Valve has started to 'region lock' Steam purchased games. The new policy has been implemented to stop buyers from more affluent countries exploiting low currency values, such as the recently devalued Russian Ruble, says Engadget. Of course this affects those buying in order to sell on for profit and those who just looked to cheaper markets to save themselves money on game purchases.
As hinted at above, the first sign of this policy change concerned Russia. Steam games from Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) regions were noticed to no longer activate outside of their particular regions. Then users started to notice other virtual trading lines had been drawn under the new Steam region locking plan. It's quite complicated, if not impossible, to explain in short, so below I've included a big quote from Reddit where the new boundaries are described:
- RU Notice: Gift purchases for Crusader Kings II can only be added to the gift recipient's library if they are in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
- Malasia Notice: Gift purchases for Crusader Kings II can only be added to the gift recipient's library if they are in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
- Thai Baht Notice: Gift purchases for Crusader Kings II can only be added to the gift recipient's library if they are in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
- Indonesian Rupiah Notice: Gift purchases for Crusader Kings II can only be added to the gift recipient's library if they are in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
- Philippine Peso Notice: Gift purchases for Crusader Kings II can only be added to the gift recipient's library if they are in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
- CIS - U.S. Dollar Notice: Gift purchases for Crusader Kings II can only be added to the gift recipient's library if they are in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
- Turkish Lira Notice: Gift purchases for Crusader Kings II can only be added to the gift recipient's library if they are in Turkey.
- Brazilian Real Notice: Gift purchases for Crusader Kings II can only be added to the gift recipient's library if they are in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Bahamas, Belize, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Paraguay, Suriname, El Salvador, Uruguay and Venezuela.
- Mexican Peso Notice: Gift purchases for Crusader Kings II can only be added to the gift recipient's library if they are in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Bahamas, Belize, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Paraguay, Suriname, El Salvador, Uruguay and Venezuela.
- Singapore Dollar Notice: Gift purchases for Crusader Kings II can only be added to the gift recipient's library if they are in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
- Japanese Yen No restriction note
- Norwegian Krone No restriction note
- Canadian Dollar No restriction note
- U.S. Dollar No restriction note
- British Pound No restriction note
- Euros (Tier 1) No restriction note
- Euros (Tier 2) No restriction note
Crusader Kings II is just an example Steam game in the above listing. The region locks only apply to activation, so don't worry if you have benefitted from market differentials, as listed above, in the past.
This latest rule change follows on from a tweak in tradability rules introduced less than a month ago when Valve introduced a delay between buying and selling-on Steam game keys. At that time the new rules meant someone would have to wait 30 days to sell on a gifted Steam game. That obviously punctured the tyre of some regional game key price differential trading organisations. Valve also pointed out that it stopped people selling keys that would later be revoked due to issues like credit card fraud.
