As announced, on the night of November 20th to 21st, Valve increased prices in the Steam store and wallet funds for Turkey, Argentina and 25 other countries in Central and South America, the Middle East and North Africa in the US. Converted to dollars.
Image source: Reddit (ReverseTheFlash)
As part of the initiative, Valve introduced two new regions on Steam:
- LATAM-USD (Central and South America) – Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Venezuela, Guyana, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, El Salvador, Suriname and Ecuador;
- MENA-USD (Middle East and North Africa) – Turkey, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Sudan and Tunisia.
Although Valve recommended While developers in these regions set lower prices than in the US, some publishers have not heeded the advice and many games have become noticeably more expensive:
- EA Sports FC 24 cost $70, although it cost $42 (1199 lira) in Turkey and $34 (11999 pesos) in Argentina.
- Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade cost $70 despite being $24/$22;
- Mortal Kombat 1 was $70 despite being $42/$48;
- the Dead Space remake was $60 despite being $35/$23;
- Persona 5 Royal was $60 despite being $51/$51;
- Like a Dragon: Ishin! became $60 even though it cost $38/$23;
- STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl was $60, despite being $12 and $8.5 respectively;
- “The Last of Us Part I” was $60 despite being $38/$28;
- Red Dead Redemption 2 was $60 despite being $40/$32;
- The witness cost $60, although it cost $2 and $1.2 respectively;
- Stardew Valley became $15 despite being $0.8/$0.5.
However, even taking regional prices into account, the cost of most games (Elden Ring, Baldur’s Gate 3, Resident Evil 4, Starfield, Remnant 2 and many others) has increased. In rare cases, the change has resulted in lower prices:
- For example, Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon became cheaper in Turkey – it was $45, but now it’s $40;
- The price of Diablo IV in Argentina has dropped from $79 to $70.
Image source: Steam (King of the West)
In making the announcement, Valve attributed the move to volatility in exchange rates in Turkey and Argentina, as well as difficulties supporting payment methods on Steam for those countries and territories (again due to currency fluctuations).
Users already are called present day “The end of Steam for Turks and Argentines”. One of the residents of Argentina complained: “After the increase, the new price of Mortal Kombat 1 exceeds my monthly salary”.
Judging by the mood on social networks and forums, residents of the Steam regions affected by the change are seriously thinking about switching to the Epic Games Store, where prices continue to be in the local currency, or even to pirated versions.
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