How often do you buy video games in a year?

Page 6 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
I think it depends on how capable your PC is of playing them. I went a few years buying none at all and then in the last 3 months I have bought 3. Main difference being I have a GPU that can run my monitor at a lot faster rerfresh rate than previous one, so playing games is more enjoyable now. Now only limited by the types of games I play. If you keep throwing money at the PC to keep it at top range, you probably buy more games than someone who has a 5 year old PC and who doesn't buy old games to play on it.

We aren't all techy
 
I've bought 2 games this year and honestly it's likely I will buy probably a few more before the year ends because I want to get Oxygen Not Included and RimWorld both not at all taxing or graphically impressive but it's fun nonetheless
 
Jul 1, 2023
5
1
10
Less and less every year… around 1-3 actually. I feel like modern games are kinda meh for the majority of them, story wise. I’m more of a single player myself.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Peter Ferrari
Aug 3, 2023
77
24
35
Just a few, no new releases though. Games ship in awful state these days and need a hundred patches.
I don't get people who whine about GPU prices and then proceed to pay 60-70eur for another newly lanuched game that runs poorly for months. I'd much rather overpay for a gpu like 4090, not 10 half-broken new releases every year.
I think I only bought Guardians of the Galaxy and MW 2019 this year, on promotion. Haven't touched them yet, replaying rdr2 is just too time consuming.
 
Just a few, no new releases though. Games ship in awful state these days and need a hundred patches.
I don't get people who whine about GPU prices and then proceed to pay 60-70eur for another newly lanuched game that runs poorly for months. I'd much rather overpay for a gpu like 4090, not 10 half-broken new releases every year.
I think I only bought Guardians of the Galaxy and MW 2019 this year, on promotion. Haven't touched them yet, replaying rdr2 is just too time consuming.

I feel ya bro. My having limited genre preferences used to be my main excuse for how infrequently I purchase games, there's just not that many types of games I like to play. Now the horrible condition they launch in is every bit as much a reason.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SCP2000
Aug 13, 2023
6
0
10
Used to buy 5+ each Steam sale via either Steam directly or CDKeys so around 15-20 a year, but recently I think I bought 5-6 total in the last 12 months. I have access to Origin and Xbox Game Pass that gives me lots of games I want to play.
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
i got 10 this week but 9 were from subscribing to Microsoft Game Pass and the 10th was on Steam. So the actual cost was low.

Only burst out as I bought a X box controller so I can actually play more games. Now to find the time.
 

SCP2000

Great
BANNED
Dec 8, 2023
31
25
60
About 2-5 titles on average.

I had to change my spending habits over the years because the industry has shifted towards crunch and pandering to shareholders over gamers. In the past, anytime a Battlefield, Call of Duty, or World of Warcraft expansion came out, Blizzard and EA/Dice were always guaranteed my hard-earned cash. Today, with the exception of well-known franchises that don't get annual releases, i.e., Metal Gear, GTA, Witcher, etc., I will typically only purchase games when they're on sale.
 

punkncat

Polypheme
Ambassador
I have purchased (2) games this year.

BG3 was one of them and IMO is possibly the best game I have purchased since Division 2. It is a tremendous title with incredible repeat play options. It is the most comfortable I have been post purchase about the purchase in a long, long time.

The other game, Starfield, came free with the graphics card purchase. The space it takes on my drive is pretty much wasted for so much of my opinion about the game. It is a tedious bore and honestly think I would rather clean the bathtub than load it again. I have considered just deleting it but haven't pulled the trigger quite yet...probably when some other title comes out that I am looking to purchase and need the space.

With the above said, I tend to watch the various launchers for the free promotions they offer. I have picked up quite a few older games that are still a blast to play. Of other mention I would say that I loaded Fortnite for a bit which is free to play, but every time you turn it on is another giant download data creeping on the free space. I deleted that one.

To answer the question directly, I have always had a habit of waiting for a bit after release on a few games. I probably have my eye on 2-3 games a year if they turn out to be well reviewed. My last several experiences doing so have left me quite disappointed and only BG3 has moved towards restoring that faith. For example:

CP77 was hyped up so much that I opted to try it. It was a hot mess even a while after release and I really hate the game mechanics around combat. It looks really good though, so every now and again I like to load in and just walk around Night City. I will not even consider purchasing additional content for it.

The newest of the Sniper Elite series of games. I REALLY like 2-4 IIRC. The one right before this release was really nice as it added a bit of an open world/sandbox feel which was much nicer that the previous games that felt more like moving to a different frame in respect to the very limited approach options. The newest release was (and may well still be) very broken. Horrible performance when it worked at all. I refunded this one almost immediately after download.

And the last dis-honorable mention would be the newest Diablo. I was SUPER excited about this game simply based on my experiences with the previous titles. Once the reviews started pouring in I knew it was not going to be worthwhile to purchase.

So TL;DR on this is that I would LIKE to be buying more games but haven't found too many that spike my interest or are well enough developed on release to end of not being a test rat for.
 

iTRiP

Honorable
Feb 4, 2019
929
87
11,090
If where still talking about buying games every year, I'd be talking about how many new and exciting games I buy a year, so far it's the second or what no third month of the year and I have yet to see an interesting game appear somewhere where I can purchase such with ease... Oh right what I wanted to add was it seems the hit games only release at specific times of the year, last year I recall experiencing such. I'd be great to see games being released over the extent of the year and not only in seasonal high times, gamers got to play all the time not just say for instance in the festive times.
 
