Valve, Devolver, and other publishers start increasing Steam prices due to new regional recommendations

Soon after Valve updated its recommended regional pricing for Steam developers, some companies started increasing the prices of their titles in different countries. Here are some notable changes that have already taken place.

What publishers have already increased regional prices?

We will compare prices in Turkish lira (₺) as the currency that saw one of the biggest increases. The country has also traditionally had one of the cheapest games globally, but those days are probably over. So keep in mind that if the price has changed for players in Turkey, it has likely changed in other regions as well (maybe just not as drastically).

Devolver Digital was one of the first publishers to adjust its regional pricing in line with new recommendations. On October 25, regional prices in Turkey for $15 games like Enter the Gungeon and Loop Hero rose from ₺24 and ₺30 to ₺149 (via SteamDB). The increase ranges from 396% to 520%. $30 games like The Talos Principle and Shadow Warrior 2 are now selling for ₺280, up 374% from the previous price of ₺59.

It is worth noting Devolver Digital hasn’t increased prices for all of its titles yet. For example, Cult of the Lamb, Inscryption, and Weird West still have the old base prices of ₺160, ₺50, and ₺109, respectively.

Valve, the owner of Steam, increased prices for its $10 games like Portal 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and Half-Life 2 from ₺18.5 to ₺105 (up 467%). Half-Life Alyx, which has a US base price of $60, is now ₺510 instead of ₺92 (up 454%).

Robot Entertainment changed regional pricing for its Orcs Must Die! series. The third game is now ₺280 instead of ₺50 (up 460%).

Some other developers and publishers also started increasing base prices of their games in different regions. For example, Ion Lands’ cyberpunk adventure game Cloudpunk rose from ₺39 to ₺189 (up 384%).

The price changes can be tracked on SteamDB (you can choose any currency from the list).

Why are prices rising?

• In the current economic environment, some currencies are experiencing hard times against the US dollar. For example, the USD/Turkish lira rate recently reached the all-time high of 18.6.
• Many game companies are now preparing for the recession due to global inflation and other economic factors that affect people’s spending habits.
• Valve has now decided to make some changes to its regional pricing system, pledging to update its recommendations more frequently.
• Earlier this month, the company noted that it adjusts pricing based on more than just exchange rates, also taking into account consumer price indexes and purchasing power parity in different countries.
• Valve then introduced new regional pricing recommendations for Steam developers, increasing suggestions for nearly all supported countries. Turkey and Argentina saw the biggest spikes, with recommended prices in these regions for a $60 game going up 454% and 485%, respectively.
• In a recent blog post, Valve explained that it needed to “make significant changes to those conversion recommendations to stay current” with constantly evolving purchasing power and foreign exchange rates.
• While developers and publishers are still free to set their own prices for their games, players will likely get more expensive games in the future. The question is how this will affect the purchasing power of users in countries with traditionally low prices.