A few weeks ago Swedish developer and publisher Paradox Interactive rolled back a series of international price increases. CEO Fredrik Wester himself said the company would attempt to give refunds, but unfortunately the logistics proved too difficult. Free games are being offered instead.
Around May 17, Paradox increased the price of many of its products internationally. On its official forums, representatives said it was designed to equalize the value of their products globally to “match the purchasing power” in some countries outside the U.S.
“Our prices have remained pretty much the same for several years,” wrote a moderator with the handle TinyWiking, “and it's only natural for us to re-evaluate price points at regular intervals based on the strength of various currencies, fluctuations in world markets and many other factors. This is something that all publishers do and we are no exception.”
When those prices were rolled back, Paradox promised it would do its best to make things right with refunds or free games. Today, it announced that it was opting for the later.
“After exploring options with our sales partners, we’ve come to the conclusion that partial refunds (as in, refunding the price difference) aren’t practically possible,” Paradox wrote on its forums. “Instead, we will gift everyone who purchased any Paradox product between May 17 and today (including pre-orders of Steel Division: Normandy 44 made before May 17), in any currency except USD (where prices were not changed), a free copy of a full PC game or two DLC, as a gesture of goodwill.”
Customers who would like to take advantage of the offer must make a support ticket entry with a very specific set of information, including a copy of their receipt. Once they do, they’re able to choose one free game or two pieces of DLC
Free games include Stellaris, Hearts of Iron 4, Crusader Kings 2, Europa Universalis 4, Magicka 2 or Tyranny. DLC on offer includes Hearts of Iron 4: Death or Dishonor, Europa Universalis 4: Third Rome, Crusader Kings 2: Monks and Mystics, Stellaris: Utopia or Tyranny: Tales from the Tiers.
But here’s where things start to get squirrely.
Paradox does business on a number of platforms, and slightly different rules apply to each one. And, of course, these returns only apply to authorized re-sellers. If you purchased the game from an anonymous reseller on a service like G2A you’re out of luck.
If you’re one of those affected, it’s strongly encouraged that you read the original post in full before you take action.