Is Console Gaming Too Expensive?

On the precipice of the next generation of consoles from Sony and Microsoft and on the brink of handing over plenty of hard earned cash, should I actually be able to locate either a PS5 or an Xbox Series X, I found myself wondering; is console gaming actually expensive? Obviously, the initial upfront purchase price will be high, but I wanted to go a little deeper than just how much a system is worth and figure out the cost over the lifespan of the system and compare it to other similar hobbies, PC gaming included.

For the most part gaming is just that, a hobby, which means that comparing them to other hobbies and pastimes will provide the best answer. This leads us to try to figure out what are comparable hobbies to gaming? The easiest answer would be other gaming avenues, such as board Games, RPG cards as well as other media including movies and TV.

Typically, you purchase the console once and you should be good for around seven years, which is close to the average lifespan of a modern console. Sure, there are outliers, if a console is struggling, there is a much greater chance of the plug being pulled early. Famously or more likely infamously, the original Xbox only lasted four years on the market before Microsoft introduced the Xbox 360, the Nintendo WiiU only had five years before the Switch was released and of course the Sega DreamCast only had less than two good years on the North American market.

For the most part, even dating as far back as the early eighties when the NES was released, you can expect a solid seven years out of your console before the company introduces a new one, not factoring in the half step consoles that we saw this past generation. You could also continue to use a console for much longer than seven years but that is generally when the company puts out the successor and support slows on the older unit. With the information that we have available to us, let’s see if we can figure out if console gaming is too expensive.

Console Gaming Cost

Before jumping into comparable hobbies, let’s try to figure out the cost of ownership for a console as a baseline. Using the PS4 as the example makes sense due to the amount of people that purchased them, which currently sits at just over one hundred million. Using data from Sony’s earnings reports we can also see that they have sold a little over a billion games. Keeping those numbers even for simplicity sake that works out to about ten games per PS4 owner, which is the attach rate and is pretty good. Trying to figure out the purchase price for those games is tougher due to games being on sale often, being cheaper than full price when released and being quite inexpensive with the likes of indie titles. If we had to put an average price on each game purchased I would assume that it would fall around thirty dollars.

Using these extremely rough numbers the cost of game ownership is three hundred dollars. This would be added to the cost of the console which at launch was three ninety-nine. Combining these two figures give you a total of seven hundred and when divided by the years that would have owned the console, it breaks down to approximately a hundred dollars a year or about eight dollars a month.

In 2019, Limelight conducted a study of over forty-five hundred people from all over the world and found that the average gamer plays just a little over seven hours a week. This simply works out to twenty-eight hours a month and three hundred and thirty-six hours a year. When you crunch the average yearly cost with the average yearly hours played you are looking at around twenty-nine cents per hour or just slightly over what arcades cost almost thirty years ago. The only difference there is the play session isn’t forty-five seconds and you are doing it from the comfort of your home.

Netflix

One of the most popular forms of media consumption in the world is Netflix. Based on their last earnings report, Netflix has over 180 million paid users, not including people that are sharing their passwords. The cost of Netflix will be increasing as it was just announced this week. The most common plan will now be 14 and the premium plan will be 18 which works out to an average of 16 month. The average Netflix user watches two hours a day, which works out to 14 hours a week and 56 hours a month.

Using the same formula the average cost of Netflix annually is around 192 and the average time spent on Netflix annually is 672 hours. This breaks down to a cost of about 28 cents an hour, which is just one cent cheaper than gaming. However, you do need to have something stream this content, which could be an Apple TV, Smart TV, iPad, computer or even a PS4.

Adding this to the equation would raise the cost more than one cent. Also, there isn’t one person that I know that only subscribes to one service, most people have multiple subscriptions to services like Prime Video, Hulu, Disney + and the many other options out there. Having just one additional subscription would essentially double the hourly cost This means that, in theory, console gaming is cheaper than watching Netflix or any other streaming service.

Winner: Console Gaming

PC Gaming

Although console gaming might get treated like a little brother when compared to PC gaming, there are plenty of benefits to console gaming that I personally think outweigh PC gaming. Now, more than ever with consoles looking more like PC’s these days it becomes somewhat simpler to compare and see that the value on the initial purchase is clear. Obviously, building a powerhouse PC will produce better technical results but it comes at a price and this doesn’t factor in the simplicity of console gaming.

You could build a high end PC and just a top tier GPU will run you around 1500 us or you can have a pre built PS5 or Xbox Series X that is using decent tech but since they are built in such high quantities, the company is able to pass on the savings to the consumer. Based on similar specs of what is inside both the PS5 and the Xbox Series X, it would cost in the ballpark of around $1000 to build something equivalent. This already shows that console gaming is a more affordable option if you are into gaming.

Going on the assumption that PC gamers and console gamers share similar habits when looking at total hours spent and games purchased, this would mean that the only real difference between PC and console is the total upfront cost on the tech.

Winner: Console Gaming

Board Games & Cards

In 2019, Bloomberg reported that over the next few years the value of the board game and card industry will be around 25 billion, which is very impressive for a hobby that doesn’t seem to gain the mainstream attention like video games and movies. The video game industry is worth about 75 billion annually and when combining all elements of the film industry, it adds up to around 135 billion annually. Finally, for purposes of comparing similar forms of entertainment, according to CNBC, the value of the streaming industry is currently around 100 billion with that figure expected to grow to 120 billion by 2022. Although, those estimates were made prior to the pandemic and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see that figure ballon even greater than 120 billion by 2022.

According to a 2017 study of 500 board game enthusiasts from Print Ninja, it showed that this crowd likes to spend money with only 6 percent spent less than $100. 15% spent between $100-199, 19% spent between $200-399, 16% spent between $400-599, 21% spent between $600-1000 and 22% spent more than $1000. This means that over 50% of board game players spend over $400 annually, which is essentially like buying a new PS4 every year since it was released.

Trying to figure out time spent playing board games is even harder but going on the assumption of realistic times to get together with loved ones or friends, you are looking at the weekend. This means that the time spent playing board games is limited, most likely, to Friday and Saturday night. I would ballpark an average playing session between 3-4 hours. You get together around 7 or 8 in the evening and disband around midnight. This works out to the average board game player spending 7 hours a week enjoying their hobby, which equates to 336 hours annually.

Once again using the same formula as before, we arrive to an hourly cost of 84 cents, which is around triple the cost of video games as well as streaming. While there is something great about the analog nature of trading cards and board games, despite any technology, it still costs much more than the other options.

Winner: Console Gaming

Happiness or Coffee

At the end of the day, the whole point of all of these comparisons isn’t to belittle anyones hobby, but instead to give a perspective on just how affordable console gaming can be. I have always been a firm believer in spending your money wherever it makes you the happiest. If happiness lies within console gaming then that’s great or if a luxury vehicle makes you happy then by all means purchase one. If you want a brand new iPhone every year because of the way it makes you feel or if enrolling in spin classes or even a Peleton brings you joy then do whatever makes you happy, whether its practical or not. Life is too short not to do whatever makes you happy and if console gaming is what makes you smile then you can smile more knowing its only around a quarter an hour.

Console gaming, PC gaming, streaming, cards or boards games are all very affordable and a great way to pass the time with a smile on your face. At an average cost of less than a dollar a day, all you need to do is skip that cup of coffee at your favourite spot once or twice a week to make room in your budget.