Steam Witnesses a Price Hike for Activision Blizzard's Games

Following the recent approval of the Microsoft Activision Blizzard deal by UK regulators, the anticipated $69 billion acquisition has finally happened. However, just four days after this announcement, Activision Blizzard's games in Brazil, Turkey, Argentina, have experienced price increases across the board.

According to Idle Sloth, in Brazil and Turkey, the prices for the following Call of Duty games have increased: CoD (2003) and CoD 2 have both gone up from $9 to $19, while CoD: Black Ops has risen from $18 to $29, and CoD: Black Ops II has seen a significant increase from $21 to $49. Additionally, CoD: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) has undergone a price hike from $9 to $19, and CoD: Modern Warfare (2019) has increased from $50 to $55.

Other games affected by price changes include Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, which has risen from $40 to $55, Crash Bandicoot 4, now priced at $66.50 compared to its previous $55.50, and Spyro Reignited Trilogy, which has increased from $30 to $38. Lastly, Prototype has gone up from $9 to $19, while Prototype 2 has seen a rise from $18 to $38.

In Argentina, the prices for various games have seen significant increases. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is now priced at 24,000 pesos (previously 1,299 pesos), Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is priced at 16,000 pesos (previously 679 pesos), Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time is priced at 16,000 pesos (previously 3,469 pesos), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered is priced at 16,000 pesos (previously 693 pesos), Call of Duty: Black Ops II is priced at 24,000 pesos (previously 1,299 pesos), Caesar 3 is priced at 2,400 pesos (previously 103 pesos), Call of Duty: WWII is priced at 24,000 pesos (previously 999 pesos), and Pharaoh + Cleopatra is priced at 4,000 pesos (previously 173 pesos).

Although Microsoft's Activision deal being approved led some to swiftly point fingers at them, it's likely unrelated to the recent price hikes observed in Activision games. In recent years, various developers have implemented similar increases, potentially due to Steam's updated regional pricing recommendations, Valve also has pledged to regularly refresh its price suggestions. Consequently, countries like Turkey and Argentina experienced a staggering 450% increase in recommended prices for $60 games.

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