Last Monday (20), Steam changed the currency used in Argentina and Turkey to the US dollar (USD). With the change, Valve implements two new price regions on its platform: “LATAM — USD”, for Latin America, and “MENA — USD” for the Middle East and North Africa, which includes Turkey.
According to the company, there was difficulty in continuing to offer Steam payment methods in these regions, due to constant exchange rate fluctuations, tariffs, taxes and logistical problems. Consequently, these issues hindered the appropriate pricing process carried out by developers.
More expensive prices on Steam
The change aims to protect developers’ profits, which were being harmed by the volatility of currencies such as the Argentine peso.Fonte: CNN
As a result, prices exploded, the user LegonTW published on his Twitter/X account a comparison of games like Civilization VI, which previously cost US$1.36 (or $503.99, in Argentine pesos) and was updated to US$59.99. Red Dead Redemption 2 doubled from $11,299 (about US$31) to US$60.
Indeed compatriots. Steam broke our ortho without Vaseline or sunflower oil. pic.twitter.com/8xPvX5xU3V
— Legon (@LegonTW) November 20, 2023
Buy cheaper games on Steam
This Monday (20), users from various regions went to Reddit to comment that their wallets had changed currency to US dollars.Fonte: PC Gamer
Valve has not commented on users changing regions to buy games cheaper, but we know that changes can stop “cheating” like this within the store. It is worth remembering that the change arrived one day before the big promotion of Black Friday of Steam, which starts this Tuesday (21).
Does this affect Brazil?
The Brazilian Steam store continues with its official currency, however, the country has already undergone an adjustment in 2022.Fonte: Getty Images
For the first time, the 25 countries and territories in Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa may experience an increase or reduction in prices, depending on what was suggested by the developers before the change. Check out the full list of countries below:
Region “LATAM — USD”
- Central America: Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.
- South America: Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname and Venezuela.
Region “MENA — USD”
- Middle East: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Turkey and Yemen.
- North Africa: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Sudan.
Brazil does not appear on the list, but it is worth remembering that Steam updated the country’s price list in October 2022. The change drew attention for triggering increases of up to 65% in the price of some games, when compared to the suggested value.
??URGENT: For the first time since its inception, Valve has updated its recommended pricing table.
In Brazil, before $1 was R$2.29, now the recommended amount is R$3.49.
In Turkey and Argentina things got much worse, $60 games increased by ~450% https://t.co/nM7oqGVKRp pic.twitter.com/s4gx8KTn97
— Ninoano (@ninoano) October 25, 2022
The practice serves as a reference for developers to price their games in the 39 currencies supported by Steam, without having to spend time manually setting values in each region.
What did you think of the change? Tell us on social media Voxel! In the meantime, check out some of the most expensive games sold on Steam below.
Source: https://www.tecmundo.com.br/voxel/274045-steam-implementa-dolar-moeda-oficial-argentina.htm
