[STEAM] Peak Developer Explains Successful Game Pricing: 'Eight Bucks Is Still Five Bucks'

[Steam 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Peak, a popular cooperative climbing game, costs $5. Except it actually costs $8, which is basically $5. And it's on ***** right now for just under $5, which is also $5, but if it dropped down to $3 it would actually be $2, which is basically free...

"What.", you are probably thinking right now, but hear me out. It kinda makes sense. This goofy pricing scheme comes directly from Peak co-creator Nick Kaman in an

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, where he explains how his team came to the game's actual ***** price of $7.99. In the interview, he shares a theory about indie game pricing vibes that the team floated around as a bit of a joke that still has some truth behind it.

“We had this joke of, like, how much is a game really? In a player’s mind, what does it mean to spend five bucks? Well, that’s five bucks. But six bucks? Well, that’s still five bucks. Four bucks is also kind of five bucks. Three bucks is two bucks. And two bucks is basically free.

“So we’ve got these tiers: You know, twelve bucks… that’s ten bucks. But thirteen bucks is fifteen bucks. “And we found that eight bucks is still five bucks. It doesn’t become ten bucks. Seven ninety nine, that’s five bucks, right?

“So, eight bucks going to five bucks is the biggest differential we could find in pricing, so we found it very optimal.”

If you're still reeling from this a bit, what Kaman is trying to say here is that a person getting ready to spend money on a game might see a price tag for $7 or $8, and psychologically not feel it's that different from $5. But if a game is $9, it feels more expensive, closer to $10. And if a game is $2, it feels basically free to them.

There's no exact science behind that, to be clear, but Kaman is working off his seven years of experience at Aggro Crab, and it seems to have worked out for the team. Peak launched in June 2025, and by August

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Though its playerbase has (naturally and understandably) shrunk since launch, it's still pulling in tens of thousands of people per day, which is a huge feat for such a small game.

Peak is currently on ***** for $4.95, which is almost actually $5, and the lowest price it's ever been offered for. It's also significantly cheaper than basically everything AAA, as major publisher game prices in recent years have slowly crept up from $60 to $70, and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, a price that definitely doesn't feel like $5 or $10. Meanwhile, discussions in the indie game community about what to charge for a game remain ongoing,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

causing some to panic about how it would impact their own prices.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected].

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up