After monetization moans, The Bazaar lands on Steam with a divisive discount

The Bazaar is finally on Steam, and Tempo has responded to pricing concerns with a sale that might just be too good to pass up. The fast-paced, autobattling deckbuilder has been impossible to look away from since its 1.0 launch in March, owing to both its rewarding gameplay and its divisive monetization model. Now, everything has changed; developer Tempo has dropped the free-to-play format in favor of a single purchase with additional DLC for more characters and cosmetics. The change didn't please everyone, however, so it's also offering a serious saving if you buy it on Steam soon.

No longer available as a free PC game unless you'd already signed up, The Bazaar will now cost you $40 to buy on Steam. This is a slight decrease from the originally announced price of $45, and gives you the game's original cast of three playable characters, Vanessa, Pyg, and Dooley. If you want to pick up the poison-wielding Mak, genius inventor and Bazaar newcomer Stelle, or any future characters, they'll set you back $20 each. With this, Tempo has removed many of the free-to-play trappings, such as Prize Pass skips, paid card expansions, and entry fees for the multiplayer game's ranked mode.

This pricing has come under fire less for the change itself and more because it came out of nowhere, with no way for existing players to migrate from the standalone Tempo launcher to Steam without buying a fresh copy. To address this, Tempo is offering a launch bundle that gives you the base game along with Stelle (but not Mak) at the discounted price of $20, making it a whopping 67% saving over what you'd pay if you bought them individually.

For long-time players who want to move across, that means you can effectively get the Steam version of The Bazaar bundled in with Stelle at the same price as if you'd bought the newest character on her own. Unfortunately, this doesn't resolve all the concerns; you won't have Mak unless you drop an extra $20 on top, and many people who have been saving up their in-game gems to claim Stelle are now out of luck.

Nevertheless, if you've been tempted to play The Bazaar, this Steam sale is likely to be the cheapest option we'll see for a while. As a game, it's one of the most satisfying autobattlers I've played, rivaling the likes of Backpack Battles with its smart item synergies and flavorful character design. The frequent back-and-forth movement on its payment model makes it tough to recommend without caveat, but there's no question that, when it all clicks, it's a blast to play.

The Bazaar is out now on Steam, priced at $39.99 / £33.50, but you can take advantage of a three-day launch sale running through Saturday August 16 to get it along with the Stelle character DLC for $19.80 / £16.58, a total saving of 67%. Find it here if you're ready to paint your ship red, but without using paint.

We've rounded up the best card games on PC for plenty more deckbuilding delights, or you can browse our pick of the best free Steam games if you'd rather keep your wallet closed for the time being.

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