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Valve divides Europe
If you’ve been reading the Steam forums or our forums lately you probably noticed that right now Valve divided Europe into some crazy 3 different zones.
Our friend Rhonin the wizard calls them tiers so lets just keep it that way.
So what’s it all about? It’s pretty simple, right now if you live in: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Netherlands, Sweden or Switzerland you’re paying the most in the Steam Store. You’re in Tier 1.
If you’re from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain or the Vatican City you’re paying a little bit less then the previous Tier. You’re in Tier 2.
And finally if you’re from Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania you’re paying the least for the games on Steam. You’re in Tier 3.
Here’s an example:
Team Fortress 2
Tier 1: 19,99€
Tier 2: 14,99€
Tier 3: 11,99€
Note: This conversion involves Valve games only!
United Kingdom is NOT on the list because UK has pounds as their currency, and apparently for Valve UK is not a part of Europe or the European Union.
What do you guys think about it? Is it better now, is it fair at all? Or is it totally wrong? I personally think that right now it’s even worse than it was before, they divided European Union/Europe like some countries are "worse" than others.
22 Responses to Valve divides Europe
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The idea is OK, I have no problem to pay in Germany more than in an “eastern state” like Hungary.
The problem is, all Tier 1 “citizens” still pay much more then the US or UK, which is ridiculous (still the 1⏠!= 1$ problem).
Well I live in Lithuania, tier 3 and well it’s a good thing for me. But I feel sorry for everyone else that still has to pay so much.
well there is also good news the empire total war downloadable contect is fairly priced âŹ2,5 $3,5 and 2 pounds
Unbelievable…
How did they come up with these tiers? Pick the countries from a hat, totally random?
Maybe GDP based tiers would make more sense.
But we all now Valve lost it’s sense some time ago:
looks pretty GDP based too me except for norway which doesnt have VAT
and dont know what Macedonia, Albania and Andorra are doing in Tier 1 :)
IMO this looks like it could be a step in the right direction. Is it possible that they are currently working at making the prices equal to the rest of the world but somehow didn’t manage to make the change Europe-wide at once? The only thing that doesn’t make sense is tier 3.
Comment to the article: WTF!?
Comment to Steam: As long as you dont have the same prices all over (the world), then I dont like you.. I dont mind playing on your system, but buying games from you will never happen again, unless you manage fix this crap.
Makes no sence at all.
Tier 2 is not that bad but meh, still more for nothing.
Batisda you think they should charge the same to a 3 times poorer country then urs?
I mean i think this is pretty fair except for a few exceptions
Just the higher prices compared to the UK and USA which are simalar countries to the tier 1 in europe get better deals
Fuck.
Made just for you guys.
#9
What Im saying is, that with such a high price differnce, then its just useless imo : /
Why cant they just have the same prices all over instead?
cus ur country (Denmark) and mine (Netherlands) are like 3 times as rich as countries such as Estonia and pretty much noone could buy games in Estonia cus of high prices ..
#13
Have not really looked at it that way : /
But it aint this new “Valve divides Europe” thing Im thinking the most of, its more Steams pricing systen in general.
#13 is right really… There are some corrections to be made, but yea.. We (Lithuanians) earn much less than people in Denmark or NL.
#13 is right, alright !
1) But why americans/english pay the same price as Lithuanians ? USA and UK are not that poor last time I checked. Is it some kind of US arrogance or what ?!
2) Then, what happens to poors in a rich country ? “too bad you’re in the wrong country, it’s full price here” ? Ok we’re not in Saudi Arabia/Alger where there’s a big gap between rich and poor, but I hope Valve set some limits to this system.
By the way, Valve decide to adjust their prices on “unknown” wealth data (why not after all ?), but Steam still bow dow to the $1=1⏠EA Games policy, where’s the coherence ?
ps : didn’t knew Macedonia and Albania were that rich, their HDI is similar or below tier 2 countries like Romania, but they’re in tier 1.
ps² : Norway, 2nd highest HDI or GDP in the world, tier 2. hu ?
Same with Italy and Spain being in tier 2, they changed since WW2, Valve should get new economy books (or just read IMF/World Bank reports on Wikipedia).
Well, Valve tried something new, but Steam didn’t change at all, same $1=1âŹ.
yeah spit them all up like the jews and the nazis
#16 – you’re also right, there’s lots of mistakes, but when corrected it might be fair. Because really, I’m pretty Lithuanian/Latvian/Estonian are wealthier than Albanians which are for unknown reasons in tier 1. (The same applies for Macedonia)
…they divided European Union/Europe like some countries are “worse” than others.
And sadly, they’re right. Still, this is a stupid move, customers in tier 1 will hate them even more. Switch back to the good old $ system!
This is f***ing bulls**t. I hate you, Valve, trying to make even more stupid barriers of trade, even inside the EU. You think “Free Trade” means only that corporations can fuck their employees over by switching to the cheapest places? Well, Valve should THINK AGAIN:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directive_on_services_in_the_internal_market#Business_Obligations_and_Benefits
yeay!!! I’m from elitist Ireland – shut up Greece, shut Italy… yeah and you can double shut up Lithuania !!! hehe (it’s a joke)
Obviously it’s total bullshit, until we pay the same prices as the US citizens do.
This is exactly why I’m looking out for 3rd party steam-key sellers now.