Developers of the open-world survival game "Conan Exiles" recently addressed their players regarding an increase in the retail price of the game. The game is still in Steam Early Access and Xbox Game preview, and developers Funcom noted how sensitive a price change is before launch. They presented their reasons in an official blog post.

According to Funcom, the price increase was already planned to happen as it would "reflect the quality and content of the game." They added that a price change in the middle of a Game Preview might be somewhat surprising, but there are reasons why it had to be done.

First, the game is close to launching and there will be plans of making pre-ordering available for physical copies of the game. While they could just retain the original low price on digital pre-orders, they believe that this might discourage players from getting physical copies of the game. After all, players will most likely avail of the lower-priced digital copy instead of the more expensive physical one.

In a nutshell, they are saying that it will make no sense for a buyer to pre-order a more expensive game when they could get it at a cheaper price on digital.

However, Funcom promised that the price increase would only affect new players. Those who have bought "Conan Exiles" for the lower price do not have to pay more to get the full launch version of the game. These early buyers will get all the brand new expansions and content at launch, at no additional cost.

In addition to this, Funcom reveled a gift for players who availed of the Xbox Game preview version or the PC Early Access "at any time in the past or in the future before launch." Said players would get "Conan's Royal Armor," a limited edition armor set that can be used in-game.

While the price for "Conan Exiles" is expected to increase at $49.99 next week, Funcom has a sweet deal for Xbox players who still plan to buy the game. From Dec. 8 to Dec. 10, the price for the game will drop to $17.50. Purchasing the game at this price is the same as buying the full version of "Conan Exiles" at its launch date.

"Conan Exiles" is expected to be released sometime between April and July 2018.