Finally someone else than us noticed the non-sense pricing on Steam. It’s kind of sad it took a over a year for someone to finally see it. Although, better late than never.

Not that we didn’t contact IGN a year ago about this…but oh well. Anyway, here’s the post:

“I noticed something when cooking up the Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Limited Edition Steam pre-order posts – why is there a discrepency in EA's regional pricing?

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Limited Edition: $49.99 / €49.99 / £34.99
Real World: $50 = €35 / $50 = £31 / €50 = £43

Dragon Age Origins – Awakening: $39.99 / €29.99 / £19.99
Real World: $40 = €28 / $40 = £24 / €30 = £26

Ignoring EA's laughable exchange rates, why is Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Limited Edition $49.99/€49.99, and Dragon Age Origins – Awakening $39.99/€29.99? Following EA's own logic, DAOA should be $39.99/€39.99. Don't get me wrong, I prefer the lower price, but why is it only applied to DAOA and not BFBC2LE?

The cynic inside me says because they've already got Dragon Age players hooked and so it's a sure bet they'll buy the expansion, whereas BFBC2LE buyers might not like what they see, and may not necessarily buy the inevitable expansion or DLC.

Think I'm crazy? Take a look at Dragon Age: Origins' Steam pricing – $49.99 / €49.99 / £29.99!

Also note that the UK equivalent price jumped £5 on BFBC2LE, compared to DAO. Exchange rates have shifted since Dragon Age's release, but not sufficiently so to justify a £5 increase.

In conclusion, EA's regional Steam pricing is a huge con, stiffing mainland Europeans considerably. Having lived among the natives for seven years I suggest using Play.com, if you don't mind a delivery taking up to two weeks, or Amazon UK if you don't mind paying a few quid extra for their cheapest delivery option, which typically gets a game to your doorstep a few days after release, if not on the day of release.

In the interest of fairness I should point out that other publishers use rip-off exchange rates on Steam, but only EA has introduced these new discrepancies.”

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