“The bigger concern for the industry isn't hardware costs but discoverability and saturation”: The Mobile Mavens on barriers to entry

• "Mobile still seems to be the most accessible way to get into gaming simply because most people already own a smartphone." - Irma Harlann
• "The bigger concern for the industry isn't hardware costs but discoverability and saturation." - André Pimenta Ribeiro
• "I think developers need to rethink their games from 'why would someone play this' to 'why would someone play this today'." - Will Luton
• “But the way I see it, accessibility isn't disappearing - it's shifting.” - Alexandra Kurdyumova

The games industry has seen notable price increases over the years, from game prices to hardware prices. Consoles, PCs, handheld devices and even smartphones have all faced rising prices, sparking broader questions about the future accessibility of games.

Some warn that rising hardware costs could affect player behaviour, extend hardware upgrade cycles and influence how developers design and support their games.

We asked the Mobile Mavens what they think rising hardware costs mean for the wider industry. Here's what they had to say.

Eden Chen

CEO at Pragma

The Steam Deck price increases are another sign that gaming hardware is becoming noticeably more expensive across the board. Between rising component costs and ongoing supply pressures to components such as RAM, players are increasingly having to think harder about when and how they upgrade their devices.

That creates a real accessibility challenge for gaming. Handheld PCs like the Steam Deck opened the door for a lot of players who wanted a more flexible way to play, but sustained price increases risk pushing those devices further out of reach for mainstream audiences.

As hardware becomes more expensive, the players who do invest tend to become even more engaged and selective about the games they spend time and money on.

André Pimenta Ribeiro

CEO at Anybrain

Rising hardware costs are likely the new norm for games and tech more broadly, but I don't think they make gaming meaningfully less accessible in the long-term.

Games remain one of the most cost-effective forms of entertainment and mobile in particular is relatively price-inelastic it's too embedded in daily life for people to step back. The revenues it generates for Apple, Google and Samsung ensure these platforms will continue to be prioritised regardless.

PC and console face more pressure. Mainstream devices like PlayStation and Xbox may struggle as prices climb, but versatile systems like the Switch and Steam Deck still offer good value - the Steam Deck sold out in 24 hours despite its recent price increase, which shows consumers are still willing to absorb costs to a point.

As GPU and RAM prices rise, consoles do look cost-efficient by comparison, and existing brand loyalty should help them sustain themselves in the immediate future, especially Nintendo, which still heavily retains console exclusivity for its titles.

The bigger concern for the industry isn't hardware costs but discoverability and saturation. A developer's chances of being found in an oversaturated market will hurt them far more than the price of a GPU.

If anything, rising AI investment is pulling more people into adjacent hardware conversations and any device capable of running AI models can increasingly double as a gaming machine.

That and growing investments into world model research make games as an industry slightly more resilient in terms of player interest as a whole.

Alexandra Kurdyumova

Co-Founder at Futura Digital

For me, the barrier to entry for "core" gaming is clearly going up. This is the first console generation that's getting more expensive over time instead of cheaper - tariffs, inflation and rising component costs are all pushing prices up.

But the way I see it, accessibility isn't disappearing - it's shifting. Cloud and subscriptions soften the blow and mobile is still the lowest entry point by far: the phone is already in your pocket, so the game comes essentially for free on top of a device you already own.

Here's the part that interests us most at Futura, as a legal and consulting firm for the games industry. In my view, mobile may be the most accessible platform for players, but it's also the most heavily regulated one for developers right now - store rules, antitrust cases against Apple and Google over commissions, new requirements around alternative payments. 

So 'accessible for the player' and 'accessible for the developer' are pulling in opposite directions: it stays cheap for the user, while the compliance burden on the publisher keeps growing and not every team is keeping up.

So to me, this is a story about adaptation, not panic. The studios that win will be the ones building monetisation flexibility, cross-platform reach and compliance-readiness into their business now - not bolting it on later.

Will Luton

Founder/CPO Village Studio Games

I think this matters less than it would’ve a decade ago at the more casual end of the market where mobile games are.

Rarely are casual experiences bottlenecked by the hardware, so I expect we’ll just see people staying on older phones/tablets rather than changing their playing habits, which are pretty heavily entrenched.

