Regional value in Brazil

[Otipul]

I was discussing Factorio pricing with some friends and I fully understand the developers’ position regarding discounts. This post is not about asking for sales or price reductions.

I would like to share a purchasing power comparison, specifically regarding regional pricing in Brazil. Even with regional pricing applied, the game represents a noticeably different share of income depending on the country.

Currently, Factorio costs about $35 USD.
In the United States, this corresponds to roughly 2–3% of a minimum monthly wage.
In Brazil, the regional price represents approximately 7–8% of a minimum monthly wage.

My intention is not to say the game is expensive, but to highlight that the relative value compared to local income is higher in some regions. I believe this is an important factor when considering accessibility.

I just wanted to share this perspective so it can be taken into account, and perhaps looked at with some care, when discussing regional pricing.

Apologies if my English is not perfect. It is not my native language, and I needed some help to make the text clearer and easier to understand for everyone.

01-18-2026, 07-14-10.png (1.33 MiB) Viewed 1010 times

[meganothing]

Small correction: 101 are 6% of minimum income wage since this month, it seems.

This is the regional pricing of steam, wube can't change that AFAIK. You need to contact steam, only they can adjust regional pricing, probably for ALL their games at once!

It is not necessary to spam your message into 3 threads, especially when two of them are derelict ones from 2024. Or are you often repeating yourself 3 times and get favourable reactions from other people?

[eugenekay]

This is the regional pricing of steam, wube can't change that AFAIK. You need to contact steam, only they can adjust regional pricing, probably for ALL their games at once!

Steamworks Documentation: Pricing

Developers on Steam have control over their own prices, in every currency. But researching and determining ideal prices for dozens of different currencies can be a challenge for some developers.

As a service for helping you manage pricing across all our different currencies, Steam offers a recommendation for all other currencies, based on whatever USD price you choose.

Good Luck!

[Otipul]

Small correction: 101 are 6% of minimum income wage since this month, it seems.

This is the regional pricing of steam, wube can't change that AFAIK. You need to contact steam, only they can adjust regional pricing, probably for ALL their games at once!

It is not necessary to spam your message into 3 threads, especially when two of them are derelict ones from 2024. Or are you often repeating yourself 3 times and get favourable reactions from other people?

Just to clarify a few points.

The correction regarding the minimum wage actually reinforces what I'm saying. Even with a 6% increase, the relative cost here is still much higher compared to countries like the US. I know Steam sets regional pricing guidelines, but developers aren't obligated to follow them strictly. Many games adjust these prices over time, so I think it's still valid to raise this issue as a discussion about accessibility. Regarding "spam": I didn't start multiple threads. I replied to existing threads that already addressed this issue and had been inactive for some time, adding updated numbers and a different perspective. This is normal in forums. And, just to provide context, this is a Brazilian perspective. If you don't live here, it's difficult to fully understand how the local economic situation affects game purchases. I'm not asking for discounts or complaining, just sharing information that might otherwise go unnoticed.

[Meddleman]

First off, apologies that Steam's Regional Pricing hits Brazil's economic situation unfairly. But consider:

• Brazil isn’t the only country with that crap combo of abrasive inflation, low average/minimum income, and weak purchasing power. If Wube (or any developer) gives Brazil a special price, that’s favoritism. Users from other affected countries will immediately demand the same treatment. Then we have the endless equity vs. equality debate—plus complaints from wealthier users about paying more. It's a -show.

• Even if Wube did agree, what’s the price supposed to be? Who decides what’s “fair” for Brazil? And what happens when Wube’s definition of fair doesn’t match yours?

To address the above points properly, Wube would need to:

• 1. Identify which countries are “most affected”.
  Top 5? 10? 20?
  2. Track economic data across those countries.
  3. Continuously adjust prices based on objective criteria.

That’s not game development. That’s economics. Are they supposed to hire economists or divert time away from improving the game to manage global pricing policy?

And this raises a bigger question: are you pushing this same argument to every developer whose games are affected by regional pricing? Your neighbors who play different games are just as impacted. If the goal is fair, or equal, or equitable access for everyone in your country, why single out Wube?

What you’re asking has real consequences and isn’t simple.
Using Steam’s regional pricing is safer and more consistent, and it lets developers focus on the game.

The party to complain to is Steam—not individual developers.

[Otipul]

First off, apologies that Steam's Regional Pricing hits Brazil's economic situation unfairly. But consider:

• Brazil isn’t the only country with that crap combo of abrasive inflation, low average/minimum income, and weak purchasing power. If Wube (or any developer) gives Brazil a special price, that’s favoritism. Users from other affected countries will immediately demand the same treatment. Then we have the endless equity vs. equality debate—plus complaints from wealthier users about paying more. It's a -show.

• Even if Wube did agree, what’s the price supposed to be? Who decides what’s “fair” for Brazil? And what happens when Wube’s definition of fair doesn’t match yours?

To address the above points properly, Wube would need to:

• 1. Identify which countries are “most affected”.
  Top 5? 10? 20?
  2. Track economic data across those countries.
  3. Continuously adjust prices based on objective criteria.

That’s not game development. That’s economics. Are they supposed to hire economists or divert time away from improving the game to manage global pricing policy?

