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submitted 19 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) by LtDan@lemmy.zip to c/games@lemmy.world

Regardless where one lives in Europe (including countries where salaries are lower than those living in France or Germany for example: such as Hungary, Romania, Latvia or Serbia to name a few) yet they're confronted with 89,99€ at release considering EVERYONE in Europe as wealthy (further from the truth since there are nations in Europe where people aren't paid 8000€ a month, some are paid x10 less than that).

Regional pricing is indifferent in this case no matter as to their actual income, it's weird since they count countries where Euros aren't used (Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia) whilst people there aren't earning high salaries, like this: a Romanian earns 815€ a month but are treated no different: a 90€ game at launch (about 10% of their wage), for some reason they don't bother adjusting it based on a specific country.

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[-] prti@szmer.info 8 points 18 hours ago

I can just say, the games USED to be cheaper in Poland (the average person is less wealthy here and we don't have euro). Finds out there is an EU law against it, so now all prices in Europe are flatlined no matter the currency or the country's average income.

[-] Poopfeast420@lemmy.zip 13 points 17 hours ago

I think the law doesn't say that prices have to be the same, it's just that you can't block people from other countries from buying stuff at the cheaper price.

With physical goods you either have to actually go to the country or get it shipped to you, which can make this not as easy or "profitable". However, with digital goods you just go to a website and there's not really anything to ship, except maybe an email, so those same hurdles don't exist, which is why those lower income countries usually get the short end of the stick with prices for games and stuff.

[-] ms_lane@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago

*Unless you're a german webshop, then it's fine to restrict sales to Germany only apparently.

[-] ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 1 points 15 hours ago

Does Steam not require a billing address or Tax ID? Yeah, it'd be fairly easy to fake it to access the cheaper market, but if you're gonna do that you might as well pretend you live in Argentina.

[-] PapstJL4U@lemmy.world 1 points 51 minutes ago

Companies are not allowed to not sell to other EU members. A polish company is allowed to sell in Germany, and a German buyer is allowed to buy from polish Companies without being unfair treated.

[-] Poopfeast420@lemmy.zip 3 points 15 hours ago

Directly in Steam it's not that easy, you need a billing address and Steam checks the payment method to verify the country (although I don't know if certain prepaid cards work for this as well).

You still have Steam keys, that can be sold anywhere though, and not everyone will care that this cheap key, intended for the Polish market is bought by someone in Germany.

[-] Truscape 1 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

Prepaid cards have to be loaded with a specific currency and usually are part of a pre-existing payment processor (VISA/Mastercard in the US).

Valve's steam gift cards are sold in the same currency as well, and are usually usable for accounts in the same country of origin (read the back fine print)

[-] Poopfeast420@lemmy.zip 1 points 9 hours ago

I was thinking more along the line of PaysafeCard or things like that, although that might have similar currency restrictions. Or of course you can just buy foreign prepaid cards from third-party resellers. You'll pay more than the card is actually worth, but if you would then be able to buy games for half price or even less, it would be worth it.

[-] LtDan@lemmy.zip 1 points 18 hours ago

I've heard the prices in PLN are a joke! The currency stabilized after 2022 when it was weak then, but the prices remained the same from that time making it more expensive than intended.

this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2026
69 points (100.0% liked)

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