...except for at least US, EU, and AU.
Looks like about two thirds of the regions had some kind of increase, but the increase amounts vary widely.
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Thank @#%$^& GOD!
I'm playing AC Valhalla at the moment and was gonna purchase HZD when it goes on sale when I get closer to finishing Valhalla (so Easter maybe) ... $38 AUD was already 50% off I was hoping it would go down a little more not up!
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Poland is in EU and we got the price increase from 169 PLN to 219 PLN.
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I was referring to the Euro currency price not moving.
I recognize that various country-specific currencies, including some in the EU, have increased.
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And Days gone too. Price of both games now match that of God of war.
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I guess that I will not play them in PC for awhile lol. They really increased the prices facepalm
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Increase in price of grains, fuel and the lack of delivery men, along with the chip shortage, likely in equal measures.
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And increase of demand due to the sequel launching soon on PS4/5.
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If it wasn't clear from grain and fuel price increase affecting digital prices, I was joking. You destroyed the funnies.
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Mine is a joke, too, but maybe most people would be willing to pay more for a previous game once the sequel comes out? I don't think I would myself...
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Vampire Bloodlines got a price increase when they announced the 2nd game, so... it happens. Then we're stuck with a more expensive 1st, and a cancelled 2nd game. Win-win :D
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But increasing it when a sequel is announced is different than when that sequel is launched. If it's just announced, people can't play the new game, but if they're interested they can try the previous. when it's launched, they could already play the new game and if they haven't been interested in playing the initial one at that point, I don't see how it being more expensive would make it more interesting?
But yeah, maybe people would be wanting to pay more for the first on PC hoping the get some playtime before the sequel comes to PC.
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I think more because a lot of a...holes abuse the lower stores prices and fake their real country to pay then 1-10% of the prices that they would pay normaly.
Publishers see how many units are sold and how much money they get from it and i seen different ones from small indie ones that shown clearly a "overproportional" ammount of argentinian users that bought the game -up to 50% of all that bought them were from this one country, so a complete unrealistic high ammount-, of course for 10% of the games price in other countries.
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That used to apply but I'm not sure anymore. Valve has already made it very painful for those who do this to recharge wallet, and besides that, look at steamdb to see it's not specific to the lowest regions, it's as if they are making the price even across all regions +/- 20-30. This trend can be seen even in new games today from the big publishers. I think regional pricing as a whole is dying (for AAA)
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I Can confirm this a friend of a friend bought USD Steam wallet but could not activate it on his Turkey region account, so he had to create a new one on the US region to use it.
Steam has removed the ability to change your store region freely, now each time you want to change the region You have to use a credit/debit bank card or bank related payment method specific to your intended country which eliminates most of these loopholes.
I personally use US store and I used to buy other currency wallets so I would have more freedom when recharging my wallet, for example the USD steam wallets are 5,10, 15, 20, 25, 50, & 100, but there were times I wanted to load more than 10 USD but less than 15 USD, thats when I bought other currency steam wallets, don't know if that still works on US region.
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But the accounts that are set to this regions BEFORE are still there.
And it give a lot that made it.
They catch now from time to time a few but that is far from the majority.
So the abuse in this regions is still strong.
Plus i know a way how other ones still use the loophole but, of course, i don't share the infos about it (in the hope that not much know it and it will not abused so much).
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like I said the loading of USD wallet cards to turkey region has been disabled so many of those accounts now might not be able to do this anymore anyway,
and that is up to steam, they could fix this in many ways or at least reduce the rate of it happening, and honestly I don't think this is the reason PS did this, these loopholes are used for many games and titles, but not every dev did this and not to this extent, just let me point out the fact that Activision never put any of their games on steam on a sale for more than 50% off, while many others at least put their older titles on great sales.
I bought Borderlands the handsome collection on steam for 6-7$, that collection is worth around 130$ at full price I think.
but in the end we discuss this and right or wrong the devs do their thing anyway with no regards towards the community.
also I would not judge every one doing that, I turned to buying games about 4 years ago because I finally reached a stage that I had to pay back for what I was enjoying, even bought many older games which I had already completed several times, simply to pay the due to the companies, before that I could not do this because of many factors, one not being able to buy them anyway due to restrictions, also where I live right now the minimum salary is about 150 USD and average would be around 300 USD at best, so I can't afford a 5 USD game right now, many live in countries with poor conditions, I'm not saying this is not wrong , just try putting yourself in their shoes for a moment.
