Steam store pricing

Lupus said:
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.
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I totally agree. Currency has been stable for a ehile now and one would expect new releases to at least have come down a bit. As games get older the price falls further anyways so should the currency take a dive it should only affect future price reductions.
 
While I agree our pricing should be lower with the stronger Rand, it's worthwhile pointing out two things:

1) The US pricing does not include tax, so you need to add 14% VAT onto the pricing for better comparison

2) Local retail pricing has an affect on pricing too, because if the game is released locally, then the publisher will likely set the price at the same level that the local distributor has worked out for the physical copies, which is generally higher than what it should be digitally. Yes, digital should be cheaper, but that's the way it is currently when there's a physical release.

So when you take into account the volatility of the Rand plus VAT and local physical copy pricing, the pricing isn't that far off. Of course some games don't get a local release, and then it's probably just based on a generic formula applied to our currency (some high FX average) + VAT. Hopefully we'll see pricing improve over the next few months, assuming the Rand can keep its strength up.
 
We are getting screwed with these game pricings.

Atleast on console we figured out how to get games R300-400 off by buying off the indonesian store.Screw em.
 
With some games we are lucky. Like when Nioh was released on Steam it was a crapload cheaper for South Africans than for the US. I haven't checked in a while but it's probably still the case.
 
These things move slowly. As the rand value dropped, games were cheaper on steam than any of the other legit stores. So now just buy on GoG until steam prices get back in line?
 
Batista said:
We are getting screwed with these game pricings.

Atleast on console we figured out how to get games R300-400 off by buying off the indonesian store.Screw em.
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cdkeys for console games too. Mucho cheaper...
 
Even GOG , humble or others that sell steam platform games are cheaper than steam at time. Is stupid.
 
cavedog said:
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.
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I've also used my US account to gift games to my ZA one. I'm just a bit skeptical about buying games on the Russian store to gift to my ZA one as some games are region locked to RU and you can't always gift games across regions. This applies to some games, not all of them however ;)
 
StoneCold said:
I've also used my US account to gift games to my ZA one. I'm just a bit skeptical about buying games on the Russian store to gift to my ZA one as some games are region locked to RU and you can't always gift games across regions. This applies to some games, not all of them however ;)
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That is why I use the family share option from steam. Share my russia steam account library on the same pc to my za steam account on the same pc. Makes the game region free and I play it on my main za steam account as if I owned the game but the license it actually held by my russia steam account which I basically never log into just buy the games on it and instantly becomes available to play on my main account.


Very nice feature and for obvious reasons both accounts can't play the same time but that limit does not affect me as the russia account is just for buying games.
 
Are we not forgetting the added burden of the South African FPB tax?

LINK

Maybe Steam decided to pay the R3.1 million and just quietly pass on the expense to the SA consumer?
 
Issue I have is that the steam system is just so much more convenient than GOG. I have a few titles on GOG but having to DL and install them manually is a lot more hassle for me than the steam library system. Also helps that I tend to play games that are older than 2 years, or are on a crazy special so the pricing is fairly low regardless for me.
 
Cius said:
Issue I have is that the steam system is just so much more convenient than GOG. I have a few titles on GOG but having to DL and install them manually is a lot more hassle for me than the steam library system. Also helps that I tend to play games that are older than 2 years, or are on a crazy special so the pricing is fairly low regardless for me.
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Some GOG games are steam linked these days too now no?
 
Kosmik said:
Some GOG games are steam linked these days too now no?
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It is because the publisher allows it, most do it when they remove DRM, others have their own ecosystem. Games build on only Steamworks are limited to Steam only. This is being very layman.

The publisher sets the price on GOG, Steam, etc. Even Humble Bundle once sold ‘third-party’ keys, they are now more strictly managed by IGN.
 
cavedog said:
Very nice feature and for obvious reasons both accounts can't play the same time but that limit does not affect me as the russia account is just for buying games.
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Indeed ;)

Made myself a Russian account earlier tonight and picked up 3 games for R112 vs R250 I would've paid otherwise. Definitely going to be doing this more in future sales :)
 
RogerWilcoZA said:
I use cdkeys all the time and have never had an issue. they're legit
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It works <> legit

See here for lengthy write-up as to why grey market resellers are a problem:

https://www.reddit.com/r/GameDeals/comments/2yhlw4/key_resellers_and_what_they_mean_for_you/

Kosmik said:
No, these are pretty reputable. Not the same as G2a etc.
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Well G2A is extra shady with their market model & paying extra for protection. CDkeys might be more reputable but its still a grey market reseller.
 
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