Salt and Sacrifice's "obligation to price match" sees prices rocket in some countries
UPDATE: Developer responds.
UPDATE 16/5/22: A spokesperson for Salt and Sacrifice developer Ska Studios has provided the following response to Eurogamer this afternoon:
"Salt and Sacrifice's pricing was always intended to be the same on all storefronts at launch," a spokesperson told Eurogamer today. "As such, storefront pricing was adjusted in various regions ahead of the game's global PC launch at 9am PT on Tuesday, 10th May 2022. The price has not changed on any storefront or in any region following launch, nor did any platform holder demand any changes to the game's original pricing.
"Developers Ska Studios and Devoured Studios apologise for any confusion regarding the price correction prior to Salt and Sacrifice's launch and as a two-person development team, remain focused on supporting the game following a successful launch."
ORIGINAL STORY 14/5/22: Players tempted by - but yet to purchase - Ska Studios' Salt and Sacrifice may be in for a bit of a shock today, as the price for the Soulslike 2D action game has shot up in some territories on the PlayStation Store.
Forced to match the local prices on the Epic Games Stores across the world - regardless of each country's own economy or the fact the game has already launched - Sony's prices have absolutely rocketed for some, with places like Brazil seeing a price hike of 276 per cent (thanks, TechRaptor).
In the UK, players will actually see a saving - the price here has dropped from £16 to £13 - and in Canada, it's jumped a little from $22CAD to $27CAD.
In Brazil, though, the price has leapt from $38 to $105, and in India, it's gone from ₹450 to ₹1331. It means that the game will cost around $20 for all across the world, regardless of local economies.
"Some prices on EGS were originally set much lower than Sony, and we're obligated to match prices on all platforms", developer Shane Lynch told the game's community on its Discord server. "I can't actually control individual country prices on Sony, so some of it had to go up or down. Sorry."
Salt and Sacrifice, the follow-up to Ska Studios' 2D Soulslike Salt and Sanctuary is out now on PC via the Epic Games Store and PS4 and PS5.
As Matt summarised for us at the time, Salt and Sacrifice reprises much that made the original so good, with side-scrolling exploratory platforming and measured combat. It promises to be more than a retread of past glories, however, offering players - this time in the role of a Marked Inquisitor - a range of new features to experiment with, including a refreshed choice of classes: Highblade, Paladin, Assassin, Cleric, Dualist, Fighter, Ranger, and Sage.