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I am not sure how you come to the assuming that i mean that ""poor(er)"" people fake their store region.
The ones that i know that done it and got catched are mostly from the USA or CANADA. A part from Europe.
They don't have a problem to buy a game in their original region (of course not all games because not each one from that regions is automatic rich -some people forget that always-), but they prefer to pay 1-6% of their normal prices and scam in the end the publisher, dev steam, tax authorities etc.. If one would do it, no problem, but the high ammount hit companies and that force them to act. And each acting from such a company hit then, more or less, all (all in general, all of a region, all from a country etc.).
If i would be a publisher i would raise the price for the known abused store regions, as example argentina and turkey, to nearly the ammount of the USA prices.
Yes, it would nearly not be sold then in that regions but not abused too. And yes, it would hit the ones that really live there. But i would base that decission on one thing "how i can protect my company from getting destroyed (with stuff that i can't influence, that get exploited/abused) ?".
Maybe you get now what i mean.
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I am very sure because i check a lot of games that they get reduced on sg.
Of course, i don't seen the stats of AAA games from big publishers but that they raise the price for specific regions will not be only because of the normal market moving -the raises are too high for that and far from in all countries that it should happen when only that would be the reason- and that each big publisher start now to be greedy (more as the normal ammount) and want to "rob" "all this poor people" isn't what i see.
When someone check the steamDB prices for all listed countries then a bunch have a price reduction too, and i don't check from the already expensive regions.
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lol from $19.99 to $49.99 for a region where avg income is barely $200.
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Imagine it, the average income is US$ 4 monthly.
That's Venezuela.
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damn, gone up NZ$30
I wonder if this is Sony being idiots in response to M$'s takeover of Activision.
Because they're literally digging a hole if that's how they're gonna behave.
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I think it's tied to the other Horizon game being close to release. They probably want some easy cash from the people who'll buy the older title to prepare for the new one.
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Thank god I didn't hesitate and got it for less than 2$ thanks to the EGS coupon, sux though they increased their prices.
They would rather let people pirate their games than make them affordable.
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often, it's a calculation.
Sell X units at A price, or sell y units at B price.
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Haven't bought before, sure won't buy it now. Gonna wait for a 90% off at this new price.
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Publisher can increase the price as much as they want! My 5€ are always available for when they want them.
:P
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I bought it some time ago and couldn't play it after a few hours, just like Death Stranding earlier. Those previous gen PS exclusives sure are boring in gameplay and weak in dialogues/characters/story to me. I mean they have high production value for sure - pretty graphics, nice music, some good actors but they are just bland as a whole, generic post-apo open world games that are so easy to play that you can barely keep your eyes open during a session. Dialogues not interesting, characters that you seen hundreds of times in other games, movies, etc. the same with story tropes. After these two I postponed Days Gone for very far future because I have a feeling it's just as bad - it's gathering dust in my library.
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49,99€ LOL .
Ok, now i will not get in sale, i will get with the humble of fanatical, where its extrem cheap. Not sure if its that what the developer wants.
Its understandeble that many people will try to play the old part before getting the new one, but the new part of this game isn't availible for the computer.
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I will wait until they will sell it in bundle or free on Epic hehe ;).
It mean this increase does not matter much for me, my few dollars waiting for them :).
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Oh wow, it's twice the old price for me now. I guess I'll just never buy it.
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1099 Rupees to 3299 Rupees for India
I saw it comin since they had previously updated the price on Epic Games Store too in their Lunar Sale.
And Days Gone from 2999 Rupees to 3299 Rupees
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Thankfully they didn't increase it for Canada, but they seemed to (mostly) increase it in poorer countries. Which is... incredibly scummy.
I wish companies would just follow Steam's default regional prices so it's fair across the world, but 90% of them don't.
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It's not scummy, some countries simply have way higher inflation rates. So everything gets more expensive there.
If publishers wouldn't adjust their prices over several years, they'd sooner or later get very little in revenue.
That's not to say that they might not have made some questionable changes but in general price adjustment is a requirement for any international company.
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If it were a physical object I would agree with you, but it's something digital, they don't have to manufacture more units to sell, every copy sold is more money for them, even if they get less money from poorer countries, if the game is already finished then it's just like printing money.
My point is, if the price is fair, more copies will be sold and at long term, if it cost 1/3 of minimun salary, less people will buy it, they will just pirate it and never buy it. They may get 10 times more money for a single copied sold, but maybe they lost 100 customers.
And it isn't just about the money, more people playing your game, means more people recommending it, so more customers.
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That's a far too simple view on business. Take the Turkish Lira, for example. Lost 50% of its value in the past 12 months. If inflation should continue on the same level, a publisher would only get 1/8 of the initial revenue in two years. And no, they wouldn't suddenly sell 8x as many copies.
You also ignore that inflation not only results in higher prices but also results in higher wages. I'll add a graph covering Argentina as an example. Within a few years the wages grew by a factor of 5, so why shouldn't the prices for games rise? How would that be "fair"?
So yeah, HZD is now nominally 19% more expensive in Turkey. And twice as expensive in Argentina. But the inflation-adjusted reality is a very different matter. A fact that people either don't understand or willfully ignore, because all that matters to them are cheap games.
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That's still doesn't give an explanation for example the Norwegian price increase - I doubt that the krone has lost so much of its value... the same can be said about New Zealand.
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Partially true but to me it seems more like some previous prices were questionable, rather than the prices now.
I did a quick calculation for Norway. Now their price is 9% more expensive than in €, previously it was 30% cheaper than in €. And wages in Norway are substantially higher than the average in the € zone, so ... it seems justified?
For New Zealand it's probably something similar, with an already lower price in comparison plus some inflation (lost 19% in value in comparison to the € over 5 years) that made an adjustment seem necessary.
So maybe there were some cases with little inflation involved, yet the prices still were unhinged in comparison. Anyway, it's certainly more complex than "They raised prices, that's scummy!"
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I would explain why that graph doesn't represent the reality of Argentina, but economics here are too complex and I don't want to be in a bad mood neither waste too much time on a lost cause, hell even our goverments don't understand it. So I could comprend if the publishers raised the prices based on a single graph and didn't do enough research (or they just didn't care).
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Where do you get that salaries in Argentina increased 5 times in a few years? That graph is a lie, the minimum wage in the country is about 33,000, which would be almost 180 dollars a month.
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That was the average wage. A simple Google search shows that the minimum wage also grew constantly. See https://countryeconomy.com/national-minimum-wage/argentina
October 2021: 32,000
January 2017: 8,060
That's a growth by the factor of 4 in 5 years.
Or is that data also a lie? Is every economic theory about inflation false?
Fact is, yes Argentinians don't do great and video games certainly aren't cheap for them.
But prices getting doubled over time is a standard experience and not some shocking and unfair disturbance, as some Argentinians pretend it to be.
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It is a simple graph without analysis. If you really want to see how much the salary "grows" per year, look for it in average to the dollar, and you will realize that it does not really go up, but rather goes down. That at the end of the month they give you more bills does not mean that you earn more, to know that you must compare the purchasing power year after year.
If you read what you shared with me, right there it says that the salary grew less than 10% and inflation is greater than 36%, a difference of more than 25%.
It is obvious that there has to be an adjustment in prices from time to time, but not by 50% or 100%. In addition to not forgetting that to the value that appears on steam you have to add 65% taxes or more depending on the province in which you live.
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Es hasta triste que tengamos que discutir con gente del primer mundo sobre que tan miserables somos como país porque no nos creen xD
Y si supieran que la mayoría de información oficial es saraza... ajajjaja, es como confiar en lo que te dice el indec.
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Si, me encanta que ven un gráfico y ya saben toda la situación económica y aplican todas las teorías como si acá fuera todo tan simple!! Primero tenemos números super mentirosos en todos los ámbitos, segundo en otros países puede que los sueldos aumenten a la par de la inflación, pero aquí esta todo muy lejos de eso, pero bueno el gráfico tiene la verdad absoluta!!
