On August 13, 2025, The Bazaar officially launches on Steam, marking a huge shift from its original free-to-play format to a premium roguelike experience. This transition brings new features, balance changes, and improved accessibility.
If you’ve been wondering how to play The Bazaar, what changes are coming, or whether you should buy it on Steam, this guide covers everything you need to know.
The Bazaar on Steam: Key Launch Details
Release Date: August 13, 2025
Platforms: Steam
Price: $45 USD
- Special Launch Deal: $19.99 including the Base Game & Stelle
Game Model: Premium (no longer free-to-play)
Account Linking: Once you buy a Steam version and open the game it will prompt you to log in, and then you can log in with your original Tempo account and access it as normal, without losing anything
Launch Bonus: Mak hero unlocked free for accounts created by August 8, 2025.
The Shift to a Premium Game
Previously, The Bazaar followed a free-to-play model with purchasable heroes and cosmetics using gems. Starting with the Steam launch, it’s shifting to a premium game model.
» What This Means for Players
Base Game Content: Comes with three heroes – Vanessa, Pygmalien, and Dooley.
Launch Bonus: Players with a Tempo account created by August 8, 2025 at 12:30 PDT will also get Mak unlocked for free.
Future Heroes: Sold as standalone DLC for $20 each — no longer purchasable with gems. (With regional pricing)
Old Accounts: Continue playing through the Tempo Storm launcher without buying the Steam version.
However, due to Steam’s 5,000-key limit for developers, existing players who want Steam access will need to purchase the game on Steam. (Source)
Major Gameplay Changes
» Ranked Mode
Ranked Tickets Removed — Play as much Ranked as you want.
Ticket Conversion: Existing Ranked tickets convert to 100 gems each.
Monthly Rank Reset stays to ensure fair seasonal rewards.
» Normal Mode
Chest Rewards Added: Now awards 2, 4, or 6 chests (up from 1, 2, or 3).
Easier Onboarding: Ghost opponents start easier and ramp up difficulty gradually.
Better Learning Curve for new players.
Marketplace & Economy Updates
Player-to-Player Marketplace Canceled — Duplicate cosmetics will auto-convert to gems.
No Mint Numbers going forward.
Gems No Longer Provide Gameplay Advantage — purely cosmetic currency.
Prize Pass Now Free — no tier skips, all cosmetics earnable through play.
Seasonal Chests Replaced with one mega-chest containing almost all cosmetics from past seasons.
Developer Insights: Reynad Speaks Out
Reynad, the creator of The Bazaar, has been open about the reasoning behind these changes:
On Going Premium:
The free-to-play model failed. The f2p playerbase contributes nothing to its survival while adding to infrastructure costs. It’s premium, or no more heroes. (Sources: 1 & 2)On Infrastructure Costs:
It’s a percentage of revenue every month that keeps lowering as we improve it. It used to be two digits, now it’s one digit. (Source)On Regional Pricing:
We’ll have regional pricing. Steam’s default suggestions for every country, not sure how they do it. (Sources: 1 & 2)On Steam Key Limitations:
They can if they buy it on Steam. Steam has a limit of only 5k keys we could use to give people Steam access… Even without a limit, keys would not be a good solution. We would need hundreds of thousands of them, and many would be sold if we handed that many out. (Sources: 1, 2 & 3)On Possible Future Free Content:
We’re considering making single-player Vanessa free-to-play in the future as a ‘demo’ — because single player doesn’t have infrastructure costs and can piggyback on the other content being developed. (Source)On Ongoing Hero Support:
Not monthly 10-item expansions, but the intent is for existing heroes to still be getting new items over time. (Source)
Should You Buy The Bazaar on Steam?
If you are a new player or you want to buy Stelle, we would recommened buying the game on Steam, it is a good deal.
However, if you are not looking to getting Stelle or you missed your chance in the first 3 days for $20, we would not recommened buying it.
