People are complaining about the price of games, about Microsoft giving up exclusivity on some games...

I've seen this happen in many markets. When no one uses the internet and annual growth is 1,000%, everyone tries to attract an audience. Free internet access, free email, etc.

Big budgets are very encouraging in growing markets (Sony surpassed Concord with a budget of 600 million, according to some sources). It's a gold rush.

When the market stops growing, everything free disappears and everyone tries to make money in every way.

Some numbers in the gaming market probably indicate the end of growth, so prices are starting to rise more sharply. The price of older consoles hasn't dropped, the end of exclusivity (having access to more people with the same game), you have to pay to access online games, etc. The idea is to squeeze every penny out of every player.

This is also happening with streaming now.

The big risk is pushing too hard and losing the audience.

I have no idea what will happen, but I bet piracy will increase significantly in the coming years, and the industry will start trying to discontinue older games and eliminate cheap ways to play, forcing cloud gaming.

Mobile games are a different story; they're essentially a casino disguised as gambling, making money off of sick people (the whales).

Maybe Steam will be the last refuge from all this. Or it will become the same thing...