Hot question: imagine a game released seven years ago, never participated in a sale on Steam, and now raising the price. One can imagine that such a scenario will cause a general protest among fans, but not when it comes to Factorio.
Like most products today, Factorio’s price increases from $30 to $35 due to inflation. Game prices are rising as more games adopt the new base price of $70, but it’s strange to see a game released in 2016 getting a boost, especially since it’s never been lowered at any of the many annual Steam sales.
During early access, Factorio had a base price of $20, and in 2020, when version 1.0 was released, it rose to $30. The developers have previously explained why the game will never be a sale on Steam, and many people can understand this: the developers do not want to reward those who refrain from buying Factorio at full price in order to get it cheaper later. ; most of us are familiar with the annoyance when you buy a game for full price only to get a discount in a few weeks or months.
“If you think that the price [Factorio] is too high, then you don’t have to buy, and we hope that with time and additional developments we will be able to convince you of its value,” the developers wrote.
Factorio’s $5 price increase was announced on Twitter on January 20, six days before its implementation. The reaction from most of the community has been very positive, with many commenters asking for more ways to support the game; it has never had microtransactions or expensive in-game DLC (you can buy a soundtrack for $7).
Good day Engineers,
Next week, on Thursday 26th January 2023,
We will increase the base price of Factorio from $30 to $35.This is an adjustment to account for the level of inflation since the Steam release in 2016.
— Factorio (@factoriogame) January 20, 2023
Another reason many people aren’t angry about the price spike is that Factorio is a great game. It has a very positive rating of “Recent Reviews” on Steam (“all reviews” are overwhelmingly positive), 90 on Metacritic, and PC Gamer gave it 91%. A $35 fee is a good deal for the number of hours of fun it will bring.
However, not everyone agrees to pay an additional $5. About 150 recent negative reviews have appeared on Steam complaining about price increases and Factorio’s aversion to sales.
