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by xg15 16 days ago
Maybe that's what "durable" means in economic jargon? A good that does not (or only very slowly) lose value over time?

If that what it means, Steam would not apply, because games were by that definition very much not durable.

1 comments

Games don't lose value over time though (barring exceptions like live service). A game now is just as fun as later.
This ignores the cultural/community value of games. Games have more value when other people are also playing the game. They don't lose all of their value over time, but, like watching a TV show as it is airing and having the shared experience of talking about it with others, video games also have a shared experience time frame.

This doesn't just apply to multiplayer games either. There is value in the active community conversation surrounding games like Expedition 33, Elden Ring, Baldur's Gate 3, etc.

It doesn't fall to zero, but for some people, there is still a difference between playing a game directly after release when everyone is figuring out and talking about it vs playing it years later.

It's the same as watching a movie in cinema or following a series or watching it later.

Sort of, for many the cinema screen itself is the experience. In contrast, games played today vs 5 years from now are largely on the same hardware, whether it be the console or PC driving it and the TV and sound system displaying it. Like I said I make affordances for live service or multiplayer games but not sure there's such a strong connection to playing games as soon as they're out, although it does exist somewhat. That's why I classify games as a durable good.