In fact, I should probably say this: never, ever, ever pre-order. Building up anticipation, creating hype to trigger a reflexive purchase from consumers is a sport video game publishers love to play, at the expense of players. Unless it’s a specific case of a small indie game you absolutely want to support, there’s no reason to pre-order. Companies that can afford to spend millions on teaser campaigns don’t need your pre-order. There will never be a shortage of mass-consumption products like video games today, and enjoying a new release a few weeks or months after the crowd of eager buyers won’t take away your enjoyment of playing! Bob has some experience—he hasn’t pre-ordered or bought anything on day one since the 3DS. Back then, a year of gaming drought ended with an unjust price cut that Nintendo tried to cover up with a few emulated games… But you don’t have to take my word for it. Let me explain why waiting is absolutely the right move.
GTA VI wants to rob your wallet.
Barring any huge surprises, GTA VI should be an excellent game. The franchise has never disappointed, it’s constantly evolving, and the developers seem to have had all the time and budget they needed. GTA V, which turns 12 this year and has spanned three generations of consoles, broke every record. GTA VI appears to be following in its predecessor’s footsteps, with its trailer already being the most viewed in YouTube history. So why the caution? Has old Bob turned to clickbait headlines? Not at all! There are objective reasons—two main ones, to be precise.
The first reason, which has been making the rounds on the web for a few days, is that GTA VI is reportedly priced at $100/€. Wait, what? Word has it that this is just a rumor gleefully picked up by geeky websites eager to boost their weekly views. As always, the reality is more nuanced. It all stems from an “audit” on the state of the gaming industry in 2024, published on his site by Matthew Ball, who seems to be a business strategy consultant/analyst in the gaming world. Is the guy a big name in the field? I have no idea—his name was completely unfamiliar to me until now.
Regardless of whether it’s a quality audit or just a buzzworthy stunt, the document drew attention for a slide at the end of the presentation, which claimed that a price of $80 to $100 for GTA VI would be logical given market trends, and that it would push all lower prices up by $10 increments. Another slide argued that, considering inflation, selling GTA VI at $70 (the current standard for AAA games) would make it the cheapest GTA in history, recommending a price of $91.
What’s the fair price for a video game? It’s an old question, and I won’t attempt to answer it today. As with all products, it’s unfortunately logical for video game prices to rise, at least in line with inflation. Bob’s take: GTA VI obviously won’t be sold at $100 like the internet says, but probably at $80. Now that the $100 rumor has spread, consumers might even praise Rockstar if the increase is “only” $10. This increase will inevitably affect the second-hand market, and I’d be very surprised if digital versions are priced lower.
Bob, as always, will patiently wait to pick up a second-hand copy a few weeks after the official release—or maybe even a GOTY edition with DLC and bug fixes included. Plus, my GOTY version will work perfectly on the day I buy it. That won’t be the case for day-one versions.
Nostradamus predicted it: GTA VI will crash on launch day.
What do SimCity 2013, Diablo III, Cities: Skylines II, and Throne and Liberty have in common? All of these games were unplayable at launch. Their servers simply couldn’t handle the massive influx of new players. In some cases, anti-piracy protections (yes, I’m looking at you, Denuvo!) were the culprit. In others, it was purely an infrastructure issue. Either way, players had to wait several days before being able to play their day-one purchases…
GTA VI won’t be an exception. Between millions of simultaneous downloads, countless account creations or logins that will almost certainly be required, and the inevitable hacker attacks targeting the franchise’s fame or players’ data, drawn to the opportunity of sabotaging the cultural phenomenon of the decade, I’d be genuinely shocked if Rockstar avoided a good old-fashioned crash.
And even if the issue doesn’t come from Rockstar, how can we be sure that Sony, Microsoft, or Steam’s infrastructures will hold up?
The Switch 2 or the Wii U syndrome
Who loves well, chastises well. So, Bob is going to chastise Nintendo. Harshly. And no, don’t trust the wide-eyed grins of pseudo-influencers on YouTube who rave about anything and everything. The Switch 2 has some serious vibes of being a flop, and a fate similar to the Wii U isn’t out of the question. Let’s remember, the Wii U was a console that didn’t sell because people didn’t understand it was a new console, not just an updated version of the Wii. Now imagine explaining to that same audience that the Switch 2 isn’t just another version of the Switch, like the Lite or the OLED.
Unlike Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo’s audience isn’t made up of well-informed gaming enthusiasts who will grasp the subtle differences between console versions. Quite the opposite: Nintendo openly targets a family-oriented audience (a few years ago, I would have said “casual,” but the term seems to have gone out of style). And in my opinion, that audience won’t see any reason to buy a new console that looks virtually identical to the previous one—same concept, same design. The Wii U, which at least brought something new with the GamePad, still flopped. So, I’m worried about the Switch 2…
What about the differences between two PlayStation or Xbox versions? Sure, there’s not much to speak of. But that’s because those consoles follow a logic of technological excellence: the new versions are expected technological upgrades for the hardcore gamers that make up Sony and Microsoft’s customer base. Since the Wii, Nintendo has claimed to follow a different logic—one based on conceptual innovation. Yet this innovation seems entirely absent in the Switch 2.
Even technologically, there doesn’t seem to be any significant progress. I say “seem” because the technical specs haven’t been revealed yet. But the Mario Kart shown in the presentation video doesn’t exactly scream technological breakthrough. Even the larger screen still has those huge black bars—something the PSP got rid of when it launched 21 years ago.
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It’s true that the Switch 2, for now, only exists in a very brief video. We’ll have to wait for Nintendo to drip-feed more details during their world tour planned through the summer. Could it launch in the summer, perhaps to cater to vacationers and avoid a head-on collision with GTA VI? Either way, Bob is waiting to see the games before making any commitments. But presenting slightly outdated hardware with just two seconds of Switch-level gameplay? That’s a bold move from Nintendo. Then again, it’s enough to get all the fools on YouTube talking. A smart marketing move, I’ll admit.
Bob Dupneu
By the way
While GTA VI and the Switch 2 will need to prove themselves before I consider buying them, one recently announced game already looks promising to me: Forest Reigns. It’s being developed by former members of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. project (a quality seal, if you ask me), and it invites players to explore a Paris overtaken by “living” nature. The official trailer is quite compelling, and I really like the chosen setting: the City of Light is far too rarely depicted in games. Aside from Mario Kart Tour, the few examples that come to mind are the decent The Saboteur, the excellent Paris scene in CoD Modern Warfare, and the brilliant Remember Me.
The Steam page doesn’t list a release date, but an announcement as early as January suggests we might see it this year. Wait and see…
