wow Dramatic Price Surge for World of Warcraft Subscriptions in Argentina

[Stan 5,242]

World of Warcraft players in Argentina are facing a 3,000% increase in subscription costs due to Blizzard's decision to raise prices and switch from the Argentine Peso (ARS) to the U.S. Dollar (USD) on the Battle.net platform.

Last month, players of World of Warcraft in Argentina were greeted with not one, but two unwelcome updates in their email inboxes. The initial shock came from Blizzard Entertainment's announcement of a significant increase in subscription prices for the game within the region. This was closely followed by a second jolt: the transition from using the Argentine Peso (ARS) to the U.S. Dollar (USD) for transactions on the Battle.net platform. This shift means that Argentine gamers now face a staggering 3,000% rise in the cost of maintaining their World of Warcraft subscriptions.

According to information from Wowhead, an email sent out to Argentine players in January revealed that the cost of a World of Warcraft subscription would leap from 650 ARS to an eye-watering 12,000 ARS. But the financial strain doesn't stop there. Blizzard has also decided to switch the currency for Battle.net transactions in Argentina to USD, compounding the financial impact on players.

The standard monthly subscription price of $14.99, when converted, amounts to approximately 12,500 ARS. This figure surpasses the already steep increase announced previously by 500 ARS. Adding to the burden is Argentina's 60% tax on foreign currency transactions made with credit cards, which means that converting to USD for the subscription will incur even higher costs. Altogether, these changes culminate in an almost 3,000% hike in subscription fees for Argentine players.

To put this into perspective, the minimum wage in Argentina is roughly 118,000 ARS per month, equating to about $125 USD. This new subscription cost places a significant financial burden on World of Warcraft players in the country, challenging their ability to continue participating in the game.

WoW in Argentina is dead
byu/zutsa inwow

[Prophet001 598]

Sad but their currency is worth nothing.

They need a revolution.

no cap

[Dreamcatcher 66]

the thing is botters always use this cheap ways ways to buy their accounts and game times

Argentine accounts were favorite among botters for some time now

[Arcling 898]

I remember something similar happened with Steam not long time ago, so buying games for them is pretty much not an option anymore, when everything costs 200% or more. Afaik, Turkish players are facing similar situation.

Edited February 15, 2024 by Arcling

[KLWN 7]

Argentine  is only going one way and that's down. Sad but true.

[Brightamethyst 104]

The current Argentine monthly sub is around 80 cents per month, vs $15 elsewhere. While it sucks for Argentinian players, I can't really fault Blizz for making this change.

[Rokgor 0]

4 hours ago, Brightamethyst said:

The current Argentine monthly sub is around 80 cents per month, vs $15 elsewhere. While it sucks for Argentinian players, I can't really fault Blizz for making this change.

I like how everyone get the pricing wrong, even blizzard.

As i'm writhing this, the current prices are 12$ (us dollars) for sub and 15$ for game time (don't ask me why it is like this)

To that add (as of now) 60% on taxes (that was 155% until a few monts ago)

The only thing that blizzard fixes by doing this is not having to check prices again.

We don't have regional pricing since shadowlands, we had a lot of inflation since covid, politics, etc, etc... 

the 15$ we where paying on shadowlands where like 1$ a few monts ago until blizzzard decided to look at pricings, also, a few monts ago.

The wow coin (the one you buy with gold and exchange it for game time or balance into your acount) still gives us like 2$ again, thanks blizzard, really quick with prices when it's good for them... I hope they get the proper pricing when the do change our currency...

I have played since Wotlk and I think this probably is going to be my last expansion if i'm not quick with my gold farming lol
If they remove the coin or balance (witch I plan to use for the expansion) I and many players I know will be screwed lol
The error they had a few days ago also aply for us not just EU realms, I did get really scared, and yeah, our goverment, and blizzard are playing with our wallets. I just want to play wow all day and forgeth how bad things really are but probably we are not going to be able to do that really soon lol.

[Picoolio 0]

Im an argentinean living in New Zealand. 

Sadly this news means that all my argentinean friends will probably stop playing the game forever. Im safe because salaries are good in New Zealand.

And no, this is not a necessary move by Blizzard. Its pretty stupid. By raising the cost so much on a country that has been on a long term economical crisis, you are losing ALL your argentine playerbase. No one in their right mind will spend 1/6 of their salary in a subscription game every month. 
There is really no cost for Blizzard here (there are no Argentinean servers, so its not like they have expenses there). So they lose whatever little money they were making out of Argentina. While decreasing the playerbase and losing some of the biggest fans they have (Blizzard has an ardent fanbase in my country). Its very shortsighted, just like many decisions in recent years by Blizzard.

And no, things are not going to turn around in Argentina. Decades of corruption and ransacking by foreign countries in lieu with local politicians has led to Argentina what might be the worst president and party we have ever had (which is saying something, as all our goverments have really sucked). 

So bye bye Argentinean WoW players. There might be a few of us still here, living in foreign countries. 

[Unholyknight 9]

It's time to introduce World of Starcraft.

[Croian09 0]

13 hours ago, Brightamethyst said:

The current Argentine monthly sub is around 80 cents per month, vs $15 elsewhere. While it sucks for Argentinian players, I can't really fault Blizz for making this change.

While $0.80 vs $15 isn't really fair, the sudden price increase is absolutely insane. Argentinians would now have to spend almost 27% of their average annual income to play WoW.

[Skayan 52]

Blame the people who abused this, not Blizzard

[Grumar 188]

Time to invade the Falkland Islands again.