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[atyourservice]

I've seen this sentiment in gaming discussions around the internet "They wouldn't make my investment into this worthless", "I am still invested in x or y ecosysytem so they need to support this" and I don't get it.

Do you see your gaming collection as investments, and if yes, how? Are you seriously planning to make equivalent or greater return on the money you've poured into games? I always thought this was clearly a hobby that loses value over time

If "Investment" is just meant in the 'I have spent a lot of time on this and would prefer not to change to something else' sense, it would make more sense, but I can't tell if that's waht people mean

 

[DinoD]

Well. A dude made a thread recently on how he sold his PSN account. Its doable

 

[fran.fernandez]

Lol no

 

[baphomet]

Physical games are an investment.

Digital aren't

 

[March Climber]

Regarding ecosystems? It kind of is an investment for well, everyone. It’s hard to throw everything away unless you feel really sure you won’t want to go back.

Regarding the hobby itself? I think some people, mainly AAA gamers feel the degradation due to a multitude of reasons including personal ones.

I will say that what definitely doesn’t help are the hours of these games becoming more and more and more bloated. It can turn what should be a fun experience and happy moment in time, into begrudging busy work as you are checking boxes for dopamine. However, I will still stand by that this is 50% self inflicted. Too many games come out per year for it not to be.

The only type of investment I consider wrong is the one where someone will tell me a 100 hour game was worth the money because they invested much time into it, but at the same time they will tell me an 8 hour megafun experience wasn’t worth it simply because it was only 8 hours. Time:Quality is a broken ratio for video games and a ton of the big companies have successfully tricked people into thinking they need ‘forever games’ to feel fulfillment.

 

[Danjin44]

No, I'm planning to give my old games to my cousin once they are old enough to play games.

 

[baphomet]

Regarding ecosystems? It kind of is an investment for well, everyone. It’s hard to throw everything away unless you feel really sure you won’t want to go back.

Regarding the hobby itself? I think some people, mainly AAA gamers feel the degradation due to a multitude of reasons including personal ones.

I will say that what definitely doesn’t help are the hours of these games becoming more and more and more bloated. It can turn what should be a fun experience and happy moment in time, into begrudging busy work as you are checking boxes for dopamine. However, I will still stand by that this is 50% self inflicted. Too many games come out per year for it not to be.

The only type of investment I consider wrong is the one where someone will tell me a 100 hour game was worth the money because they invested much time into it, but at the same time they will tell me an 8 hour megafun experience wasn’t worth it simply because it was only 8 hours. Time:Quality is a broken ratio for video games and a ton of the big companies have successfully tricked people into thinking they need ‘forever games’ to feel fulfillment.

You wrote all that and didn't even come close to the question asked.

 

[ReyBrujo]

We have some fun down here with Steam or Epic account sales, as if they were worth anything. I kind of collect some SNES games I like which could be considered investment right now because I'm not likely to play them or open sealed games I might find. And because of that I don't open physical copies of sealed Switch games if I got the digital version (which in Argentina can be found pretty cheap) just in case anything becomes worth eventually lol A Baldur's Gate copy for Switch is expensive, got a few others as well which might sell for at the very least MSRP. However I know collectors who have pretty expensive stuff like a Donkey Kong Competition cartridge, an Aero Fighters CIB with poster, etc, which are easily over give grands. For them it's an investment.

 

[Crayon]

If "Investment" is just meant in the 'I have spent a lot of time on this and would prefer not to change to something else' sense, it would make more sense, but I can't tell if that's waht people mean

That's it.

 

[poppabk]

Physical games are an investment.

Digital aren't

I mean that is true for physical games but only if you don't open them and play them and keep them in climate controlled storage.
Also I bet that my Steam account with a fair few delisted games like Outrun coast 2 coast could be sold for a decent amount.

 

[March Climber]

You wrote all that and didn't even come close to the question asked.

My first answer was in regards to his question. The reason it’s short is because it is straightforward. It is rare for someone to dump a steam account worth thousands of dollars.

My second and third answers are in regard to the idea of investment of time, which is another thing people bring up when speaking of investments in gaming.

