Dear Steam, I have a huge complaint about purchasing Hitman Absolution from you.

[Antonius]

I bought Hitman Absolution in the Malaysian Steam store. And when I moved to Japan and tried to download the game after reformatting my PC, it says 'the game was activated with a product code that is valid only in a specific geographic region. Since you are not currently in that region, Hitman Absolution is not available to play.

Dear Steam, can you possibly understand how outrageous this is?
I understand that while most of your customers remain in the country where they purchased the game, there are customers like me who move from region to region.

When I clicked on visit Steam support website for more information, I found out that it says "If you purchased a regionally restricted game and you do not live in that designated region, you must contact the seller for a refund."

But Steam, I bought the game from you. Who shall I ask for a refund?
You?

I understand that Steam and Square Enix would like to price differentiate between nations. Hitman Absolution sells at a price of $79.99 in Japan while it is only $49.99 in the rest of the world.
However, please do not let your efforts to price discriminate ruin my Steam experience.

[Silicon Vampire]

Forums can not help, please contact support.

[Antonius]

I understand. I have the habit of posting another copy of my complaint on somewhere where others can see.
I feel extremely cheated. In the age of globalization, we move around more than we used to.
Steam and Square Enix should understand that it is no longer acceptable to price differentiate between regions - even if getting Japanese audio on to Hitman: Absolution is costly.
In the age of the internet, they should be thankful that we are purchasing these games from them and not downloading them. Yet they treat the ones who pay like this...

Where is justice?

[Satoru]

Its because SE hasn't released the game in Japan yet

You will need to contact support to resolve the issue.

[Antonius]

Satoru の投稿を引用：

Its because SE hasn't released the game in Japan yet

You will need to contact support to resolve the issue.

Steam released the game in Japan a few days ago. I am still waiting for support's reply.

[Silicon Vampire]

I think the issue is the Malaysia license. It's only good in that area.

[Antonius]

Silicon Vampire の投稿を引用：

I think the issue is the Malaysia license. It's only good in that area.

That defeats the purpose of Steam for gamers like me who travel around.
The good thing about Steam is that we don't have to worry about losing our CDs and also reformatting our PCs overseas.

[Silicon Vampire]

Not sure Valve had a choice in the matter. I would think that is a publisher licensing issue.

[Satoru]

THe only other issue is activating retail games in SE Asia regions is problematic since such retail copies are generally 'not intended for export' they also block these from being redistributed for the reason of grey marekt leakage into Japan.

[ChrisW]

I wonder why it says you have no playing time in the game? Are you telling us you never played the game in Malaysia?

[Dosnell]

ChrisW の投稿を引用：

I wonder why it says you have no playing time in the game? Are you telling us you never played the game in Malaysia?

lol learn to read, TC said that he bought Hitman Absolution on last day sales, and then moved to Japan :p

[Antonius]

ChrisW の投稿を引用：

I wonder why it says you have no playing time in the game? Are you telling us you never played the game in Malaysia?

I have actually never played the game before.
But I bought the game in the Malaysian Steam store. While trying to buy Hitman Absolution with a Malaysian credit card in Japan, I was redirected to the Malaysian Steam store.
What happens is if I do not check the box that says 'I currently live in the country selected above', I cannot proceed to checkout.
A message will appear which says 'Please verify your country selected below.'
As a result, I am forced to check the box which says 'I currently live in the country selected above.'
This redirects me to the Malaysian Steam store.

[Chika Ogiue]

eredar543 の投稿を引用：

This redirects me to the Malaysian Steam store.

Then your best bet is to contact support and ask them to remove the game. They should offer you a one time good will refund. But they may simply just want to add it to your inventory. If they remove it completely, simply get a friend in the US to gift it to you (or trade for one/purchase from a copy from one of Steam's competitors). US copies *ARE* playable in Japan. Several of my friends have US purchased versions and have been playing them recently.

If they add the game back to your inventory, you'll have to try and trade it to someone else in Malaysia as it's likely only usable there.

I would also avoid purchasing any other Square games directly on Steam in the future, if I were you.

[Haganeno]

I have the same problem.. i bought the same game in the Philippines. Then i also moved here in Japan because of work. well at least its only for 3 to 6 months i guess. now i cant register the game to steam. it says the country does not allow it or something like that. its a bull crap! why do you need to register the game online. then you cant play it in other places.

[Panda Bear]

DRM

[Antonius]

I received a refund from Steam in the end. They did the right thing and I am happy about it.
If they did not inform you in advance that it is region locked and if you suffer as a result, you should not be blamed.