Critically acclaimed base building hit factor is a strange duck. Since its release on Steam in 2016, the game has never been commercially released. And now the developer behind it factor changes the price of his popular game but doesn’t get a discount. Instead, the price will increase by $5 next week. Developers blamed inflation for the sudden price spike, and interestingly, the overall community reaction was mostly positive.
Since its release on Steam seven years ago, factor is a popular game, even if it is never offered for sale. On the game’s Steam page, it rightly has a disclaimer letting people know that its developers have no plans to “participate in a sale or drop the price for the foreseeable future.” That will still be the case when it goes from $30 to $35 on Jan. 26.
“This is an adjustment to account for inflation levels since the Steam release in 2016,” the official factor Twitter account tweeted. You might expect a barrage of angry reactions from players, but it seems the developers have done a good job of being transparent with their community, for example giving them plenty of hints about the upcoming price change. factor has also avoided microtransactions and other exploitative or expensive DLC. The bottom line is that not only do people agree with this price increase, but many are suggesting that the studio should give players more ways to support the game financially.
“Fine, but now give me an add-on to spend more money [on] this game!” tweeted one player. “Honestly I’d love to see other ways to support the game since I already own it,” tweeted another fan.
You might be wondering why a studio would never make their game a part of a Steam sale for almost a decade. According to the makers of factor in one Forum post 2016is about respecting the players who bought the game and not rewarding those who “wait” to buy it at a lower price.
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“If you think [Factorio is] If the price is too high, you have a choice not to buy and we hope that with enough time and additional development we can convince you of its value.
factor isn’t the only game on Steam making changes to make more money as the economy continues to go down the drain. Military Rifleman squad goes back to a promise its developers made to never make paid DLCs or cosmetics. In an upcoming update squad gets its first paid DLC in the form of new emotes in the game.
Here’s what the team behind the online milsim shooter had to do say on Steam about the new, upcoming paid cosmetics:
When we look to the future, we envision a long and healthy life for squad. It has a large and dedicated player base. We have plans for further updates and support of the game beyond 2023. While many of these planned updates will be free, we also recognize that we need a way to fund the development of squad. Paid content like emotes is a way to fund this development and continue our work on improving the game.
Compared to how people reacted to it Factorio’s price increase, the answer out squadThe player community was far less positive, with some feeling betrayed after being promised this wasn’t going to happen. However, some were more open to the new option, understanding that developing a game is neither easy nor free, and that at some point studios will need a way to generate more revenue to keep the lights going. This is especially true as inflation continues to be a problem around the world.
