Steam store pricing

cavedog

cavedog

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https://steamdb.info/app/552520/

Is it just me or is steam being totally unfair with local prices. I have seen the ZA steam store getting more and more expensive by time but the Rand is getting stronger.

Look at Farcry 5 pre order for example. R845 on ZA steam store but like all new games $60 roughly R687 at current exchange rate. I thought that steam giving us local prices are supposed to have made it a bit more affordable to buy games on steam in Rands.

Same game in Russia Ruble is R412. Less than half the price than the SA store.

Also Rocket League is R132 in ZA store but R51 in RU steam store.

I created a backup Russia steam store account. Bought Rocket League GOTY on it for R81 and game share it to my main ZA account.

Steam is ripping us off. :mad:
 
absynth

absynth

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I have to agree with you that local prices for Steam Games are way out of hand when you consider how much cheaper they are when you do a direct dollar to rand conversion.

Speaker under correction the reason games in Russia are so much cheaper due to high rates of piracy.I read that in an article somewhere,but like I said speaking under correction.

Personally I have been using Fanatical for deals as it works out cheaper than buying from steam these days and I can wait for special prices these days.
 
H

HavocXphere

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lol - that is how FX works yes. Sometimes you're on the winning side of it, sometimes on the losing side.

As for Russia - it's one of the countries with heavily discounted pricing due to low income and heavy piracy. Valve will take a very dim view of you actively exploiting the region differences...
 
Ho3n3r

Ho3n3r

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absynth said:
And they won't run a steam special on it either.I remember never seeing Don Bradman dicounted on any steam sale.
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Yeah, it's a big point of contention with them, they never make it cheaper. DBC 2014 is still at its original price, despite being 4 years old and 3 versions back.

It's also crazy having to pay R850 for essentially a patch.
 
Bryn

Bryn

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I pretty much stick to GOG and Battle.net for my games.
 
cavedog

cavedog

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HavocXphere said:
lol - that is how FX works yes. Sometimes you're on the winning side of it, sometimes on the losing side.

As for Russia - it's one of the countries with heavily discounted pricing due to low income and heavy piracy. Valve will take a very dim view of you actively exploiting the region differences...
Click to expand...

Yes I agree but there should be some sort of balance but as it currently stand almost all the game even on special is more expensive then US and that is confusing me because when Steam introduced ZA store based in Rands the purpose of it was to help with the fluctuating exchange rate and give a constant price average. If anything they are just charging us more for the same game we used to pay for in USD....

Yes I did read that Russia gets cheaper prices because of piracy ect ect and bypassing could end up getting your steam account banned but the same with with these cdkey stores. You don't know where that key comes from so you could end off getting banned anyways.

Also changing your store to US to pay in USD is also a violation so basically with steam cough up the higher Rand prices or get punished if you don't. Mafia like.
 
Bryn

Bryn

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Fulcrum29 said:
GOG Galaxy is still quite behind to take on Steam Steamworks.
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Not for my needs it isn't. Friends functionality, auto updating, cloud saves, online multiplayer, user reviews, community forum, 2FA, wishlist discount notifications etc. Does everything I need from a game client.
 
H

HavocXphere

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cavedog said:
Steam introduced ZA store based in Rands the purpose of it was to help with the fluctuating exchange rate and give a constant price average. If anything they are just charging us more for the same game we used to pay for in USD....
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Yes if it's priced it at a fairly constant ZAR price and then proceed to measure it against USD then it'll fluctuate. That's the entire point.

You literally can't have a stable ZAR number and a stable ratio to USD equivalent at the same time.

cavedog said:
If anything they are just charging us more for the same game we used to pay for in USD....
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If the Rand strengthens yes.

Rand weakens -> Everyone wants ZAR denominated pricing because USD pricing is too high
Rand strengthens -> ZAR denominated pricing is "Mafia like"
 
cavedog

cavedog

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HavocXphere said:
Yes if it's priced it at a fairly constant ZAR price and then proceed to measure it against USD then it'll fluctuate. That's the entire point.

You literally can't have a stable ZAR number and a stable ratio to USD equivalent at the same time.


If the Rand strengthens yes.

Rand weakens -> Everyone wants ZAR denominated pricing because USD pricing is too high
Rand strengthens -> ZAR denominated pricing is "Mafia like"
Click to expand...

The worst the Rand was was just over R16/US which lasted roughly 4 months but during that time fell to high R13 and low R15 agains the USD. At it worst a $60 would have cost roughly R980 at the worst exchange rate which only happened once ever in history. So they are basing their pricing today @ R845 for a new title on what data?

If you compare for how long we are paying more than US compared to paying less than US because of exchange rates it does not favor the consumer at all in fact almost ALWAYS in history favors steam.
 
Fulcrum29

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cavedog said:
The worst the Rand was was just over R16/US which lasted roughly 4 months but during that time fell to high R13 and low R15 agains the USD. At it worst a $60 would have cost roughly R980 at the worst exchange rate which only happened once ever in history. So they are basing their pricing today @ R845 for a new title on what data?

If you compare for how long we are paying more than US compared to paying less than US because of exchange rates it does not favor the consumer at all in fact almost ALWAYS in history favors steam.
Click to expand...

I don't know why you blame Steam when you must blame the publisher?
 
Lupus

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Games in general are expensive here, even console games that should've dropped as well when the currency stabilised didn't. We are still seeing games at a grand or more where they should be around 700.
 
cavedog

cavedog

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Kosmik said:
No, these are pretty reputable. Not the same as G2a etc.
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Yeah they are very reputable. Compared to g2a and kingquin.

That said the keys sold on these site bypass country based pricing which can also be seen as a breach of terms on steam.

It no diffirent from buying the game on russia steam store if you are in another country.

Very interesting indeed how steam actually changed.

I did some reseach and the only time za steam store pricing would have been in the favor of consumers were from January to March 2015 about. Rest of the time the pricing was always more tha n US prices.
 
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