Although the battle for the segment of PC games is getting hectic with the arrival of Epic Games Store, Steam still reigns absolute. Valve’s platform has been the platform for PC players since time immemorial. The company has established a solid reputation due to its constant deals and overall pricing. One of the most curious facts is that instead of having one standard price across all regions, Steam offers games at different prices depending on the region.
For instance, in regions where it is significantly more difficult to be able to afford full-price games, Steam will offer them at a lower price. While this ultimately is something that fans appreciate, many have been able to essentially “trick” the system. They have been utilizing VPNs to get games at prices significantly lower than their own region. However, this may change soon. Steam is responding to this with the addition of new restrictions to at least make things a little more difficult.
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.
Country may not be updated more than once every 3 months. Purchases can be completed using a payment method from your current region.
— Steam Database (@SteamDB) June 23, 2021
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According to a new announcement from SteamDB, players can only change the country linked to their account once every three months. This will essentially prevent players from using a VPN to switch the country associated with their accounts frequently. Furthermore, purchases will not be completed using a payment method from the current region. After all, Steam’s terms of service clearly state its stance against VPN and users will likely be banned because of their use. The new restrictions, alongside the new restrictions, along with those already in place to prevent VPN use during the time of purchase, will definitively complicate things further.
VPN exploitation is a threat to the Steam future discount seasons
Steam has been so far quite generous when it comes to offering discounts and affordable pricing. In a certain way, the constant use of VPN exploits to bypass the company’s pricing threats these discounts. The valve isn’t happy with the way things are with regards to players exploiting regional pricing. Thus it may even lead to drastic measures that force them to drop it entirely. For sure, limiting the use of VPN may not be good for many players that actually need to use for other reason than exploiting regional prices.
We are curious to see how this situation will evolve in the coming days. Especially now that Valve is gearing up to run a new Steam Summer Sale 2021 edition.
