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All Russian/Brazillian (or similar) games on Steam now have regional activation locks

T

Tsubaru

Member
This is to prevent russians to buy gifts and trade with other countries.
I dont believe stores will be affected by this.
I didnt have to add g2play on my steam list of friends, to get the games i purchased with them.

So, if you get from a store, you get a key, how they will track that?
There stores will have to warn us about that.

VPN who?
 
N

ngt

Member
Tsubaru said:
This is to prevent russians to buy gifts and trade with other countries.
I dont believe stores will be affected by this.
I didnt have to add g2play on my steam list of friends, to get the games i purchased with them.

So, if you get from a store, you get a key, how they will track that?
There stores will have to warn us about that.

VPN who?
Click to expand...

Well g2a and kinguin will probably feel a difference as quite a large part of their business are gifts.

Do I get this right and this lock is purely for activation and if you use vpn to add the game to your account you can play it as normal? With the russian currency so cheap I might actually consider it with some aaa titles.

I really wish GOG Galaxy was out, want to move away from Steam to them completely.
 
D

Dolor

Member
I probably will just buy more at sale time then, but I have been trying more and more to buy games I want to support at higher prices even if I know I can get it cheaper elsewhere.

I am more than blessed enough to be willing to support games that are worthwhile, so this doesn't bother me that much.

The real losers in this are the people that are legit poor in advanced countries. PC/Steam is definitely still the cheapest option, but gaming in general must be tough for them, and it just got a little tougher.
 
P

patientx

Member
How does it effect me ? Ilive in Turkey and prices here seems like lowest other than russia when I use enhanced steam. Would it have any negative effect for me ?
 
C

CosmicQueso

Member
patientx said:
How does it effect me ? Ilive in Turkey and prices here seems like lowest other than russia when I use enhanced steam. Would it have any negative effect for me ?
Click to expand...

You wouldn't be able to participate in the gray market and turn a profit by buying games in your region and then selling them to individuals in higher priced ones.

In other words, no, there is no negative impact on you as long as you don't want to be a key reseller.
 
D

dani_dc

Member
This was probably answered already, but I have a friend in Brazil who occasionally buys me and other friends gifts (actual gifts, not "gifts" :p ), does this mean he can no longer gift stuff to others at all?
 
D

Dolor

Member
Will it affect me if I buy games on the US store and gift them to people in South America?

Presumably I should be able to do that if I am buying the more costly version, right?

This is a serious question as I have a lot of family in Bolivia, and I send them games frequently...
 
Tiu Neo

Tiu Neo

Member
Dolor said:
Will it affect me if I buy games on the US store and gift them to people in South America?

Presumably I should be able to do that if I am buying the more costly version, right?

This is a serious question as I have a lot of family in Bolivia, and I send them games frequently...
Click to expand...

This should be ok, at least for now.
 
U

Uthred

Member
Kazama Sogetsu said:
Steam is a villain for closing a loophole that people abused for years, instead of simply hiking prices for people in those regions with devaluing currency.

Gamers.
Click to expand...

When people purchased the games in their inventory they purchased them as ROW (Rest of World) games, it should be clear that retroactively changing something alredy purchased so that it has less functionality is bad for the consumer and generally frowned upon.

Valve apologists
 
K

Kinthalis

Banned
Uthred said:
When people purchased the games in their inventory they purchased them as ROW (Rest of World) games, it should be clear that retroactively changing something alredy purchased so that it has less functionality is bad for the consumer and generally frowned upon.

Valve apologists
Click to expand...

ARE they retroactively doing this?
 
A

ashecitism

Member
Uthred said:
When people purchased the games in their inventory they purchased them as ROW (Rest of World) games, it should be clear that retroactively changing something alredy purchased so that it has less functionality is bad for the consumer and generally frowned upon.

Valve apologists
Click to expand...

Looking at the reddit thread it seems it was just a display bug.
 
T

ThatGuy

Member
One poster of the Steam Trading Reddit http://www.reddit.com/r/SteamGameSw..._all_gifts_are_now_regionlocked_if_bought_in/ posted a statement by Valve from the Steamworks Development Forums regarding the region lock. Maybe a Steamworks Developer can confirm this post and a mod update the first post accordingly.
Valve said:
As most of you know, our developer tools suggest pricing based on market research and purchasing power parity. In the case of territories such as Russia, Brazil, and SE Asia, we suggested pricing that is lower than the direct USD conversion. This is based on our assessment of actual pricing of comparable products in that market. Recently Rubles have hit an all-time low which has been a concern of many game developers. We are still assessing the market to see if suggesting new prices in Russia is right for customers who live in that market. We do not think that pricing based on currency conversion only is the right way to approach the Russian market necessarily.
What we are doing immediately in response to the Ruble drop is limiting trading and gifting from Russia to prevent people from taking advantage of the situation. We have been applying a gifting and trading lock of this type on all newly created packages on Steam since mid-2014. Today we have propped a change that will affect all packages on Steam which will not allow them to be unpacked to an account, if gifted or traded from a lower priced region to a higher priced region. This change is not retroactive and only affects new purchases. It also will not affect customers in that region from gifting a copy to other people in that same region. All customers will have proper warning when they are purchasing a gift prior to checkout in those regions as well. We will continue to assess the situation and make changes if necessary in the future. If you have any questions please feel free to write us via the contact form via the Steamworks Development site - Documentation & Help -> Contact Steam Publishing.
Click to expand...
 
