Blizzard Reverses Decision to Raise WoW Prices in Ukraine After Backlash
Blizzard will not raise prices on World of Warcraft in Ukraine - the change in decision was influenced by player criticism.
Blizzard - under pressure from negative fan comments - has decided to reverse its decision to raise prices in the World of Warcraft store in Ukraine.
Ukraine included in lower price zone
Blizzard has revoked its decision to raise prices in Ukraine. A statement on the matter was shared by Liam Knapp (handle: Bornakk), community manager on the World of Warcraft forums.
The decision to increase prices in World of Warcraft in Ukraine and Turkey was made on June 5. The increase was to account for inflation, which is standard practice at Blizzard's store (though not overly frequent) - the last global price increase took place two years ago.
In this particular case price increase would be about 30% and would apply to microtransactions in the game store, in particular subscription (necessary after reaching the character level 20).
Ukraine has been facing a Russian invasion for more than a year. Fans of WoW from all over the world have therefore begun to express their outrage, claiming that it is immoral to raise prices in a country at war. After Ukraine was attacked, players from around the world began to support charity campaigns for that country, and many developers and publishers stopped selling their games in Russia.
What about Turkey?
In the announcement, Liam did not mention players from Turkey, who, according to the June 5 announcement, still face a price increase in the store. It will go into effect on July 5, 2023..
Blizzard values its products highly
Among many gamers, Blizzard has a reputation as a "bloodsucker" that forces players to spend a lot of money on its games and services. Diablo IV showed it horns shortly after its release, when it launched store with rather expensive cosmetic items. Other games from the studio associated with overpriced products include Diablo Immortal (with its store) or Overwatch (affair with lootboxes).
