Summary
- Following Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, several Halo titles on Steam have seen price increases in certain regions.
- The Master Chief Collection and Halo Wars: Definitive Edition have experienced significant price hikes in countries like Argentina, with Halo: The Master Chief Collection going from ARS$3.999,00 to ARS$15.999,00 in just a month.
- Other franchises, such as Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro, have also been affected by price adjustments, although the reasons for the increases are unclear. Potential consumers in affected regions will need to consider these price changes until Microsoft provides clarification.
Following the recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard from Microsoft, a number of Halo titles on Steam have increased in price in several regions. This also includes additional titles from the Activision Blizzard library where similar regions have been affected.
Microsoft went through multiple struggles to finally acquire Activision Blizzard. The Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) involvement even played a key role in Microsoft's effort to buy the publishing giant for $69 billion. Despite a lengthy journey to acquire Activision Blizzard, Microsoft achieved its goal and is now home to multiple famous franchises in the industry. While the whole acquisition business is relatively fresh in terms of officially coming to a close, Microsoft is implementing changes to the prices of their famed Halo titles.
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With a plentiful load of popular titles now joining the Microsoft umbrella, a number of Halo titles have received adjustments in their prices on Steam. Chiefly, they concern the Master Chief Collection, which includes affected installments like Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 4, and Reach. The only titles that haven't been affected by the price hike are ODST and Infinite (campaign mode), even though the former is a part of the Master Chief Collection. While there are slight price changes for some of these video games, some have seen significant hikes within particular regions, including Argentina, Kuwait, India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and more.
Upon further analysis, several statistics show incredible price gaps for some of the Halo installments in the franchise. For example, Halo: The Master Chief Collection was originally priced at ARS$3.999,00 for consumers in Argentina in September 2023. Now, the title is going for ARS$15.999,00. Moreover, Halo Wars: Definitive Edition displayed a similar behavior: ARS$1.999,00 last month, and now it's ARS$7.999,90. Other Halo games received price changes, though their numbers aren't as massive compared to the Master Chief Collection and Halo Wars: Definitive Edition. This includes the Spartan Assault and Spartan Strike titles that showed similar patterns, though the price gaps aren't as wide.
Quite notably, a select few titles from the Call of Duty franchise have been affected as well. Other franchises, such as Crash Bandicoot and Spyro, were also affected, along with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
Reasons are unclear as to why the games are seeing an increase in price, though the action does come after the Activision Blizzard acquisition. Perhaps it's meant to adjust certain price ranges for a number of games that are now a part of the Microsoft brand, but it doesn't clarify why the changes were made. Nevertheless, these price hikes are important to consider for potential consumers, especially if they only affect a few regions. Now that there's a wide range of older and newer franchises to dive back into for Microsoft, it's possible that other titles could receive the same treatment. Until Microsoft comments on the price adjustments, players from the before-mentioned regions will have to settle for the new prices.
Source: SteamDB (via Twisted Voxel)