Lo invito a venir y vivir un año a nuestro compañero Golwar para que vea que tan reales son esas informaciones!! Incluso al ser un país tan extenso los sueldos y el costo de vida varía muuuucho de norte a sur. Esa también es otra cuestión, que muchos números se sacan según la capital de buenos aires y en el resto de la pcia o el país es totalmente otra cosa!!
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The topic here was the development of costs and wages in the Argentine Peso. Both of them. In that given context, it is irrelevant how much the Peso is worth in comparison to the $US.
How much your own currency is worth in comparison to other currencies only becomes relevant when you purchase something in another currency. As you pay for these games in Peso - who cares about the $?
65% taxes aren't relevant for Sony or any other publisher. What logic is it that a company would have to sell their products for a lower price just so that the state can tax it higher? You have to address your state on that matter, not Sony.
How much they should raise their prices is ofc debatable but simply denying them to raise them by 50% ever when you had four years in a row with an inflation of 40-50% per year is laughable though.
Something you got right though is that wages were growing slower than inflation, though the average income did better than the minimum wages. So a company should keep that gap in mind.
So to sum it up, yes your purchase power is dropping and with taxes, some games become an overpriced luxury good. But the topic here was that even doubling prices can be justified for countries with rampant inflation.
Besides, your argument that not every region in Argentina is doing as well as other regions, impressed me about as much as switching to Spanish for some silly rant. Every larger country has such a variety. Heck, I bet that there is a way bigger gap between the richest and poorest regions in the Euro zone, than for Argentina. So what. That's the fate of all bigger currency zones. Has absolutely nothing to do with inflation-adjusted prices.
I'm out.
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How much your own currency is worth in comparison to other currencies only becomes relevant when you purchase something in another currency. As you pay for these games in Peso - who cares about the $?
It's funny because you are using logic statements for a country in which that logic doesn't apply. Think of Argentina as an anomaly.
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My dear Golwar, as Draconian told you, you are trying to apply logic in a place where it is not applied.
But let's not get too far off topic, beyond that I want to let you know that even though the prices of various streaming platforms appear in the regional currency it is quite a liar since if the foreign company does not have a head office in the country everything that she is paid in dollars even if it appears in Argentine pesos, that is why I mention the amount of taxes there are. Even the only way to buy a game on steam is through an international card, the national cards are useless because as I said before, the payment is in dollars.
I do not deny the need for increases on the part of the publisher or their percentages, it is totally logical that it be done and they should be done, nor does anyone say that they keep the values low so that mediocre governments put more taxes on them, only this background is mentioned because many they see in steamdatabase the prices of Argentina very cheap when it is not so. I could even tell you that a large part of the buyers of the store in the country have not even set foot in Argentina. There are many foreigners who carry their wallets in euros or dollars and somehow pass their store to Argentina to take advantage of this.
Excuse me if it bothers you that I answered the other user in Spanish, I always try to answer in the language in which they speak to me. Finally, I'll give you some advice that applies to many things, from economy, culture, trades, whatever you want. Theory without experience is nothing more than a set of empty words.
Have a nice day!!
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Horizon Zero Dawn 50€
Days Gone 50€
hehe sure... never. No idea if it was at this price before or not... but no way ill pay 50€ ever
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lol I was waiting for a price drop and now this, won't go for it for a long time then :)
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Good, that will show those pirates who make 100$ monthly to stop pirating
-_-
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Peeps, it's simple 11,81 euro on reseller sites, not to everyone's taste, but if you get practises like this.
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ARS$ 539,99 ---> ARS$ 2.100,00 ---> ARS$ 4.199,00
Add to that a +65% taxes, it's just a bad joke.
Something similar happened with Spike Chunsoft (among others), haven't bought a single game from them since then, I'm not boycotting, it's just that it's not worth it to pay that much for a single game unless it's something that I REALLY want to play, so they will have to make a lot more effort to sell it to me.
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with taxes $6928,35
a 20% of my salary just to buy a game...god i hate this stupid government
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