And, in fact, many of the best games you can play on PC can run on a veritably potato. Hardware Is More Expensive Than Ever, And That SuckI’m not going to sit here and pretend that things don’t suck for anyone that needs to start their PC gaming journey from zero right now. Right now, getting into PC gaming is more expensive than ever, with even entry-level graphics cards like the RTX 5060 costing around $360, rather than their $299 starting price.
Things are even more dire with more mid-ranged hardware, with the RTX 5070 starting around $650, which is $100 more than their intended starting price. And don’t even get me started on RAM and SSDs, which are still way too expensive, despite being crucial for any PC builder out there. I don’t envy anyone that needs to start their PC gaming journey fromzero right now, but if you have even a mediocre PC or laptop right now, you might not actual need to, as long as you temper your expectations a bit.
This year, we’ve already seen how well games have been scaling. Both Resident EVIL Requiem and Crimson Desert run pretty well across a wide range of PC hardware, as long as you’re willing to turn down some of the settings. But even beyond the AAA world, the true magic of PC gaming lies in games that can run on extremely low-end hardware.
PC Gaming Is More Than Just Ray TracingA lot of people have this image of PC gaming in their head that it’s nothing but super-expensive hardware, rainbow lights and ray tracing. And, at the high-end, that’s not even inaccurate. But most of the games that push graphics technology forward – your Cyberpunks, your Alan Wake 2s – they’re playable on game consoles as well.
Instead, more emphasis is put on making the game fun rather than serving double-duty as a tech demo. No matter how much I enjoy exploring a huge open world like Crimson Desert, nothing quite beats the fun I havelogging onto Discord with friends and playing R.e.p.o., and I’m pretty sure my GPU fans don’t even spin up when that game is running. So, yeah, maybe you do need a high-end gaming PC if you’re trying to experience the latest triple-A blockbuster in all its glory.
But if you’re interested in something simpler, like chilling with friends or competing online, your current setup might be fine. In fact, it might be more than enough. The Best Games Are Often Free, If You Look Beyond the Obvious That brings me to the other part of this equation: money.
Look, I get it. Valve isn’t exactly known for being transparent about their pricing. And Steam’s initial rise was partly due to how affordable new releases were compared to physical copies.
But the reality is different today. New releases often cost $60, with preorders bumping that price up by 10–20%. Independent titles tend to be cheaper, yes, but not always significantly so.
At the same time, Steam itself has evolved into something that looks lesslike a storefront and more like a streaming platform. You can easily lose track of how much you’re spending on games, especially when bundles are involved. I’ve spent way too much money onbundles before because I got caught up in the excitement of completing a collection without realising just how much I was shelling out for multiple games at once.
Steam’s sales are also becoming less predictably frequent, with discounts happening throughout the week instead of during set intervals. And then there’s the elephant in the room: Steam Deck. Valve’s handheld device has quickly become one of the most popular ways to play Steam games, including those from your library.
It’s compact, easy to carry around, and eliminates the need for an additional screen or controller if you don’t want them cluttering up your desk. On top of that, it supports both local and remote play, meaning you can continue gaming even if you’re away from home. Combine that with services like Ge Force Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming, and suddenly “free” becomes even more flexible.
With subscription costs hovering around $10–15 per month, you could technically save money by subscribing to one (or several) of these platforms instead of buying individual games directly from Steam. Admittedly, neither service offers every title available on Steam, but the libraries are large enough that you could easily spend months discovering new experiences without touching your bank account. If you’re worried about missing out on the latest release, don’t be.
Most of the time, these platforms add newly released games within days of their Steam availability, so you won’t feel left behind. Suddenly, accessibility feels more important than ever. PC Gaming Is Also More Niche Than Ever Before the Steam era, PC gaming felt more divided.
Console gamers played console games, while PC gamers stuck to…well, PC games. But Steam changed that. It brought down barriers between communities and made crossover play possible in a way it never had been before.
Now, you see groups of friends mixing Console Mouse and PC keyboard players, all playing togetheronline. Multiplayer games thrive on mixed lobb