  • Like
Reactions: minnin90

minnin90

Reputable
Sep 1, 2021
347
40
4,720
If where still talking about buying games every year, I'd be talking about how many new and exciting games I buy a year, so far it's the second or what no third month of the year and I have yet to see an interesting game appear somewhere where I can purchase such with ease... Oh right what I wanted to add was it seems the hit games only release at specific times of the year, last year I recall experiencing such. I'd be great to see games being released over the extent of the year and not only in seasonal high times, gamers got to play all the time not just say for instance in the festive times.

While I agree and its true hit / big AAA games are released during holidays and what not , usually I think reviews aka critics kill good games - or so so games..much like they do movies. Unless a game is bugged super bad I'll play it but rarely purchase any game day one, due to cost. But again like movies just because say January the worst month for movies or September too there are still great films if you try them out - just not ones to get rave reviews. For games its the same, November, December are huge months for the gaming industry but plenty of honorable mentions are in other months. One game I am definitely buying based on user reviews when its 30-35 dollars is Suicide Squad, in all honestly it looks just fair, and it probably did mutilate the previous work....but from what I hear on consoles it runs steady at 60ish fps, few glitches/bugs and fun enough to get your achievements and trophys in my favorite universe, DC.

That would be an example of wow critics and even a mass amount of people bashing something so hard, it frankly gets overlooked and hated. It's not necessarily fair, to be honest.
 
Apr 23, 2024
2
0
10
I buy maybe a handful of games per year, maybe 2 $40+ games, and then another handful of cheap games under $10 each.
 
May 9, 2024
40
2
35
I'll buy a game MAYBE twice a month? Usually only if there's a steam sale, a promo, or it's an older game i'm gonna mod (like TESIV)
 

iTRiP

Honorable
Feb 4, 2019
929
87
11,090
Sorry to say, but I hadn't purchased a new game this year, seems to me games released lately push gamers too much to upgrade or buy new hardware in order to play the latest, while most of these titles are not even to be compared to the great titles we already have that could be replayed on a whim and gamers can remain awesome playing such, without the need to purchase new just to fill the gaps.

Note to game Dev's and publishers, If you want to sell your games to all, you'll need to make games that play well across the playing field that is hardware and players requirements. We all know it's possible like we have seen with many a title in the past. Don't pull fast ones on players, luckily our DRM apps or demo mode copy's easily gets players to test out new releases and if they ain't up to par and are easily refunded or outright deleted, but don't let that stop you from trying your hand at making great games, so many endless possibilities remain to make a real buck of off.

Since the human race doesn't got nothing better to do than play games and chillax, until a real goal presents itself to mankind that is actually achievable that doesn't break the bank or cripple the earth, isn't no time like all the time to make something worth having!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: stonecarver
Sep 11, 2020
170
8
4,585
Generally for me. Games don't trick me into buying them anymore. Back in 2016 up till like 2019 were awesome years for buying them. But nothing is of interest anymore. Atleast for me.
 

kira-faye

Notable
Oct 11, 2023
387
167
890
Every few months, 3-4 "big" titles a year, though that's slowing down as life gets more complicated. I always get the latest Destiny 2 expansion, but that's run its course and feels as much a relief as anything, and I do get Humble Choice monthly, but am thinking about letting that go as well.
 
Aug 28, 2024
3
0
10
Привык покупать практически каждый сезон игры со скидкой. Сейчас так как нет интереса сидеть за компьютером, частота покупок снизилась, три игры в списке желаемых зависают и которые не выпускаются. В целом, за 5 лет использования styme было куплено 160 игр и 400 дополнений.
 

DSzymborski

Curmudgeon Pursuivant
Moderator
Translates roughly:

I've gotten used to buying games on sale almost every season. But now, since I don't have much interest in spending time on the computer, my purchase frequency has decreased. Three games on my wishlist are stuck there and haven't been released yet. Overall, in the 5 years of using Steam, I've bought 160 games and 400 DLCs.

--

My purchase frequency has decreased, not because I'm not at the computer, but I simply have so many games at this point that I'd have live to be 120 to play them all. And I'm quite certain I will not live to be 120.
 

iTRiP

Honorable
Feb 4, 2019
929
87
11,090
Funny I thought I wasn't going to purchase a new game this year simply because of what mentioned when I posted last time, seems things can change somewhat.

Real simple, delete some older games and magically I had desktop space to add some new purchases (the hard drive space I already had and funny enough still have plenty to spare for more new games after installing latest purchases) as long as they are really great.

My last three purchases: Avatar: Frontiers of pandora. & Borderlands 3. & Starwars Outlaws.

Just one last thing I wanted to say, It doesn't really matter if for the most part your pc can't push max fps at max quality settings when playing a new game, of course it's great if you can do that, but that should not be a reason to not buy new titles often, got to remember that as long as your buying great games they could always be replayed when you get a pc part upgrade that in turn gives the better experience when ever.
 
  • Like
Reactions: King_V