my hunch is that this was done in order to prevent people from getting games for way cheaper by the proxy of having a friend from another region give it to you.
still, i do find this stifling, since i struggled with this problem before as well.
this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2025
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I guess if it was only friends doing it they wouldn't have bothered, it was probably because there was a market of third-party sellers abusing the system.
That is probable or they introduces it so vac banned would have harder time buying game on alt if they would get banned. But they can always purchase keys which are sometimes cheaper than games on steam
It is the inherent unfairness in global markets. Companies are more than allowed to exploit differences, while customers sure mustn't. Like paying less in Russian steam e.g. instead of paying more in German steam.
Which should be forbidden by law everywhere. If companies can charge us based on average wealth per country, why can't we shop based on average savings per country?
Like it was before steam noticed they're loosing potential income. And with it also died the excellent tradeable inventory-gift system....
Agreed that it is dumb. I think they should at least make it so that the gifter pays the same price as you would've paid. I got a gift card from my friend instead so I could buy the stuff myself. It was very silly.
Exactly this! Just let me pay the higher price! Trying to gift to an Australian friend was always an exercise in frustration. I don't care if it's more expensive just let me DO IT