If you bought a Paradox Interactive game between May 17 and July 6, 2017, you might be due some compensation.
In the week where Riot announced the price of Riot Points would be going up in the UK, as a result of currency fluctuations following the Brexit fiasco [it’s not a zany comedy movie in spite of how it sounds – Ed.] Paradox Interactive are doing the inverse with their own price hikes. Sort of.
For a short period of time, between May 17 and July 6, 2017, Paradox Interactive games cost a bit more if you purchased them in any currency other than US dollars. People were not pleased about it.
You might think they did this out of the kindness of their hearts following a pang of conscience, but more likely, it was because customers decided to ‘review bomb’ their games. If you’re not familiar with the technique, it’s when players deliberately attempt to lower a game’s overall satisfaction rating on Steam, usually to protest against something that has vexed them, like the modding fiasco in Grand Theft Auto V, which saw its recent Steam reviews firmly ensconced in ‘mostly negative’ territory.
Paradox blamed the initial price rises on currency fluctuations, which, when you see what happened with League of Legends recently, is something we’re expecting to see more of. There’s going to come a point where no amount of teeth gnashing and feet stamping is going to reverse a publisher’s decision. To be honest, that tipping point could very well be League of Legends, given the massive size and relative weight of that one single game versus Paradox’s varied (but well-liked) catalogue.
In any case, if you purchased a Paradox Interactive game in that month-and-a-half window outlined above – in a currency other than US dollars – you’re entitled to one of the following free games:
- Stellaris
- Hearts of Iron 4
- Crusader Kings 2
- Europa Universalis 4
- Magicka 2
- Tyranny
Or alternatively, two of the following pieces of DLC:
- Hearts of Iron 4: Death or Dishonor
- Europa Universalis 4: Third Rome
- Crusader Kings 2: Monks and Mystics
- Stellaris: Utopia
- Tyranny: Tales from the Tiers
If you already own all of the above – and that’s some going, fair play – then you can gift your keys to someone else. To claim your free stuff, fill out a price reversal request form on the Paradox support site.
