If you have all this infrastructure in place, similar internal programs and so on, why don't you just adjust an internal program that you already have? What value does the AI actually offer?
I don't know about the main point that you are making, meaning that it's the economy's fault.
I only have a few data points to compare, but anecdotally me and my friends have plenty of budget to buy games, but not enough time to play them as the poster above says. I have such a huge backlog of nice games that I don't care to buy a game at release time, I can wait for a discount. If it is something exceptionally good that I want to play now, i will do it, but mostly on the ~20 euro range
So I will agree with the poster above. Make something exceptionally good, otherwise it compares with my backlog.
Fあck