Gamers were up in arms last week when it was revealed that Square Enix had decided to charge $70 for the PC port of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade. That’s $10 more than new PC games typically cost and more in line with higher next-gen console game pricing. After the uproar from gamers on social media, Square Enix removed the price from view. There was speculation that the company had done so to try and save face. Players hoped that there would be a price drop before the game came out.
Well, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade was released today on PC and, unsurprisingly, the $70 price is back. Even worse for those in the UK, the price appears to have gone up since it disappeared. Reports last week had the UK price at £65, today the price on the UK version of the Epic Games Store is £70. It isn’t clear why the price has increased. Forspoken, Square Enix’s upcoming title is still available to pre-order on the UK version of the Epic Games Store for £65.
In Europe, the game is priced at €80 which is also a big increase over other titles. Even next-gen console titles rarely go above €70 in most EU countries. Next-gen titles on PC typically sell for even lower. Normally around €60.
The anger over the PC price of Final Fantasy 7 Remake on PC hasn’t gone away. Once the price was reconfirmed today, would-be buyers were back on social media criticizing Square Enix and the cost of the game. On many of the piracy subreddits the Final Fantasy 7 Remake has been gaining much more attention than most new releases. Posts about pirating the game are already some of the most upvoted and commented on topics for the game on its release day. Whether or not that has an effect on Square Enix’s decision to price their PC games higher remains to be seen.