Most companies are raising their game prices these days, but Creative Assembly and Sega appear to be taking another, more welcome approach.
Per a letter that Roger Collum, Vice President at Creative Assembly, delivered to Total War players today, Total War: PHARAOH is getting its price reduced from $59.99 to $39.99, and not only that, those who have purchased the game already on Steam will automatically be getting a partial refund.
Here’s the word from Collum, who explained that the team is doing this because it’s the fair thing to do:
In the next few days, all current owners of Total War: PHARAOH will see that Steam has processed a partial refund to you, and that some funds have been added to your Steam Wallet. This is happening because we have lowered the price of the game to a new RRP of $39.99/€39.99/£29.99.
We don’t think it’s fair that our fans, who put their trust in us on PHARAOH, should in any way feel disadvantaged for buying the game at the previous price. We’ve also removed the higher priced editions of the game, the Deluxe Edition, and Dynasty Edition. There’s now only one edition of the game available for purchase.
Collum goes on to sweeten the news by revealing that Total War: PHARAOH’s first DLC, which was originally supposed to be paid content, will now release in early 2024 as a free update for everyone who owns the game.
“We have now begun the process of reassessing what comes next for PHARAOH, and while we don’t have all the answers today, we want to make it clear to you that we’re not closing the door on other, more ambitious updates to the game in the future,” Creative Assembly’s VP added. “We’ve still got big plans, but we want to be honest with you in saying that we need to spend more time with them before putting them out on show.”
“This game is a SAGA, and should’ve been priced as such at launch,” reads one recent review posted by a Steam user. “However, Creative Assembly absolutely did the right thing with this recent price change. While I did purchase the game from a third party key site, heavily discounted, I still massively appreciate the gesture in general here on the steam marketplace.”
Total War: PHARAOH currently features a “Mixed” rating on Steam.