People are hard up.
Cost of living is a real issue.
That certainly plays into it, yes. I can only speak for Germany and Spain. But from what I've read, it doesn't look any better in other countries. Inflation is high. Here, the argument is often that people can buy no-name products. Unfortunately, the reality in the supermarket is different. Even cheap products have risen enormously in price.
Since I earned my first money, saving has been part of my life. It's getting harder and harder to have something left to save at the end of the month. Unfortunately, salaries haven't risen anywhere near as much as prices. At least in Germany, energy costs alone have literally exploded. That's also a big issue in the economy. Companies are struggling with it just as much as private consumers. Not all of the economy's problems are due to the high energy prices since the war in Ukraine. But a good part. If people like us are already starting to have to pay more attention to money, who live economically and are not wasteful, I don't want to know how people who are not so stingy are struggling. You have to have the money for a console first. In Spain there are other problems too, such as enormous youth unemployment. Enough people already had a hard time there before the war and inflation.
But this is probably not a European problem. You see a lot of similar concerns on Reddit on the other side of the Atlantic these days. In recent years, many people have probably had to watch their money even more than before. Consoles and games are luxury products. You buy them when you have money to spare. And above all, they are potentially interesting products for families. Family means more heads, but not more salaries. They suffer most from rising costs.
