Substantial Jump in Pricing.

[Herodotus]

I jumped on the games' Store site looking for content missing from my collection in "IL-2: Great Battles", only to firstly be confronted with a newly designed, Store Page (everything now alphabetical), and then stunned at the price hike. Not for all content, mind you, but I was looking to purchase further modules in the “Flying Circus” series. I bought Volume I some time back during a sale for USD$19.99, which even then was a large chunk of my pension when converted to Australian dollars - hence my past thread on requesting Regional Pricing.

To find that all subsequent Volumes, that is II, III, and IV are now USD$28 on sale was staggering. That is A$48 (currency conversion is higher through the banks and PayPal to what the market displays), the price so significantly higher, or the discount from the full price lowered. The price of a new game, in many respects. No other module, aircraft nor campaign has had a price increase, and I can only think this has been done to get flyers to buy the Deluxe edition of Flying Circus, A$145 on sale. That's just plain crazy.

Why has this been done? I can never purchase the volumes of “Flying Circus” following Vol. I now. It is just too much.

Having come up through the ranks, starting in the early days of "Rise of Flight", I have always paid more, as I am paying US dollars and never complained (I was working then). However, without Regional Pricing for “Korea”, I will obviously have to go through Steam, as they do have Regional Pricing. This means less cash for this company, as Steam takes its chunk, but will be more affordable for me. I don't want to do this, but 1C Game Studios have forced this.

Does anyone know why the “Flying Circus” modules have increased their sale price, aside from the idea I have put forward? I am not whinging, or begging, but disheartened that non U.S. and European flyers must now pay more for old content (I know Vol. IV is fairly recent). I am baffled, and just a little miffed.

Edited December 2, 2025 by Herodotus

[Aapje]

Yeah, it's interesting that FC II and III were 75% off during the summer sale, and it now went to 65% off. However, IV had a 50% discount during the summer, so it got a bigger discount this time around. Unfortunately, you seem to have missed the special 80% off sale during the 80th Anniversary of Victory in Europe, which was the best discount ever, even for the fairly recent FC IV. You may want to sign up for the newsletter, so you don't miss out on the better sales.

My expectation is that prices will go down again/further when Korea is released, because then the difference in features between the old and new engine will be more stark.

[Flashy]

6 hours ago, Herodotus said:

I jumped on the games' Store site looking for content missing from my collection in "IL-2: Great Battles", only to firstly be confronted with a newly designed, Store Page (everything now alphabetical), and then stunned at the price hike. Not for all content, mind you, but I was looking to purchase further modules in the “Flying Circus” series. I bought Volume I some time back during a sale for USD$19.99, which even then was a large chunk of my pension when converted to Australian dollars - hence my past thread on requesting Regional Pricing.

To find that all subsequent Volumes, that is II, III, and IV are now USD$28 on sale was staggering. That is A$48 (currency conversion is higher through the banks and PayPal to what the market displays), the price so significantly higher, or the discount from the full price lowered. The price of a new game, in many respects. No other module, aircraft nor campaign has had a price increase, and I can only think this has been done to get flyers to buy the Deluxe edition of Flying Circus, A$145 on sale. That's just plain crazy.

Why has this been done? I can never purchase the volumes of “Flying Circus” following Vol. I now. It is just too much.

Having come up through the ranks, starting in the early days of "Rise of Flight", I have always paid more, as I am paying US dollars and never complained (I was working then). However, without Regional Pricing for “Korea”, I will obviously have to go through Steam, as they do have Regional Pricing. This means less cash for this company, as Steam takes its chunk, but will be more affordable for me. I don't want to do this, but 1C Game Studios have forced this.

Does anyone know why the “Flying Circus” modules have increased their sale price, aside from the idea I have put forward? I am not whinging, or begging, but disheartened that non U.S. and European flyers must now pay more for old content (I know Vol. IV is fairly recent). I am baffled, and just a little miffed.

haha try buying these things in South African Rands! $80 is close to what I spend per month on food! 😅 But luckily there are good sales quite often, so getting things when they are on sale for at least 75% off is the best option for me. 

[Herodotus]

4 hours ago, Aapje said:

Yeah, it's interesting that FC II and III were 75% off during the summer sale, and it now went to 65% off. However, IV had a 50% discount during the summer, so it got a bigger discount this time around. Unfortunately, you seem to have missed the special 80% off sale during the 80th Anniversary of Victory in Europe, which was the best discount ever, even for the fairly recent FC IV. You may want to sign up for the newsletter, so you don't miss out on the better sales.

My expectation is that prices will go down again/further when Korea is released, because then the difference in features between the old and new engine will be more stark.

How do I sign up for the newsletter?. I certainly did miss out on the VE Sale. If only I'd known, I'd have bought them all, but alas. However, this dropping the discount to 65% is a scam. Just trying to flog the Deluxe edition, is my best guess
Ah well, fewer monies for 1C, and more in my bank account. This "no regional pricing" policy is unfair to several countries, including Australia and New Zealand.

2 hours ago, Flashy said:

haha try buying these things in South African Rands! $80 is close to what I spend per month on food! 😅 But luckily there are good sales quite often, so getting things when they are on sale for at least 75% off is the best option for me. 

80 - 100 Aussie dollars is what I spend on food a week. Just me, myself and I, and at my age, I eat very little.

Edited December 2, 2025 by Herodotus

[LuftManu]

Steam has regional pricing IIRC @Herodotus

 

This is from Steamdb.

