Steam Pricing Adjustments & New Currencies

Darkest greetings Underlord,

We have a short and sudden announcement today regarding the pricing of War for the Overworld for several regions around the world, as well as our pricing strategy moving forward. This is all part of our continuing efforts to be as transparent as possible in our business practices, and should in no way reflect on any company other than ourselves.

We’re making this announcement today to make it clear why certain actions are being taken and because we didn’t want you, our customers, to be caught off guard.

What’s This All About?

As you may be aware, regional prices on Steam are advised by Valve, and yesterday we received an email informing us that they had updated their pricing matrix.

The changes have introduced several new currencies into Steam’s systems to offer a better customer experience for these regions. They have also adjusted existing prices to better reflect the strength of those currencies against the US dollar, and the local purchasing power of those regions. As such, with the exception of the USD, which prices are based off, and the Euro, which remains unchanged, all other currencies in the matrix now have new advised values. Items have either increased or decreased in price from their current standings, in most cases by relatively minor amounts.

As this is the first major change to advised regional pricings for many years, we have considered the advised changes carefully, weighing up the repercussions for both ourselves and our customers. We’ve considered how this works into our continued support of WFTO and our future as a company, as well as how it may affect your lives.

From this careful deliberation we have decided not to follow the advised changes to the letter. Rather, we will only be adopting the advised prices where the relative cost of the game in local currencies has decreased compared to previous values. We will not be increasing the price of the game for any region.

Why No Increase?

As a business we recognise the need to maintain appropriate levels of pricing, as the strengths of various currencies and buying powers across the world fluctuate; the advice offered by Valve in this regard is both appropriate and fair.

It is a fact that many economies are in very different positions to where they were years ago, when these prices last changed, and that in most cases the price of video games has not risen in line with inflation, despite increasing development costs. Simply put, Valve’s advice is something that we expect many publishers to follow, and we believe that for the good of the industry this is a sensible action.

With that said, Valve also advised developers to “always do what’s best for your players”, and this is something that resonates strongly with us. As a team of not just dedicated developers but also gamers and consumers, we want to ensure that the game can continue to reach a wide audience who will enjoy it for years to come.

As a British-based developer, we know firsthand what it’s like to live in a country where the economy is in flux due to recent political changes; we know what it’s like to feel the squeeze of a currency weakening, and we don’t want that to be a barrier to the enjoyment of our games.

Furthermore, we do not wish latecomers to feel as though they are punished, especially as WFTO is now an ageing game – one which is still supported and developed, but ageing nonetheless. We do not believe it would be as fair on those affected by price increases as it might be for a new title.

We also believe in pricing our products based on our perception of what is fair for the work we’ve dedicated to them, and for now we do not feel that there is a need to increase any prices to achieve this.

The Future

With all this said and done, we plan to review our pricing at least once a year, and we can’t say what will happen when we do so. We cannot rightly say that price increases will be off the table if we feel they are appropriate, though they will always be carefully considered; and regardless of any changes, we’ll be sure to inform you appropriately. Rest assured that we would never ever increase the price of any of our products without giving you a window of warning.

It should also go without saying that we will of course follow Valve’s guidelines for any future titles, and as such you can expect the next expansion to use the advised pricing structure. But as always we will aim to ensure that our prices are not only fair for our team but also our fans.

And of course we’re always happy to receive feedback from you on any of these matters. It’s important to us that you feel your voice is heard, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch through any of our channels. Now, after that incredible wall of text, here’s the nitty-gritty of the changes:

Reduced Regional Prices

The pricing of all WFTO products in the following currencies has been reduced to reflect the new pricing matrix. We have submitted the pricing changes and expect them to be approved by Valve within the next few days, so if you’re amongst the following currencies keep your eyes peeled for reduced prices in the near future.

• Indonesian Rupiah
• Malaysian Ringgit
• Philippine Peso
• Singapore Dollar
• Thai Baht
• Korean Won
• Indian Rupee
• Chilean Peso
• Peruvian Nuevo Sol
• Colombian Peso
• South African Rand
• Hong Kong Dollar
• Taiwanese Dollar
• Saudi Arabian Riyal
• Emirati Dirham
• CIS Territories USD Regional Price

New Currencies

The following local currencies are now supported by Steam, and as such these regions have new prices in line with the pricing matrix. As above we have submitted the changes to allow these currencies and expect them to be approved in the next few days.

• Vietnamese Dong
• Ukrainian Hryvnia
• Australian Dollar
• Polish Zloty
• Argentine Peso
• Israeli New Shekel
• Kazakhstani Tenge
• Kuwaiti Dinar
• Qatari Rial
• Costa Rican Colon
• Uruguayan Peso

 

Cheers,

– Brightrock Games Team

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