The strategy game Factorio (PC) is one of the highest rated games on Steam. The strategy game has 98% positive reviews. However, on July 14th, the developer increased the price of the Russian version of the game to almost 20 times: Instead of 520 rubles (€9), Factorio was now to cost 10,000 rubles (€173). Some Russians saw this as a political statement by the developers against the Ukraine war and responded with angry reviews. The price was later drastically corrected downwards.
What kind of game is it?
- Factorio is the dream come true for strategy gamers, who love production chains and logistics: A futuristic economic simulation where you crash-land on an alien, uninhabited planet and build a factory that extracts and refines resources. You continuously expand the factory until it ultimately produces a rocket that allows you to leave the planet, which you have now exhausted and polluted.
- The unique aspect of the game is that you have to build an automated factory from scratch. The player is tasked with creating a kind of clockwork that runs automatically and delivers the desired results.
- Factorio has been available in Early Access since 2016, with the release on Steam in 2020: It is one of the highest rated games on Steam overall, with 98% positive reviews. One can say: If you like this type of strategy game, you love Factorio. If you cannot relate to this type of game at all, you won’t play it.
Factorio is extremely popular:
From €9 the ruble price rises to €173 – without explanation
This was the price increase: The Steam database shows the global prices for Factorio:
- Normally, Factorio has cost 520 rubles in Russia since the release, which is about €9. This is the same price that Factorio costs in some countries around the world, like Uruguay or Mexico.
- In other currencies like euros, dollars, Swiss francs, or British pounds, you have to pay about €30.
- However, the ruble price suddenly soared to 10,000 rubles on July 14th, which is €173: the game thus became 20 times more expensive for Russians overnight: Factorio is nowhere else in the world that expensive.
Some Russians see the price increase as a political statement against the Ukraine war
How was it perceived? Although there was no statement regarding the drastic price increase, in March the developers of Factorio had posted that they stand with Ukraine.
Thus, the price increase on Steam is now seen in two ways.
- Some believed a mistake had occurred – and an employee had added one “0” too many when they wanted to raise the price to 1,000 rubles
- Others thought it was a targeted statement by the Czech developers against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They believed the developers followed their statement from March with harsh pricing policies
In any case, Factorio received hundreds of negative reviews on Steam on July 15th, especially in Russian:
- on July 14th, 304 negative reviews appeared
- on July 15th even 925 negative reviews
- in the weeks prior, Factorio practically received no negative reviews
Some Russians felt targeted discrimination due to the price increase and saw a connection to the post stating that the developers support Ukraine.
People were upset that the Czech developer was making a political statement and hitting the wrong target, which is the players:
Bringing politics into games is one of the worst things developers can do and they should be ashamed. I always tried to convince my friends to play this game, practically wanted to bring money to them so it could thrive. But seeing this nasty move from them now is just disgusting.
Steam rules prevent review bombing for Factorio
Did it affect the rating? No, Steam is now accustomed to such “review bombing” in which players want to express their protest and excludes such irregularities from the statistics.
Due to Steam’s intervention, a review bombing was thus prevented, and the negative feedback was excluded as “not topic-related”.
The reviews for Factorio remained at 98% positive.
– Ukraine live blog (via Zeit)
– War against Ukraine (via Tagesschau)
– Solidarity with Ukraine (via foreign office)
Important note: If you are troubled by dark thoughts due to the current situation: You are not alone. Please seek help. For example, through the telephone counseling service at 0800/111 0 111 or the online counseling, where you can also use a chat. This is free and applies nationwide.
Price was probably an error, drops back to €17.42
How did it end? The price of Factorio in Russia apparently simply had one 0 too many. The game now costs 1,000 rubles on Steam, about €17.42.
Thus, Factorio is now twice as expensive as before the price increase, but still 42% cheaper than if you were to buy it in euros.
The war of Russia in Ukraine constantly influences gaming topics:
