Games have continued to find success in the middle ground – this year's $50

$50 used to be the full price for AAA games.

but it can be "trickier to win" in this price range if a game lacks that dirt-cheap or mega-brand appeal.

How is that mega-brand appeal going? Is'ln't the reason for these articles that the franchises are underperforming? It seems to me like a pretty obvious consequences of pushing the life service model that people who are still mainly playing AAA are buying fewer games.

To me it's also a bit weird that Expedition 33 is considered an Indie game. 30 people studio + contractors and funding through a publishing company is really pushing the definition. Yes there is a difference to games made under EA or Ubisoft but that's not the right language to describe it.