Paying more than $50 for a game makes me uncomfortable. The game now HAS to be good, via cope on my end or rightfully so. Balders Gate 3 and Red Dead 2 are the last games I've bought at full price; loved BG3 and hated RDR2, so I am often torn on doing it. Monster Hunter Stories 3 looks great but... $70 great? Probably not.

It would suck to be a streamer or just a fomo guy who has to get into the new hot thing right at launch in order to stay relevant. Forced to play the suckiest, most incomplete version of the game.

I don’t fomo. I’m fine with being just an outsider at launch.

I rarely buy at launch. I told myself I was going to get RE9 at launch, but now MGS 3 Delta is half price on Steam. So will get that instead. Steam sales are too good to buy at full price.

Depends, if you are talking Nintendo games, then buying them at launch makes sense. Nintendo games hold their MSRP for an absurd amount of time. Other games not so much. Personally with Fighting games and RPGs, I tend to get them at launch. Hopping into a fight game late when everyone has been playing for months or years is a slog. You'll run into players that already know the game and the match ups. When you get the game at launch, everyone is figuring things out along with you. With RPGs, I enjoy them more if the story hasn't been spoiled and avoiding those while using the internet is exceedingly difficult.

Contrarily, launch fighters have half their final roster/skins/stages and you better be ready to pump some serious hours into it to even learn matchups because hotfixes and dlc updates tweak characters and abilities often many times a year.  Also, while everyone's learning and agreeing on a tier list, a few months later it can be flipped on its head.  

While I see your point my point is... fighting games are the most varied here.  If you really love Tekken and know you're putting in 300hrs, do it.  If its a casual game with the boys, play the old one and wait at least a year.

I don't remember the last time I wanted to play a game so badly that I bought it at launch. I think that's because in the past you'd expect a game developed by a reputable studio to be undoubtedly good. Nowadays I expect them to be shite by default, so my feelings regarding new games shifted from excitement to disappointment and occasionally to relief. This isn't an environment in which you'd want to spend your own money recklessly.

Fair point on Nintendo, I do buy their games at launch, given they don't drop in price and could be hard to find in the future.  

On this topic: I actually just managed to snag Crash N’Sane Trilogy, Spyro Reignited, Crash 4, and R&C:Rift Apart for a grand total of $60USD on Steam. These games would’ve cost me around $210USD if purchased at launch… so yeah, definitely would recommend against purchasing everything at launch. Only things that are really important to you.

Sometimes it can work, but only with physical games.

Something like Elden Ring is a good day 1.

Buy the game > play a lot >sell the game at $5-10 discount > repeat.