After a brief reprieve, clearly-senile mostly-king Trump is once again frothing at the mouth with tariff madness, which means that goods we take for granted are on the verge of becoming a lot more expensive. While many are raising prices and others are waiting to see exactly how the chips fall, Hamburg-based Rockfish Games, the studio behind Everspace 2, decided to lower – not raise – the price of upcoming expansion Wrath Of The Ancients by $5 in advance of its May release date.
"If that fiver means more ramen in your pantry, we get and respect that," the studio wrote in a recent Steam post, noting that the preemptive price drop was inspired by the fact that “everything is getting more expensive, and there’s a lot of uncertainty in general.” As a result, the expansion will cost $25 at launch instead of $30 as originally planned. In addition, the studio is also dropping the price of a previous Everspace 2 DLC, Titans, from $15 to $12.
Rockfish co-founder and CEO Michael Schade told Aftermath that this unconventional approach comes with a degree of risk, but he feels like his studio is well equipped to navigate it.
"Speaking from a business perspective, we may be cutting into our longtail which we might make up in earlier copies sold, but this change in price really isn’t about that,” Schade said. “As a studio, we felt too many things in the world were getting too expensive, too fast. This is a very small way to change that. In the long term, we might be leaving some money on the table, but in the short term, there are a lot more space fans out there who might be able to play earlier, make their gaming budget go further supporting indie studios like ours, or just use that extra money for necessities. That means a lot to the team, so we’re making it work.”
What’s on offer in Wrath Of The Ancients, Rockfish has been careful to clarify, is not changing. It remains a substantial expansion, with four new star systems, a new player ship, a new story campaign, new side missions, new secrets, and new loot. “The expansion is roughly a third of the size of the base game,” Schade said, adding that he felt like it more than warranted its initial $30 price tag.
Schade repeatedly emphasized that this was a team decision enabled by Rockfish’s independence.
“As an independent studio who isn’t relying on a publisher for a fairly successful project or having to please investors that often just focus on the bottom line, this is something we can do,” he said. “We’re privileged to be in this situation and hope that the industry returns to a place where more studios are on steadier ground.”
Despite Everspace 2: Wrath Of The Ancients’ incredible shrinking price tag, Schade is among the growing chorus of industry voices that believes that – commensurate with inflation and the rising cost of development – video game prices should be going up, not down.
“Overall, as video game developers, especially indie studios making larger projects, we should be charging more for what we make, which is hard for the general gaming audience to stomach, especially as personal budgets get tighter,” he said. “There are some extremely successful examples out there of single-developer or small teams doing very well off very low-priced novel titles, but in general, many of the kinds of games people are seeking cost a lot to make.”
For now, though, developers are getting creative. Many, Rockfish included, release games and expansions on Steam with optional cosmetics, soundtracks, art books, and other add-ons that allow appreciative fans to kick in an extra few bucks if they so choose. These, Schade explained, don’t rake in cash hand over fist, but they do cushion the bottom line a little.
“As far as a meaningful impact on the overall business, I would say things like the artbook, soundtrack, and supporter pack really don’t change our lives, but they are valuable,” he said. “They’re a great way for fans to get a little more of the music, art, or cosmetics they want and they help us build resource reservoirs to fund free updates, extra content, and future titles.”
It remains to be seen how Wrath Of The Ancients’ pre-release price drop will impact Rockfish – and how the full brunt of Trump’s tariffs will impact, you know, the world – but for now, Schade is pleased with how Everspace fans have reacted to the announcement.
“Funnily enough, our community had virtually no objections to the initial price announcement, and we’ve had more than a few comments from fans saying they wish they could support us by paying the initial high price,” he said. “Unexpected, but nice to hear.”
