got a steam key gifted but its RU?

[76561198862946377]

hi!
i already asked my brother but he didnt know an answer either. he told me to better write here in steam forum. so a friend gifted me a key for a game, when i activated it, it said in my account details in the license list: NameOfTheGame (RU)
i googled it and google said the key was bought in russia and im not allowed to play games from russia here in europe. and that steam banns people who try to buy games cheaper from russia, when you dont really live in russia.

so uhm.. what does it mean exactly for me? i didnt really buy it with vpn or anything and didnt use vpn to activate it. it was just a gift. did i do something wrong now? i tried to contact steam support but i cant, because it is so hard to contact steam support, because they only link me to some FAQs or thread. so i have no idea how to successfully contact steam support to explain the situation.

will this have any penalties for me? besides im confused why i could even redeem the key. shouldnt it be usually region locked?

[Dr.Shadowds 🐉]

If you were using VPN, proxy, or etc to fake your location on Steam store, to buy games outside your region/country at a lower price, in another region/country then it is not tolerated by Steam, and can result in account lock, or termination. This is apply to the Steam store.


Steam keys, as these are outside of the Steam store, and can be sold at different prices, or given away by the game Dev, and Devs have the option to set regional restrictions keys, which can only redeem them if you're from the said region. If you're not from the region the key was restricted to, and try to redeem the Steam key, you will be told on redeeming it, you're not able to redeem due to regional restrictions, and that's about it, nothing will happen to you, due to not being in the said region the key is restricted to, you just can't redeem it, that's all there is to it.


If you can't redeem the key, then tell your friend to give it to someone that's is from the region the key is restricted to in the first place.

[Hodman]

The key wasn't acquired through Steam so you won't have any kind of punishment.

[76561198862946377]

the problem is.. i could redeem it. thats what surprised me. but i redeemed it through steam website and not client. could that be the reason why i could redeem it? my friend who also lives in europe told me he couldnt redeem it thats why he tried to gift it to me. so why could i redeem it? i used this website to redeem it and it successfuly redeemed it:

https://store.steampowered.com/account/registerkey

[StickyPawz]

@dingendongo

I don't think you broke any rules by merely activating the key, … but you may have difficulty playing the region- restricted game on your account.

Have you tried installing game and playing?

[76561198862946377]

no i didnt install it yet. i was too afraid to do anythin after reading the stuff about banning people who buy games from russia, when they dont live in russia. thats why i didnt install. you think its safe to try? i mean i dont really need to play that games, so i would even be fine if steam removes the game. i just wanted to know why it was possibile for me to activate it via the website i showed you all. because i remember that one time, on the steam client though, for one of the keys i got gifted it said it was region restricted. so im kinda confused why i could activate a RU key and if that would have consequences.

@ StickyPawz.

Nontheless, thank you all, for trying to help me out / for trying to inform me.

[Dr.Shadowds 🐉]

Originally posted by dingendongo:

the problem is.. i could redeem it. thats what surprised me. but i redeemed it through steam website and not client. could that be the reason why i could redeem it? my friend who also lives in europe told me he couldnt redeem it thats why he tried to gift it to me. so why could i redeem it? i used this website to redeem it and it successfuly redeemed it:

https://store.steampowered.com/account/registerkey

It doesn't matter if you did it on browser, or client, as it checks with your account what country it set in your account details.

If you can redeem it, then it's not restricted from your region, or country.

[76561198862946377]

thanks for reassuring me guys and gals
so uh yes. i could redeem the key while still being in my original IP which is a european country. still wonder though, why it has the (RU) tag behind the name. maybe i will just try to install it soon and see, if it makes any problems. maybe they just made a mistake with the key? not sure! but thanks to all, for helping me out and reassuring me.

[Cathulhu]

Most likely language restrictions. If you're lucky English is available, if not, then you better learn Russian.