# content strategy

Players are questioning live-service economics as price increases, lawsuits over loot boxes, and weak sales pressure publishers to prove value. Publishers are leaning on expansions, tighter scopes, and nostalgia-fueled rereleases to sustain engagement and spending amid rising costs.

Players are demanding polished performance, offline access, and transparent pricing, rewarding studios that offer candid releases and penalizing friction. At the same time, an AI-driven RAM shortage is pushing component prices up 320 percent, raising risks of console price hikes or production pauses while marquee franchise sales in Europe fall more than 50 percent.