happy new year all. Since its the new year, i think its time to review the damage, by damage i mean the amount of spending on gaming for 2025:
Summary of 2025
2025 was definitely the year that i bought the most games on steam ever. The previous record was back in 2020 where i bought 76 items. in 2025 it was 97. Although i argue that it was more like 88 by my spreadsheet and 31 of them were free.
So what was the main reason for the increase? Humble choice. i bought in on 2 months so i got 16 games then normal, also probably more free games, some great deals and a load more free games. if i deduct the humble bundles and the free games it looks more like 50 more or less on average in the previous years.
The one lesson learnt (or didn't learn)
Although we made some good deals and nothing was purchased at full price. it always pay to wait. Too often i bought a good deal at historical lows at the time, it just dropped to a lower price or (good/worse) free. there was 3 or 4 times this year that it rankled enough to annoy me. It happens every year and it won't be the last time i see it happen again this year.
i guess you win some, you lose some. It was at a price i was comfortable with and pulled the trigger. Buy the game the price difference wasn't too big. if the lowest price is pennies, i wouldn't care. When the difference is big enough that i could have bought something else in my wishlist with the difference, that's when it hurts.
humble choice has some good deals, the yearly offer during christmas seemed like a good deal but looking back there was only 2 months when i put money into it. So it wasn't all that enticing after all. I'll check month by month before deciding.
But what was the actual cost? Well...
Total Expenditure:
Total expenditure £214.40
RRP cost: £1518.81
Saving difference: £1304.41
percentage difference: 86%
A good haul i guess, my savy spending still made great returns despite a few missteps, i didn't buy games i didn't want and 99% of them are something i would want to play. There maybe one or 2 that fall in the maybe pile, but still something i would actually play. One day.
Single purchase of Shame:
Most expensive single game purchase:
Armoured core 6 - £18.99
Second most expensive:
path of exile MTX currency £17.00
third most expensive*:
total war: Warhammer trilogy - £14.39
2025 was a first in that i buckled and bought MTX currency. yes, whilst i finally succumbed to F2P but i'm not upset about it. I have 2100+ hrs playing POE and so it felt like it was worth the spending. Secondly, being stash tabs, they've been greatly helpful in freeing up space and giving me options to actually spend my way to victory and an edge. Thirdly, i was able to spend all of it. As we know one, strategy F2P makes you buy more then you need because of pricing making you buy more MTX currency. but Since i got the stash tabs on sale, i was able to clear up and acquire everything i wanted.
Another interesting point is the 3rd most expensive game. I think it was WH trilogy but depending on how you frame it, it might not. there are 3 games there and if we break it down it might not be the most expensive, but the 3rd place difference is so small minor there are plenty of games that fell into 3rd place. EG: lost judgemeent, like a dragon, ishin! like a dragon.
Looking to 2026
What will 2026 bring? hopefully not so much expenditure. But who am i kidding, i'm starting 2026 by shooting myself in the foot as i plan to get planet zoo and Divinity: original sin 2 before the sale ends. but the deal is too good to pass up.
i do have games i'm keeping an eye on, namely dying light 2, days gone and maybe Metaphor: ReFantazio, but again still waiting for them to drop further.
i'm also considering buying another tab in POE, this time a trade tab so i can make money on stuff that i don't need but might sell and make my POE journey easier. But is it worth spending 4.50 when i never did it previously and that money could go towards another game? its a hard sell from that perspective. useful, but not esstential. unlike the currency and map tabs which practically were esstential.
but the even bigger elephant in the room? a new gaming pc. i'm still watching and more waiting tbh. i still would like to building a new pc but i think the opportunity has saided passed. i might have to wait till 2028 at this rate. which i suppose is fine, there are no games in my collection that i can't play and will help to my expenditure down i guess. but on the other hand, its highly possible that the prices (i fear) will not drop back to pre mid 2025 and that was when things were considered unreasonable. but old reliable cheap stuff like memory is increasing in price and the manufacturers are just doing everything they can to milk it. Worst case scenario, a downward trend on pc ownership and a rent based system where you own nothing and like it.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram