Playing an Already Activated Region Locked Gift

[domobob]

Hi, I currently live in Singapore and I want to send a gift to my friend, who is currently studying in the US. I've read the Region Lock warning that appears as I was proceeding on my purchase, so I haven't purchased it yet. The warning says that the game can only be activated in the SEA region. My friend will be here around new year, so to me it seems that it won't be a problem.

The thing is, I've also heard that some game are only playable in the region where they were purchased, although I didn't find any warning regarding this when I want to make the purchase. The Steam FAQ section on gifting showed a screenshot of the play lock warning, but it was shown when the user want to add the game to his/her library, not in the store section.

My question is, will he be able to play the game in US after he actiavated it here in Singapore? Oh and if it makes a difference, I actually wanted to send a DLC, not a game. I've looked through quite a few discussions regarding this issue, but I cannot find a definite answer. Does anyone has any experience regarding this issue? Will he be able to play it?

[domobob]

Hi habitualaction, thanks for the quick reply. It seems that I didn't explain my situation well enough.

You said that he won't be able to activate it there. But what if he activate the game here in Singapore? It's not through using VPN or anything, I know about the rules regarding that. My friend is not from US, he's just studying there, so coincidentally he will be here around next week. Thus, it seems to me that he will be able to activate the game here just fine. The question is whether he can play it once he go back to US?

And yes, I've seen that warning, as I mentioned in my original post. But yea, as you also mentioned, it's only shown in the receiver side, not on the store. I think Steam needs to make this clearer :/

[Ogami]

Region locked games that are already activated on an account take 90 days to become regionfree.
After that time he can install/play them anywhere in the world.

[domobob]

Originally posted by Ogami:

Region locked games that are already activated on an account take 90 days to become regionfree.
After that time he can install/play them anywhere in the world.

Hi Ogami, may I know where do you get this info? Would be nice if you can give official sources :)

[Ogami]

Was introduced about 2 years ago. There was never an official announcement about it but i tried it myself multiple times. Visiting friend in Russia, buying and activating a game there which worked since i was in Russia. Then when i came back to germany the game would not longer install/start with the " wrong region" error message.
But exactly 90 days after activating the game i could install/play it in germany.
Since then i bought at least 2 dozen games while visiting in russia and it worked every time.
Also worked for my friends who tried it after i told them.

I mean , think about it. Steam would drown in complains if someone would lose his whole library just by moving to another country.
The 90 days waiting still protects the publisher from cheap reimports, the original reason for region locks.

[MancSoulja]

Originally posted by domobob:

Originally posted by Ogami:

Region locked games that are already activated on an account take 90 days to become regionfree.
After that time he can install/play them anywhere in the world.

Hi Ogami, may I know where do you get this info? Would be nice if you can give official sources :)

He's right, once a region locked game is added to your account, it remains play locked to that region for 90 days, at which point the game starts acting like any RoW game would and is playable globally.