 

[baphomet]

I mean that is true for physical games but only if you don't open them and play them and keep them in climate controlled storage.
Also I bet that my Steam account with a fair few delisted games like Outrun coast 2 coast could be sold for a decent amount.

That's definitely not how it works for physical games. Personally I've probably made ~100k just from games I purchased 25-30 years ago steadily increasing in value. Those cover the entire spectrum loose, boxed, arcade pcb, etc. The 15+ Sony PVMs I purchased 10-15 years ago for anywhere from free to $100 easily sell for $800-1500 each these days.

Unused keys would be more valuable than an account, but to sell an already redeemed key is the entire account or nothing.

 

[El Muerto]

For physical absolutely. I keep all my physical games and it's insane how much older games blew up in price. Never thought i could get over $100 for a used copy of Silent Hill on ps1. My retro consoles will continue to get more valuable over time. Since current gen isnt getting any price cuts there's still value to them. I also took pictures of all my consoles for insurance purposes. I have almost everything from the Magnavox Odyssey 2 to all 3 current gen consoles. I also upped my house insurance so if i lose everything in a fire then i'll get a decent payday.

 

[existensmaximum]

My collection of NES, SNES, Master System and Mega Drive games sure are. Anything modern, of course not. That's ridiculous, but at least I have a physical collection of discs that could be sold eventually.

 

[intbal]

Yes, but probably not in the way OP means.

I consider all my games to be investments in my future entertainment endeavors.

 

[Three]

I don't think of it as a monetary investment (as in for profit) but I can understand the meaning of investing time/money into an ecosystem without expecting a return.

 

[Kataploom]

As long as it benefits you somehow and you don't use money you should be using for more primordial matters in it, it is an investment imo.

It is not an investment if you're just building a backlog from money you should have used to, idk, buy your meds or pay rent, for example.

Even building a backlog is a good investment if you do so from money you're not literally needing, I do so by buying on sales so I always have games I'll play when I'm on certain moods and I'll get them cheaper than I would if I just impulsively buy them in those moments or so, that way I make sure to save a lot of money and also make habit of containing certain purchases for months or years if I'm needing the money somewhere else.

 

[Crayon]

I've got a valuable retro collect too but that's an accident. I think I'm going to play those game to this day.

 

[MaestroMike]

i buy games if its a good deal and to make sure franchises/game developers i like keep getting funding to make more of the games i like to play i buy all the hardware because a company with no competition is bad for everyone PC gamers didn't do their part and now pc gamers are owned by nvidia talking about master race seems like they're enslaved paying 2 grand for a gpu is insane fukk that im going to keep buying xbox hardware can't trust sony by itself

 

[Spukc]

yes i have like 600 games on my steam list

 

[ConkerTheSquirrel.]

I don't buy games thinking their value will go up in the future, that sounds like a miserable mindset going into this hobby.

If I were to ever use "investment" in a gaming context, it would be related to Time. "I've invested so much time into this game, I guess I can justify buying this expansion/DLC." But I realize that way of thinking is a logical fallacy, so I just don't.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Yes, in the sense that I invest in long-term peace of mind.
Gaming helps me relax.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

They're not investments. Doesn't mean some of them can't appreciate in value.

 

[V1LÆM]

Physical games are an investment.

Digital aren't

When digital stops working all you will have on your discs is the non patched version. Try argue this with someone with a copy of cyberpunk, no man’s sky, starfield (any Bethesda game). Literally almost every single game released in the last 15+ years requires some kind of patch. Also forget about any DLC.

Yeah you might have the patches installed but what happens when the next console comes out or you need a replacement?

 

[Hunter 99]

I collected a lot of retro due to my love of the hobby,from about 15 to about my late twenties.i worked in gamestation in the UK and used to get some real gems come in from time to time and 30% off too!
I've sold a lot of it off now (only kept the consoles and games that mean something to me,) and made a good profit.

They have been a good investment but my love of the hobby is more what made me buy the stuff all those years ago. I wasn't thinking about making a profit with any of it back In my teens.

