The Talos Principle is Croteam’s successful first-person puzzle series, currently consisting of two mainline entries, along with VR and remastered versions of the original title. The Talos Principle 2 launched in 2023 as a major success, and it has always been priced at $29.99 USD (the same price as the original). Now, the devs have upped the price to $39.99, matching The Talos Principle: Reawakened, which was released last year.

A sudden price increase nearly three years after the game launched is always going to raise eyebrows, especially since we’re not talking about an Early Access game here. There’s understandably mixed reaction, and the developers put the blame on the rising cost of “developing and supporting games”. Now, Talos is not exactly a live-service game, but it has received a notable update recently.

Developers Croteam launched The Talos Principle 2 Puzzle Editor, along with its Steam Workshop, on October 1, allowing fans to create their own puzzles and share them with the world. Just like Valve did with Portal 2’s Puzzle Creator. Its addition helps bring the feature set up to par with the Reawakened version of the original, which helps explain why both titles will now set you back $39.99. The original game does not have a user-friendly in-game Puzzle Editor, but custom levels are possible with Croteam’s external Serious Editor.

Croteam posted an official statement on Steam

Hello, Citizens of New Jerusalem,

Starting today, the base price of The Talos Principle 2 has increased from $29.99 to $39.99 USD, with regional prices adjusted accordingly.

The cost of developing and supporting games has continued to rise significantly in recent years, as inflation has pushed costs up around the world. Taking this into account, we’ve made the decision to adjust the base price of the game.

This wasn’t a decision we made lightly, and we understand that nobody particularly enjoys seeing a price go up. We wanted to explain the reasoning behind the change rather than make it without context.

If you already own The Talos Principle 2, nothing changes for you.

Thank you, as always, for supporting the game and for being part of the community.

Much love,
Croteam

Source: Steam

It’s worth mentioning that while The Talos Principle 2 now costs $39.99 on Steam (or £35.99 GBP, €39.99 EUR, $47.99 CAD), its age means it’s regularly discounted on Steam during sales events. The cheapest it has ever been is $2.99, when it was 90% off during the Steam Autumn Sale earlier this month, though the same 90% discount next time around would see you paying a dollar extra.

The Talos Principle 3 is already deep into development, currently listed as “Coming soon” on Steam. A minute-long gameplay reveal trailer was released on October 8. No price tag has been announced just yet, but now you can probably expect $39.99, at the very least.

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Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.