Kind regards,

[Herodotus]

2 minutes ago, LuftManu said:

Steam has regional pricing IIRC @Herodotus

 

This is from Steamdb.

Kind regards,

Not sure what your point is, but Steam's regional pricing is actually fairer than PayPal's conversion rate, and that of any Aussie bank. And it is certainly fairer than paying for something without regional pricing, such as this site.

[LuftManu]

Just now, Herodotus said:

Not sure what your point is, but Steam's regional pricing is actually fairer than PayPal's conversion rate, and that of any Aussie bank. And it is certainly fairer than paying for something without regional pricing, such as this site.

Hello!

My point is that you should check steam, to see if the prices are better suited for your region 🙂

(But you have to have Battle of Stalingrad  onm Steam and if you already own FC frough the store I think it's not possible).

kind regards,

[Herodotus]

6 minutes ago, LuftManu said:

Hello!

My point is that you should check steam, to see if the prices are better suited for your region 🙂

(But you have to have Battle of Stalingrad  onm Steam and if you already own FC frough the store I think it's not possible).

kind regards,

No, unfortunately, it's not possible. I would have to purchase the entire series of modules all over again to have what I have now. You can't see what I own, as this new Forum layout doesn't list all the modules under our names, which I think is pretty lazy of the dev community. We didn't need a new Forum, anyway.
But, then again, the new Store page is a diabolical mess now, with planes overlapping each other like I am wandering through Duxford.

Edited December 2, 2025 by Herodotus

[AEthelraedUnraed]

20 minutes ago, Herodotus said:

Not sure what your point is, but Steam's regional pricing is actually fairer than PayPal's conversion rate, and that of any Aussie bank. And it is certainly fairer than paying for something without regional pricing, such as this site.

Depends on what you call "fair"... Things get produced at a certain cost. Since the USD is somewhat of a global standard, this is what they base their international price on since this is the price at which they still make an attractive profit.

Would you consider it fair to pay less than whatever it costs to make the game?

Do you consider it fair that I, in the EUR zone, essentially have to pay $3.16 straight to you if we'd both buy FCII, if we buy it on Steam? Blame your country's economic, tax and elderly support policies, don't blame the Developers for wanting to make a profit.

Edited December 2, 2025 by AEthelraedUnraed

[Aapje]

1 hour ago, Herodotus said:

How do I sign up for the newsletter?

Took me some time to find it, but it is in the store account. Make sure that 'Send me news and information' is checked:

56 minutes ago, Herodotus said:

No, unfortunately, it's not possible. I would have to purchase the entire series of modules all over again to have what I have now.

As far as I know this is not true and you only need to buy BoS again on Steam. Then any purchases you have made through the store will be available if you run the Steam install of the game, once you link your Steam account to the store.

Someone made a guide that should probably still work:

https://il2sturmovik.com/m/SteamAndIL2AccountGuide.pdf

[sevenless]

31 minutes ago, Aapje said:

As far as I know this is not true and you only need to buy BoS again on Steam. Then any purchases you have made through the store will be available if you run the Steam install of the game, once you link your Steam account to the store.

Exactly. I only bought BoS on Steam, everything else I bought in the store and have (after linking both accounts) everything available, if I start the game through Steam.

[Herodotus]

4 hours ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

Depends on what you call "fair"... Things get produced at a certain cost. Since the USD is somewhat of a global standard, this is what they base their international price on since this is the price at which they still make an attractive profit.

Would you consider it fair to pay less than whatever it costs to make the game?

Do you consider it fair that I, in the EUR zone, essentially have to pay $3.16 straight to you if we'd both buy FCII, if we buy it on Steam? Blame your country's economic, tax and elderly support policies, don't blame the Developers for wanting to make a profit.

This is nonsensical. Of course, I don't want to pay less than is due, but a module for, say USD$22.99 (“Tank Crew” on sale, which what I paid here) turned out to be A$38.99, on PayPal payment. The very same module, with the same discount on Steam, is A$29.23. Same with "Flying Circus: Volume I". I bought that here for USD$19.99 (A$35.00), and on Steam at same discount, it was A$29 (before this recent lowering in discount). Now, how is that not paying more here?

3 hours ago, Aapje said:

Took me some time to find it, but it is in the store account. Make sure that 'Send me news and information' is checked:

As far as I know this is not true and you only need to buy BoS again on Steam. Then any purchases you have made through the store will be available if you run the Steam install of the game, once you link your Steam account to the store.

Someone made a guide that should probably still work:

https://il2sturmovik.com/m/SteamAndIL2AccountGuide.pdf

I wasn't aware of this, and thought it not possible as when I bought products here, they came with no Steam key, or one that expired in hours. I will do as you suggest, as there is a sale on now.
As for the newsletter, I have that checked, but I am not receiving it. Hotmail is obviously blocking it. Not putting in the Junk folder, just not letting it through. If I knew the newsletter email address, I could create an exception.

Edited December 2, 2025 by Herodotus

[Aapje]

1 hour ago, Herodotus said:

If I knew the newsletter email address, I could create an exception.

The sender is: pr@1cgs.net

[Herodotus]

14 minutes ago, Aapje said:

The sender is: pr@1cgs.net

Thanks very much. I'll add that rule to my email.

I feel that all there is to said has been, so thank you all, and if I could close this thread I would, as it is closed.