Also, for a lot of people the cost of a phone is amortised into a telecom contract anyway, so $5 to $10 more a month is likely more palatable.

However, I think where we might see this having an impact is the console generation take-up bump you’d expect to see around tentpole launches.

Console hardware has historically dropped in price this late in a generation, often by a half or more. So when GTA 6 launches, it would be a “must-have” for a lot of players stuck on the previous gen, but many will be put off by the prices. So the knock-on benefits of platform adoption there are reduced.

However, these hardware price increases sit in the general cost of living rises that we’re seeing. We’re already seeing players pulled towards cheaper experiences, like back-catalogue, F2P or subscriptions.

There has even been a massive spike in 3DS prices as players retreat to older, exploitable hardware with huge back catalogues. Even Central C and Sabrina Carpenter are at it.

I think developers need to rethink their games from “why would someone play this” to “why would someone play this today”.

Notionally, this has always been true, but there was a default underlying notion of the game being technically better today than yesterday. A new iteration on a new platform with better graphics was enough, but not any more.

Irma Harlann

Business Development, sales & innovation lead at xGrowth

I think rising hardware costs are definitely creating additional barriers for some players, especially in markets where disposable income is already under pressure. 

That said, mobile still seems to be the most accessible way to get into gaming simply because most people already own a smartphone, whereas buying a console or gaming PC requires a much bigger upfront investment.

It also feels like we're seeing players keep their devices for longer, which puts more pressure on developers and publishers to optimise experiences across a wider range of hardware.

From an industry perspective, I don't think this is a crisis, but it is something companies should pay attention to. The businesses that can deliver great experiences across different devices and performance levels will likely be in the strongest position going forward. 

Joep van Duinen

Business Development at Poki

The rising cost of technology is a problem affecting consoles, PC and mobile and it's understandable why the industry is concerned.

PC and mobile are less affected, as users tend to have those devices for reasons other than gaming, so players can just continue using their current devices rather than upgrading to the latest technology.

So, many developers may shift away from making technologically intensive games and instead focus on optimisation, creating games that work on any device and can be published across multiple platforms. 

Developers who already program with HTML5 have been doing this for years and I suspect it will grow in popularity as a development option.

As for players, some will certainly choose to accept the price increase so they can continue with their favourite hobby, but many will likely turn away from traditional consoles if they’ve yet to invest in one. Especially as the price of software has also been increasing - traditional gaming in general is becoming more expensive.

I think the price increase will see the market shift towards free, instant-play games that are accessible to everyone, either playing one or two live-ops games or several smaller pick-up-and-play games.

The shift in audience attention will also drive developers to the platforms where those games are most prominent.

Louise Wooldridge

Research Manager - Games at Ampere Analysis

For consumers, of course this means a higher barrier to entry. Gamers will delay upgrading their devices - whether that be console, PC or mobile - which has a knock-on effect for developers who will need to support older hardware for longer.

At the same time, that older hardware may not support the technical advancements that developers want to make.

Plus, if gamers are spending all their money on expensive hardware, they may be less likely to invest in expensive software: premium games could suffer and the shift towards digital services could be accelerated even further.

Whilst things like subscription services and cloud gaming have so far been co-existing with more traditional gaming business models, rapidly rising hardware prices should - in theory - make them more accessible and therefore more attractive. 

Although I think the various limitations around cloud gaming like internet quality and latency, and the economics of subscription services, will still prevent them from truly becoming dominant.

The console makers traditionally make little to no profit on devices, so higher manufacturing costs will probably result in higher sales prices, fewer (if any) price cuts later in the console cycle and overall slower ecosystem growth.

Ultimately I think this will put more emphasis on games that are designed to run well across multiple generations of devices - whether that's console, PC or mobile. The focus will be on monetising existing users.

Christian Lövstedt

CEO at Midjiwan

I actually don't think the increase in hardware prices will have a major impact on the mobile games industry, since most people primarily buy smartphones for purposes other than gaming.

Mobile won't suffer the same issues as the console market because of this.

Regarding Steam Deck specifically, it already had a very high price, so I don't think the further increase will harm it too much. I didn't have the impression that Valve is targeting a huge user base with it and is instead going for a more niche, hardcore group of players with this device.

If they want the system, I think those types of players will buy it regardless of the price.