The company once had a two-week "cooldown" period to slow region changes.Ī risk of Valve's tightening grip is that it will actually increase piracy. Even then most gamers don't have easy access to foreign payment methods, and Valve is known to sometimes ban people caught using VPNs. It's uncertain when it was implemented, but will probably deter most cross-border purchases except for binge shopping, for example during Steam's imminent summer sale. The new rule was reported on Twitter by the unofficial Steam-tracking entity SteamDB. Related: What Half-Life: Alyx Teaches Us About How VR Should Work Valve has been cracking down on the tactic, however, most recently in 2020 by forcing people to use a payment method from their selected region. Shoppers get to keep their games when switching - a necessity for people moving internationally - so those hunting for bargains were once able to use a VPN to spoof their region, buy a game, then switch back. Steam has already placed restrictions on what payment methods are allowed to be used during transactions as well as restrictions on VPN usage.Valve has reportedly altered its region-change policies on Steam once again, looking to crack down on people exploiting them to find cheaper PC game prices. Switches can now only be made once every three months, making the trick extremely impractical except under rare circumstances.īecause of exchange rates and other factors, the pricing of Steam games differs from country to country, with Argentina frequently having the lowest costs as a result of its devalued currency. The newest changes are just the latest updates Valve has made to combat this practice. This means some areas will get games set at a lower price, and those looking for a deal can take advantage of this and change their region to also buy a game at said price. Steam allows for regional pricing, meaning publishers can set different prices for games for different regions based on the cost of living there. Purchases can be completed using a payment method from your current region.- Steam Database June 23, 2021 Country may not be updated more than once every 3 months. In a further crack down on people buying games in cheaper regions, Valve added a limit on how often you can change your Steam account's country. You’ll now only be able to update your account’s country once every three months. Valve is cracking down on folks who take advantage of region-hopping to get a cheaper price on digital PC games.Īccording to SteamDB, Valve has placed a limit on how often you can change the country associated with your Steam account.
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