So… Like I said, there are plenty of things to complain about in the gaming industry aside from the price of AAA titles (which contrary to your claim) have remained priced at about $60 for the past 20+ years. These so-called price hikes are non-existent, and based on inflation, are actually price decreases. Yes, most profits for everything (not just games) go to the CEOs and investors, that is the root cause of the destruction of the western world.
Also there are myriad fantastic indie titles that only cost like $20 so, uh, go play them instead?
As for your claim of digital releases briefly being cheaper than physical copies—I don’t recall that ever being a thing. Granted, I was mostly a console gamer from the 90s through the early 2010s so maybe I missed that.