C

Cerity

Member
Tsubaru said:
This is to prevent russians to buy gifts and trade with other countries.
I dont believe stores will be affected by this.
I didnt have to add g2play on my steam list of friends, to get the games i purchased with them.

So, if you get from a store, you get a key, how they will track that?
There stores will have to warn us about that.

VPN who?
Click to expand...

Most retail keys have the "only allow run in countries" tag so yeah, if you're already using a VPN to get around that it's not going to effect you.
 
Pjsprojects

Pjsprojects

Member
Omnii-chan said:
Almost all RU games are locked anyway. Probably because the games are cheap (probably to try to curb piracy) and most games are Russian dubbed with no other language support, so who would want them anyway?
.
Click to expand...

Depends,I purchased Unity on Russian Origin(I'm in England). The game cost me £13 which was fine for a game I wanted but didn't trust to run right. The game only had Russian sound and subs so I did have to replace the sound files and change the language.The game runs in Uplay without a vpn just fine.

If it's a game I trust then I'd buy from the British store but not paying full price for broken games.
 
I

ICKE

Banned
--R said:
1615€ in Spain? That image is sooooo wrong.
Click to expand...

It describes net salaries after taxes and all the deductions to social security funds and what have you.

Regarding this topic : I disagree with this policy on principle as all these faceless corporations use tax havens to avoid paying their fair share while demanding that consumers do not play the same game. That being said, I understand the rationale and would even support it if Valve and others were not based in countries like Ireland etc. Bunch of hypocrites.

But the worst part is the self loathing of the normal consumer who is willing to support these corporate policies out of some bizarre...I don't even know you would call it.
 
M

M3d10n

Member
Now North Americans can get a taste of how is it like to have games that are far cheaper overseas denied from them with ass-backwards stuff like "sorry, this product cannot be shipped to your country" or "you need a credit card with an US billing address".

Dat schadenfreude.
 
W

womp

Member
Just snagged LEGO Batman 3 fine off Nuuvem. Key checked out and my wife is playing it on Steam now.

I'm in the US.

I guess I'm a bit confused still. I just joined Steam about a month ago after putting together my new PC. I was enjoying buying new games from Steam and these other sites such as GreenMan, Gamersgate and Nuuvem as well...is this going to affect us or is it only from within Brazil, Russia regions?
 
J

joseale

Member
ThatGuy said:
One poster of the Steam Trading Reddit http://www.reddit.com/r/SteamGameSw..._all_gifts_are_now_regionlocked_if_bought_in/ posted a statement by Valve from the Steamworks Development Forums regarding the region lock. Maybe a Steamworks Developer can confirm this post and a mod update the first post accordingly.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that Valve statement had already been shared in the thread (page 5, post #235). Actually a lot of very precise information has been shared and hopefully the OP can update the first post with some of it as we've gone into full circular discussion speed.

OT, a while back when the steam store started warning me about the upcoming price shift of everything to Mexican Pesos (my region) I was worried that my little deals shop with US prices was going to go up in smoke and I'd get the same ass-reaming as with retail videogames in my country, where games typically go for 30% above US prices, plus taxes. One day when the change finally came, I found to my surprise that Steam had somehow gotten it right: prices not only were lower (way lower) than the US store, there were lots of deals going on and, incredibly, they would take like whatever payment option you could muster (hasta en el pinche oxxo!). You'd never guess but MS, Sony, Google and lots of other places just won't take my AMEX, but Valve happily does. Regional pricing makes sense. So I was very happy about the way Valve handled the launch. AAA games still carry the asshole upmark, but you know a 50% or better is never that far off so it's not that bad to wait if you can. I know I'll be burned down the road with certain titles being unavailable at the same time as elsewhere but there are workarounds for that.

And speaking of workarounds, I fully believe that yes there's nothing morally ambiguous about a consumer scouring the world to get the best deal; go for it. But keep in mind that if you need someone else's service in order to realize those amazing savings, they can and will try to put a stop to that (like what is happening). Crying foul does little to help your case, it's their service after all.