 

[Zacfoldor]

No, people that don't understand that I love my hobbies always ask me excitedly what is this or that worth.

I'm like, infinite money because I'd never sell. Sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie but I'd never know.

When people look at my shit like it is an investment, in my mind, they are devaluing my collection.

I buy these things to benefit my mind not my bank account. If I was very poor I would consider selling them only as a last resort. I love my stamp collection, my knife collection, my coin collection, my card collection, my comic book collection, my other collections, and I especially love my damn video game collection. I hope I would not trade these things for food or rent unless I was starving and about to be homeless. To look at these things, to see them and to hold them, these are the things you will remember in your life. Don't sell them for coffee money.

 

[jzbadblood]

Nah it's a toy to play with it.

 

[Soapbox Killer]

I buy to play but every now and then you get a gem in your collection worth a few bucks and that doesn't feel too bad. I have Chrono Trigger CIB and i only paid 30 bucks for it. Whatever it's worth now, it's more than 30 bucks.

 

[SHA]

A good game is an investment, a bad game is a waste of money. If I'm targeting 60 games a year for the sake of not missing anything, then I'm having hard time remembering all these games cause I'm constantly looking forward to the next game, therefore, in this case, I'm just a hobbyist. Hobbyists don't invest in their hobby with money, emotions and feelings, they're just passionate about what they are doing.

 

[Ibara]

Absolutely not
This is no different than me dropping money on booze

 

[Garibaldi]

Nope. It's all throwaway entertainment at the end of the day. I'd be gutted and pretty furious if it was randomly taken away, but only because I couldn't enjoy it anymore.

 

[Codeblew]

If it is an investment, it is a losing investment.

 

[NomenNescio]

No, they're expenses. They lose value over time.

 

[StereoVsn]

Nah, it’s a collection, library, etc. , but not an investment. Sure I have some decently rare physical games and special editions, but if I sell all games I own and even accounts, I won’t be able to pay for even 1 year of college for my kids.

If I had some super rare graded and sealed copies, maybe it would be an investment, but much like my kids Pokémon cards or my old magic cards collection, it’s fun, has some value, but not an investment.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

No.

I buy games because playing games is my hobby. There are way better things to invest in if your goal is to make a profit. When I’ve sold games in the past, it was so I could buy other games.

 

[Black_Stride]

Financial Investment - NO.
Time Investment - YES.

 

[aclar00]

Not an investment unless i make more money (inflation considered) than i spent on it with that said, physical will give you a better return, but unless you have something rare....not a financial investment.

If you want to get sentimental, then sure, its an investment

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

Absolutely not, that's just an hobby as passionate it can be.

 

[Stuart360]

Well i'm 100% digital, so no.

Hardware wise, yes i use my old hardware in part exchange towards newer hardware, but i dont consider that hardware an investment.

 

[Edgelord79]

Lol no. Pretty crappy investment if so. Just a hobby and something I enjoy.

 

[Efren is G.O.A.T.]

An investment towards my entertainment? Yes

 

[Rawbutt Jellybean]

When people say they've invested into a console or ecosystem or whatever they don't expect monetary returns (unless they're just buying games to resell later). More like "I bought this Vita, and your expensive memory cards Sony, where are the fucking games?"

 

[Rockondevil]

No.

 

[ReBurn]

No, the time and money I spend on video games is definitely an entertainment expense. It's a hobby.

 

[ozz ex machina]

I spent about £800 on skins and stickers back in the day (csgo) and that inventory is now worth about 7000 euros.

H1Z1 before it got super popular had some stream drop things that sold for like £100 a few years later once it blew up. Apart from that. No. It's a hobby not an investment, sad and weird behaviour tbh.

 

[CLW]

“Investment” being used as a synonym for spending drives me NUTS

An investment has the potential to produce a return on said investment.

Very very very few video games appreciate in value so no video game purchases are NOT investments they are discretionary spending

 

[WoJ]

Yes, but probably not in the way OP means.

I consider all my games to be investments in my future entertainment endeavors.

This right here.