this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2026
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Why is $60 the full price and not $50, as was the standard for AAA titles before that?
When accounting for inflation, both a $60 game purchased in 2021 (just 5 years ago, when that was still the norm for AAA games) and a $50 game purchased in 2001 are more expensive than buying a $70 AAA game in 2026. Meanwhile, AAA game budgets have exploded.
Another way to look at it: Galactic Racer in 2026, at $60, would be $49 in 2021 or $32 in 2001 when accounting for inflation.
Galactic Racer feels like a AA game, and has a modern AA price, both relative to new AAA game prices for the last few years and relative to prices in the past when accounting for inflation. It is fair to not like that or feel it is overpriced, but it does line up.
If anyone's curious:
$60/$49 = ~1.22, or ~22% more from 2021 to 2026 (~4.5%/yr) $49/$32 = ~1.53, or ~53% more from 2001 to 2021 (~2.7%/yr)
Time periods are vastly different of course (5y vs 20y) but inflation has accelerated drastically since the pandemic (specifically 2021).
None of this is representative of spending power, of course.
The original Episode 1 Racer launched back in 1999 for $49.99, which you could play it on your $299 PSX.
Or, inflation adjusted, you bought a $100 game to play on your $650 console.