So even though I don't fully trust valve and have been diversifying my online purchases for a while now, I think they got this one right.
 
Kurt Russell

Kurt Russell

Member
womp said:
Just snagged LEGO Batman 3 fine off Nuuvem. Key checked out and my wife is playing it on Steam now.

I'm in the US.

I guess I'm a bit confused still. I just joined Steam about a month ago after putting together my new PC. I was enjoying buying new games from Steam and these other sites such as GreenMan, Gamersgate and Nuuvem as well...is this going to affect us or is it only from within Brazil, Russia regions?
Click to expand...

The change won't affect those sites, only gifts (and sites which dealt with gifts, but those aren't to be trusted anyway, so in that regard it's a good change)
 
C

Cerity

Member
womp said:
Just snagged LEGO Batman 3 fine off Nuuvem. Key checked out and my wife is playing it on Steam now.

I'm in the US.

I guess I'm a bit confused still. I just joined Steam about a month ago after putting together my new PC. I was enjoying buying new games from Steam and these other sites such as GreenMan, Gamersgate and Nuuvem as well...is this going to affect us or is it only from within Brazil, Russia regions?
Click to expand...

If you're buying keys, it won't change. This effects stuff bought from the steam store.
 
U

UrbanRats

Member
I tried (to test, as i already have the game on STEAM) to add "eurotruck simulator 2" to the cart on Nuuvem; it says "This product is not available for purchase in your region."
Same for Ground Zeroes.
Same Battlefield 4.
But i can add Lara Croft Tomb of Osiris just fine (again, didn't finalize as it was just a test, don't know if it'd have stopped me later).

Point is, none of these games have a Region Lock warning on their pages, like say, Saint's Row IV has (on the left).

I wonder if it has anything to do with this?
 
Y

YianGaruga

Banned
UrbanRats said:
I tried (to test, as i already have the game on STEAM) to add "eurotruck simulator 2" to the cart on Nuuvem; it says "This product is not available for purchase in your region."
Same for Ground Zeroes.
Same Battlefield 4.
But i can add Lara Croft Tomb of Osiris just fine (again, didn't finalize as it was just a test, don't know if it'd have stopped me later).

Point is, none of these games have a Region Lock warning on their pages, like say, Saint's Row IV has (on the left).

I wonder if it has anything to do with this?
Click to expand...

Nah that's normal for nuuvem. Some games can't be bought from certain regions (without VPN) and some are locked on an activation level. It has always been that way.
 
W

WarpathDC

Junior Member
Russian currency plummeted today so it is no coincidence. Valve has also slowly been tightening regional restrictions. This really pisses me off though.
 
W

WarpathDC

Junior Member
chadskin said:
Gaben be like ...

uAj0p.png
Click to expand...


[expletive] Keep making Steam into the Nintendo E-Shop while turning out more F2P shit. Yes you will still make millions but I will be buying less Steam games for sure
 
T

The Llama

Member
Stop It said:
Yeah, using the freedoms of global trade is so morally ambiguous.

Are you going to say the same about Toyota buying aluminium for the cars from the cheapest country or the US government buying drugs from India? Of course not. This is as unacceptable as Nintendo region locking their consoles and is massively anti consumer. The world should be breaking trading barriers down, not erecting new ones like this.

Please, tell me how trading with people who have legally bought games using a system that includes the ability to trade them across the world is illegal. I'd love to hear it.
Click to expand...

Licensing restrictions. I'm not an international copyright attorney though, which is why I said at worst. It might not be, I don't know. But is it so odd to think that if you buy a game in Russia it may only be legal to use the game in Russia?
 
T

Totobeni

An blind dancing ho
subtleglitch said:
This is pretty much what I was thinking lol. Was there any word on when GOG are going to release their platform?
Click to expand...

GOG will also change it if people heavily abuse it.

StormHammer: - Will gifting across regions still be allowed for regionally priced titles?
For the moment, yes. If we see something crazy like 40% of the revenue from a game comes from gift codes sold from Russia and redeemed elsewhere, we'll have to investigate other options. Basically, if people aren't complete tools, things will remain as they are.
Click to expand...

http://www.gog.com/forum/general/letter_from_the_md_about_regional_pricing/post3531
 
C

Card Boy

Banned
Nuuvem are gonna be rich as a result of this. They have a huge sale on now!

3 Batman games for $5.50 (Akham City, Akham Origns and Akham Origins Blackgate)
MGS: GZ - $9.20
Shadow Warrior - $2.52
Crysis Trilogy - $9.20
Dragon Age 2 - $3.50
Euro Truck Simulator - $1.80

Just to name afew.
 
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