The video game industry is currently stuck in an awkward growth spurt where the price of admission keeps going up, but the actual experience doesn’t necessarily follow. In 2025, paying $80 for a brand-new game has gone from “Wait, what?” to “Well, I guess that’s just how it is now.” And who do we have to thank for this situation?
When Nintendo dropped the news that Mario Kart World would launch on the upcoming Switch 2 at a whopping $79.99, the internet lit up not with excitement, but with a collective: Are you serious right now? This cost is only for the base game and yet instead of being laughed off the market, Nintendo somehow managed to set a new standard. Now, Xbox is hiking up prices on its games, consoles, and accessories too, so even the controllers feel overpriced.
But while most of the industry races to see who can charge more for less, one studio in the industry is doing the opposite. Arrowhead Game Studios is holding the line and Helldivers 2 is all the better for it.
No $80 Tag Shock Here for Helldivers 2
While Nintendo and Xbox flirt with triple-digit game prices, Arrowhead has stayed grounded with comfort. Helldivers 2 launched at $39.99 and more importantly, it’s still $39.99 with no deluxe editions padded with meaningless perks and not a single launch-week DLC hidden behind another paywall.
Thanks to this strategy the studio is on the fans’ happy list, Reddit is full of praise for Arrowhead’s no-nonsense approach to pricing. The game’s Warbonds system lets players buy cosmetics if they want, sure, but you can also earn Super Credits just by playing the game. Remember when that was the standard? Pepperidge Farm remembers and apparently, so does Arrowhead. Even expansions and major updates are delivered to everyone for free.
Meanwhile, at the House of Mario is the High Price Chaos
Compare Arrowhead Game Studios’ way to Nintendo’s Switch 2 strategy: a $450 console, a nearly $80 kart racer, and a player base expected to be like it’s 2006 again. The backlash was loud, but it didn’t stop other publishers from quietly following suit. Xbox now plans to raise first-party game prices during the holiday season, and even its hardware, from consoles to stereo headsets, didn’t escape the inflation creep.
The result? The players who wants to purchase games on release are low in numbers. Why would they, when Game Pass and PlayStation Plus offer a buffet of titles later down the line? It’s not great news for developers, who now have to hope their games go viral to meet financial goals. “Day-one Game Pass” might be a win for players, but for studios, it’s like launching a game with a parachute made of chewing gum.
This one thing is where Arrowhead Game Studios deserves all the credit in the gaming world. They’re not chasing after Nintendo’s pricing model or gambling on subscription services to carry their game. They built a solid, co-op-driven shooter that people want to play, and they priced it in a decent way that respects their audience’s wallet. It’s almost quaint in today’s market.
That’s not to say Arrowhead is immune to the pressures of modern game development. But instead of passing the cost directly to players, the developers chose to grow their community by keeping the barrier to entry low and the quality high.