VPNs to buy keys at minor price...

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Hi, i wanted to know, you go against the SSA on Steam, only when u buy a game from the steam's store from another region using a VPN, or also when u buy some key at minor price from the web, and then active it by using a VPN? is there some difference on this that break the SSA?
Thank you!

[Wolf Knight]

you using a VPN to change the region you are in most likely violates the rules for what ever site you are using to make your purchase. if you want to buy at a cheaper price, then you need to move to those cheaper regions and actually LIVE there.

VPN's are USE AT OWN RISK

[Tito Shivan]

Besides, your region is based on your payment method country. So you VPN'ing to another region would still direct you to your country store.

[J4MESOX4D]

1) You can't buy a game outside of your region using a VPN because you are required to have an verified payment method in the country you are attempting to buy from. You can change the store if you wish (not advisable) but you certainly wont be able to make a purchase regardless.

2) Buying a cheap regional key will mean you'd have to activate the game in its applicable region via a VPN and then sit on that country for 3 months else the product will be region locked. This will cause massive headaches elsewhere.

Not only that, we don't know how sensitive Valve's detection is in this aspect but region-rigging and geographical masking is against the SSA so any attempt can cause a trigger which would lead to an account lock of sorts.

It is simply best to just to buy the game in the sale or through a legitimate retailer that supports your region and provides worldwide keys. This has been tightened up massively in recent years on Steam and at retail-level so people can't manipulate their locations to get cheap stuff and bypass content restrictions.

[Chika Ogiue]

Originally posted by dsfd:

Hi, i wanted to know, you go against the SSA on Steam, only when u buy a game from the steam's store from another region using a VPN, or also when u buy some key at minor price from the web, and then active it by using a VPN? is there some difference on this that break the SSA?
Thank you!

You can no longer do either. Valve stopped referring to IP address for store purchases and game key activations around 2018/2019. Even if you connect to a VPN to match the region of a key, Steam will return the error that your purchase was cancelled if your Steam store region doesn't match. And if you Steam store region does match, you don't need a VPN.

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I heard Steam only block the IP adress if u use a VPN to buy at cheaper price...

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Originally posted by Chika Ogiue:

Originally posted by dsfd:

Hi, i wanted to know, you go against the SSA on Steam, only when u buy a game from the steam's store from another region using a VPN, or also when u buy some key at minor price from the web, and then active it by using a VPN? is there some difference on this that break the SSA?
Thank you!

You can no longer do either. Valve stopped referring to IP address for store purchases and game key activations around 2018/2019. Even if you connect to a VPN to match the region of a key, Steam will return the error that your purchase was cancelled if your Steam store region doesn't match. And if you Steam store region does match, you don't need a VPN.

And the people that used a VPN to buy at cheaper price from others regions before that time, will be account disabled?

[SqueakyTweaky]

Originally posted by dsfd:

Originally posted by Chika Ogiue:

You can no longer do either. Valve stopped referring to IP address for store purchases and game key activations around 2018/2019. Even if you connect to a VPN to match the region of a key, Steam will return the error that your purchase was cancelled if your Steam store region doesn't match. And if you Steam store region does match, you don't need a VPN.

And the people that used a VPN to buy at cheaper price from others regions before that time, will be account disabled?

If you get busted account will be terminated along with your games. Or games will be removed.

Originally posted by dsfd:

I heard Steam only block the IP adress if u use a VPN to buy at cheaper price...

Ip blocking is so 1999, I use vpn all the time for added online security, but you can't buy games from a cheaper store unless you have that countries bank account and a registered residential home address tied to that account, steam has made the security basically impossible to be bypassed.

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Originally posted by SqueakyTweaky:

Originally posted by dsfd:

And the people that used a VPN to buy at cheaper price from others regions before that time, will be account disabled?

If you get busted account will be terminated along with your games. Or games will be removed.

I activated only a key at cheaper price using vpn, 6 years and half ago, now i deleted that and i bought it again on a lecit way... steam assistance said me, they shouldnt do anything to my account, but i'm not 100% secure lol... maybe is better if i use another account? That one have only 2 games atm.

[Nx Machina]

https://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement

A. Payment Authorization

You agree that you will not use IP proxying or other methods to disguise the place of your residence, whether to circumvent geographical restrictions on game content, to order or purchase at pricing not applicable to your geography, or for any other purpose. If you do this, Valve may terminate your access to your Account.

[J4MESOX4D]

Originally posted by dsfd:

I heard Steam only block the IP adress if u use a VPN to buy at cheaper price...

Steam do not block IP addresses for anything. They have far more sophisticated protective measures and punishments in place.

[Wolverine]

Well, any legit key reseller will show directly in which area their keys can be activated, it's in their own interest that the customer gets a functional (meaning, a key that works for the customer and doesn't get him into any kind of trouble with Steam) key, so that he comes back for more...

[Chika Ogiue]

Originally posted by dsfd:

And the people that used a VPN to buy at cheaper price from others regions before that time, will be account disabled?

Accounts were disabled. And, after a few months, returned if you were polite to Steam support. Nowadays, you'd keep access to all your games, but ever other aspect of Steam (community, marketplace, buying or activating new games) will be disabled. But the point is moot, you can't cheat the system with that loop hole anymore.

[sumolagann]

gamesplanet let you buy from the other regions without vpn, theres no super cheap deals, but they have different sales, or had.

[Chika Ogiue]

Originally posted by sumolagann:

gamesplanet let you buy from the other regions without vpn, theres no super cheap deals, but they have different sales, or had.

And they warn you when keys are not activatable in your region. For example:

Will not activate in your region!

NOTICE

This product is region locked and can't be activated from Japan.

OR

Please note that this product is not guaranteed to work if purchased with a Japanese account or if you use a combination of the main game and additional DLC from different regions.

They also don't allow you to buy ALL games regardless of region, some will give you this error on adding to cart:

REGION LOCK: You cannot purchase this product

[sumolagann]

Originally posted by Chika Ogiue:

Originally posted by sumolagann:

gamesplanet let you buy from the other regions without vpn, theres no super cheap deals, but they have different sales, or had.

And they warn you when keys are not activatable in your region. For example:

Will not activate in your region!

NOTICE

This product is region locked and can't be activated from Japan.

OR

Please note that this product is not guaranteed to work if purchased with a Japanese account or if you use a combination of the main game and additional DLC from different regions.

They also don't allow you to buy ALL games regardless of region, some will give you this error on adding to cart:

REGION LOCK: You cannot purchase this product

Well, that is sort of good so you don't buy wrong keys, bad if you were reselling or gifting.