platforms have gotten a lot more complex to develop. Some big game releases are larger in file size, requiring more space on hard drives to install them. If you want to play the latest Call of Duty release, then you'll need at least 80GB free on your storage device to download the base game. And with all the updates that are periodically released with new changes to things like multiplayer, that number can skyrocket to well over 150GB before you realize it. However, some single-player experiences will still require an average of 50GB or more to play.

But that doesn't mean that the areas within the games you play are necessarily getting larger. It also means that games include more detailed environments, smarter enemies, uncompressed visual and audio files, and more to their experiences. And let's not forget the ensemble of mods to games that are made by people online and available to download. All of this will give a game a larger install size and take up an exorbitant amount of space on anyone's computer. And you won't be able to play anything without a larger hard drive or external device for your PC!

3 The need for better parts

Prices can get insane for PC parts

With games aiming for higher-quality visuals and intricate gameplay designs, it takes a stronger system to make it all work. Most big releases that you can play on a PC won't run correctly if you don't have the basic minimum specs to do so. This means having the right processor, graphics card, and amount of RAM installed in a PC setup. While there are always options to purchase pre-built computers with decent to good parts inside them, you can't get the best experience without putting together your own computer using a variety of parts. And the prices for new and up-to-date PC parts can get incredibly expensive very quickly.

Want to get the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 for your computer to be ready when The Witcher 4 finally releases? Then be prepared to cry when you find out that you have to pay out close to $1500 to get one. Things get even more dire when you start looking at different CPUs that are competent for gaming on PC. But while there are always other options for a variety of computer parts, prices are always going to be high for different computer parts. As games continue to push the bare minimum required to run on any computer, the minimum price to have the necessary PC setup is going to increase over time.

2 Changing economic times

The stuff not in your control

If you thought finding the right deals on computer parts was the easy solution to PC gaming being so expensive, then you're only seeing part of the problem. One thing that nobody has control over is the economic circumstances people find themselves in when spending money on PC gaming. A recent factor that can greatly affect one's ability to get parts for a computer is taxes, most notably tariffs on parts imported from other countries. Things can vary from country to country, but the headache it can be is still just as bad for everyone. It might cost close to $1000 to get the graphics card or CPU you need for your setup at first, but it might end up being more depending on where it comes from or where it is sold. That $1000 could easily become a lot more, leaving you with a larger hole in your wallet and less money for other PC necessities.

Another factor in circumstances like this can be shortages, such as when there was a chip shortage during the global COVID-19 pandemic. This led to fewer quantities of items like computer chips, graphics cards, and other pieces of consumer tech that people often buy for their setups. The scarcity of everything caused massive problems worldwide, especially for those who actively bought new product releases from some of the biggest tech companies. If there's less of an item around to buy, then the prices of what's available will grow exponentially. No matter their context, there's no way to truly prepare for changes like this, but it can make an already expensive hobby even more expensive.

1 Buying multiple parts of games

All that extra DLC and cosmetics

Something that has become a major issue for some players is how games are being sold. Although most releases at full price offer a complete experience, some games are made with the intent of selling additional content post-release. This means having a season pass for new content, DLC packs, and even supplementary cosmetics to buy on top of the base game. Most popular titles, like Fortnite and Call of Duty, will have microtransactions available for those who want to add more to their games periodically, which are often tied to in-game events and special occasions. They might even go as far as to have in-game currency that needs to be purchased to obtain rare loot or dynamic cosmetics that are otherwise locked behind a paywall.

While this is not a uniquely PC problem, it's still a big factor that impacts how much people will need to spend to get the full experience of the games they play on PC. Games like Counter-Strike have an insane amount of cosmetics that you might never own or get to see without paying for them. Meanwhile, games like Cyberpunk 2077 on PC will have a story expansion that you'll need to buy separately to have the full game installed. All of these things add up over time and will often lead to people paying much more than the base price for a new game. Luckily, there are occasional deals on platforms like Steam and the Epic Games Store, but they're not always active for every game you can buy for PC.

Being prepared to pay for it all

Like other pastimes, PC gaming can end up being an expensive hobby. The hurdles of finding the right parts and putting together a good setup can lead to having a very slim wallet, but the goal is very much worth the endeavor. Gaming on PC can offer experiences that one might not find on home consoles, as well as a level of freedom to customize everything to their liking that is unlike anything else in gaming. You'll just have to be prepared to pay in order to play.