Analyst: Studios have been losing money for years due to improper management of regional game pricing
Mistakes when working with regional pricing can be costly, claims Tom Kaczmarczyk, the founder of the analytical service IndieBI. He shared his thoughts on this topic at the Digital Dragons 2026 conference.
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During his presentation, Kaczmarczyk explained that studios should periodically monitor currency fluctuations in other countries and respond to changes. For instance, if an exchange rate crashes, it is advisable to raise the price tag—otherwise, gamers might start getting games too cheaply, and a significant portion of potential revenue could be lost.
"If you don't adjust prices in Poland, as many publishers and developers still do not, you could indeed face a significant drop in sales. But once those prices are revised, sales will start to grow. We've observed that with some of our clients, after changing prices in Poland, revenues in that region grew significantly—so much so that Poland effectively outpaced many other comparable countries," Kaczmarczyk stated.
As an example, Kaczmarczyk also discussed the situation with Electronic Arts. According to the analyst, 40% of sales for certain games by the company are in Argentina, but they generate no profit due to excessively low prices.
Kaczmarczyk added that this problem is particularly acute on Xbox since Microsoft does not prompt developers to adjust game prices amid currency fluctuations. However, for instance, Steam behaves much more assertively in this regard. The analyst advised not to ignore exchange rate changes and to revise regional prices in various countries when necessary.