And this raises a bigger question: are you pushing this same argument to every developer whose games are affected by regional pricing? Your neighbors who play different games are just as impacted. If the goal is fair, or equal, or equitable access for everyone in your country, why single out Wube?

What you’re asking has real consequences and isn’t simple.
Using Steam’s regional pricing is safer and more consistent, and it lets developers focus on the game.

The party to complain to is Steam—not individual developers.

I appreciate the perspective, but there’s a key factor being overlooked: Factorio’s 'no sale' policy.

In most regions, if a game is expensive, players simply wait for a 50% or 75% Steam sale. Since Wube famously never does sales, the base regional price is the only entry point for us. When the price jumped from R$ 50 to R$ 101.99 (a 100% increase), it didn't just adjust for inflation; it effectively doubled the barrier to entry in a market where that amount represents 7-8% of a monthly minimum wage.

This isn't about 'favoritism,' it’s about market accessibility. Look at how games like Hytale (and many others on Steam) approach emerging markets; they set prices that reflect local purchasing power because they know a sale at a lower price is better than $0 and a potential pirate.

We want to buy the game and play online legally to grow the Brazilian community. If the price were in the R$ 60-70 range, it would be a fair middle ground that respects both the devs and the local economic reality. Suggesting we 'complain to Steam' ignores that developers have the final say and can override suggested pricing to better fit their community's needs.

[mmmPI]

This post is not about asking for sales or price reductions.

If the price were in the R$ 60-70 range, it would be a fair middle ground that respects both the devs and the local economic reality. Suggesting we 'complain to Steam' ignores that developers have the final say and can override suggested pricing to better fit their community's needs.

It appears a bit contradicting to me, if you refuse to call it a demand for price reduction, but insist it's just adjusting to local economy, then you can't expect Wube to track the local purchasing power in every country.

It's indeed to steam that you should voice complain, because even though devs have last word over steam, they would need to do the analysis of purchasing power themselves to overide steam decision in a way that make sense, and update it regularly, when steam has so much more volumes of sales it marginalize the cost and ressources to do such price conversion based on alledged purchasing power analysis.

[meganothing]

Small correction: 101 are 6% of minimum income wage since this month, it seems.

This is the regional pricing of steam, wube can't change that AFAIK. You need to contact steam, only they can adjust regional pricing, probably for ALL their games at once!

It is not necessary to spam your message into 3 threads, especially when two of them are derelict ones from 2024. Or are you often repeating yourself 3 times and get favourable reactions from other people?

Just to clarify a few points.

The correction regarding the minimum wage actually reinforces what I'm saying. Even with a 6% increase, the relative cost here is still much higher compared to countries like the US. I know Steam sets regional pricing guidelines, but developers aren't obligated to follow them strictly. Many games adjust these prices over time, so I think it's still valid to raise this issue as a discussion about accessibility. Regarding "spam": I didn't start multiple threads. I replied to existing threads that already addressed this issue and had been inactive for some time, adding updated numbers and a different perspective. This is normal in forums. And, just to provide context, this is a Brazilian perspective. If you don't live here, it's difficult to fully understand how the local economic situation affects game purchases. I'm not asking for discounts or complaining, just sharing information that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Ah, obviously I was wrong about steam pricing. And you got a point that with Wube not doing sales there is a difference to other games.

About multiple threads: I know one forum where your method would violate 2 rules. So it may not be as normal as you think. In high-volume forums it might be considered akin to shouting.

[pioruns]

This post is not about asking for sales or price reductions.

Currently, Factorio costs about $35 USD.
In the United States, this corresponds to roughly 2–3% of a minimum monthly wage.
In Brazil, the regional price represents approximately 7–8% of a minimum monthly wage.

So what you are really saying is that the game feels too expensive for you, in your country, and therefore should be adjusted as an exception. That is still a request for a price reduction, no matter how carefully it is worded.

Brazil is not unique here. There are plenty of countries where the game takes an even larger chunk of monthly income. If prices are adjusted whenever someone feels it is unfair, the forum just becomes a begging contest between regions.

You also keep using the US as your baseline, which is an odd choice. Wube is not an American company, they are a UK company with a Czech branch. Picking one of the richest countries in the world as your reference does not strengthen the argument. Besides, $35 for a game you can sink thousands of hours into without getting bored is an extremely fair price, if not downright low.

And where does this stop? If incomes in Brazil go up or down by 5 percent next year, are you going to come back and ask Wube to adjust the price again? Of course not. That alone shows why this kind of country-by-country tuning is a complete waste of time.

Steam’s regional pricing exists specifically to avoid this. Yes, developers can override it, but expecting Wube to constantly track wages, inflation and purchasing power across dozens of countries is not reasonable.

Factorio’s no-sale policy applies to everyone equally. It does not justify special treatment.

So no, the price should not be lowered for you, and it should not be lowered for Brazil.

[Hurkyl]

You also keep using the US as your baseline, which is an odd choice. Wube is not an American company, they are a UK company with a Czech branch.

As an aside, I'm pretty sure Wube chose to use the USA regional price as the baseline. And as far as I know Steam recommendations are based off of that too, although admittedly I don't know the actual interfaces for getting their recommendations.