PC gamers mostly rely on Valve"s Steam digital distribution platform when purchasing games. But while the platform"s reach is global, it does not support the payment methods or currencies available in various countries. However, this may soon change.
According to an email from Valve, it is not only adding more payment methods and currencies to its gaming platform, it"s also making games crazily cheap in some regions.
In an email sent to developers, Valve has announced that it is introducing a new logical region, called the South Asian Pricing Region, which consists of the countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. These countries will receive reduced prices in accordance with their respective economies.
The change has already started to roll out and is even been reflected in some brand-new games such as Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (pictured below), which now bears a $29.99 price tag, significantly less than the $59.99 tag it carries in other regions. Other titles include Hellblade: Senua"s Sacrifice ($10.49, instead of $29.99), Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 ($5.49, instead of $9.99), and even unreleased games such as WWE 2K18 ($19.99, instead of $49.99).
It is also important to note that, for now, a person residing in a South Asian Pricing Region may purchase games at a reduced price and then gift them to others outside of the region too, which means that the titles aren"t region-locked.
The full list of current games with the new pricing can be seen below (courtesy of PakGamers):
- Lords of the Fallen - From 29.99 to 10.49 USD
- WWE 2K18 - 49.99 to 19.99 USD
- Shadow of War - From 59.99 to 29.99 USD
- Hellblade: Senua"s Sacrifice - From 29.99 to 10.49 USD
- Darksiders 2 Deathinitive Edition - From 29.99 to 10.49 USD
- Darksiders Warmastered Edition - From 19.99 to 9.99 USD
- Redemption: Saints And Sinners - From 1.99 to 1.29 USD
- RWBY Grim Ecplipse - From 19.99 to 8.19 USD
- Plastiland - From 7.99 to 4.49 USD
- Dying Light - From 39.99 to 19.99 USD
- Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 - From 29.99 to 10.49 USD
- Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 - From 9.99 to 5.49 USD
- Blue Reflection + Nights of Azure 2 Bundle - From 119 to 39.98 USD
- ELEX - From 59.99 to 24.99
- Entire Gothic Series - 19.99 to 8.19
- Blue Reflection and Night of Azure 2 Bundle - From 119.98 to 39.98 USD
- Space Engineers - From 24.99 to 8.49 USD
- Colony Survival - From 19.99 to 8.19 USD
- Warhammer 40K Dawn of War 3 - From 39.99 to 12.99 USD
- Supreme Commander Gold Edition - From 19.99 to 8.19 USD
- Analogue: A Hate Story - From 9.99 to 5.49 USD
- Entire NovaLogic Pack - From 69.99 to 34.99 USD
- Road Redemption - From 17.99 to 8.19 USD
- Elder Sroll Online (Standard) - From 19.99 to 8.19 USD
- Wallpaper Engine - 3.99 to 2.49 USD
- Foxhole - From 19.99 to 8.19 USD
- Factorio - From 20.00 to 8.00 USD
- What Remains of Edith Finch - From 19.99 to 8.19 USD
- Earth Defense Force 4.1 Shadow of New Despair - From 49.99 to 15.99 USD
- Crystalline - From 19.99 to 8.19 USD
- White Day Labyrinth Named School - From 29.99 to 10.49 USD
- Entire GRISAIA Visual Novel Series - From 50-60% off their original price.
- Mushroom Wars - From 9.99 to 5.49 USD
- Tabletop Simulator - From 19.99 to 8.19 USD
- Redout - From 34.99 to 11.99 USD
- Battle Chasers: Nightwar - From 29.99 to 17.99 USD
- Syberia 3 - From $29.99 to $10.49 USD
- EVERSPACE - From $29.99 to $10.49 USD
- Ashes of Singularity: Escalation - From 39.99 to 12.99 USD
- The Curious Expedition - From 14.99 to 6.99 USD
- Airport CEO - From 15.99 to 7.29 USD
More titles from Steam"s vast catalog will likely be added to this list, with Valve recommending developers to update their prices from time to time in order to achieve decent sales, in accordance with the respective country"s economy. Prices will be updated solely at the discretion of the developer.
Additionally, Valve has also added support for 10 more currencies, bringing the total to 39. The full email from the company can be seen below:
As part of our continuing efforts to make Steam better for players around the world, we are now accepting game pricing in 10 new currencies and 1 new region. Please enter pricing for the following new currencies with launch planned for later this year:
• Argentinian Peso (ARS)
• Costa Rican Colón (CRC)
• Israeli New Shekel (ILS)
• Kazakhstani Tenge (KZT)
• Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD)
• Polish Zloty (PLN)*
• Qatari Rial (QAR)
• Ukrainian Hryvnia (UAH)
• Uruguayan Peso (UYU)
• Vietnamese Dong (VND)
• South Asian Pricing Region (USD discounted pricing for Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka)
In addition to offering local currency pricing in more countries, players in these countries will also be able to use a variety of previously unavailable payment methods. With this update, Steam will support a total of 39 currencies and 80 payment methods, giving your games truly global reach.
Pricing should be entered as soon as possible, with display of these new currencies scheduled to go live in time for our 2017 Autumn and Winter Sales. To enter pricing, sign in to the Steamworks Developer Site and select Pricing from the Apps & Packages drop-down. You will see green-colored recommendations filled in for new currencies, based on your selected USD base price. These recommended prices can be accepted or adjusted at your discretion. As a reminder, if you do not have pricing entered for a country after a local currency is set live on the Steam storefront, your game will be unavailable for sale in that country.
We have also updated our recommended pricing matrix for new and existing currencies. Our goal is to update these recommendations annually, so as to better help developers succeed in markets worldwide. Pricing decisions on Steam are entirely in the hands of you the developer, and we encourage you to always do what’s best for your players. You can find more information and suggested best practices in the Steamworks Pricing Documentation.
*PLN pricing is specific to Poland, but as always any game licenses purchased within an EEA country (either directly or as a gift) can be redeemed by any user within the EEA.
All in all, the move is certainly a decent one, especially for gamers in developing countries, who will now find it much more economically feasible to purchase titles. The list of titles featuring these slashed prices in the South Asian Region is only bound to increase once developers determine a reduced price point on which they accumulate satisfactory sales.
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