Steam is region-locking in Russia due to low Russian ruble

Published by

teaser

As we learned earlier yesterday Apple already halted sales via its Russian storefront for the time being due to the fast drop in value of the Russian ruble. Valve now as well has implemented region locks on its Steam platform as well to protect game publishers.



Valve is taking measures to protect PC game publishers on its Steam platform too reports NeoGAF. The online storefront is region-locking games in an effort to prevent users from exploiting low currency values. For example, you could buy a Russian game on Steam for a few bucks as opposed to, say, $40 to $60 when purchased through the US storefront. Now, that's a little harder to do and it's causing a bit of an uproar because PC games have typically not been subject to region locks the way console games, on the other hand, have. The move has an impact on areas outside of Putin's backyard too, with reports that Brazil, Indonesia and their neighboring areas are affected too.

Unless you have a legitimate reason for buying games outside of your region though, you likely won't notice any changes -- this, like the tweaks Steam recently made to how game gifting works, is a measure to quell the amount of people taking advantage of its system for personal gain. Via engadget.

Steam is region-locking in Russia due to low Russian ruble


Share this content
Twitter Facebook Reddit WhatsApp Email Print