Region Lock for Gifting is stupid and should be removed

[akkmok]

I had gifted 4-5 games to friends over the last year or two. Sadly the newly implemented region lock on gifting will prevent me from doing so in the future. Recently when I tried to purchase as gifts a number of games that I intended to give to friends, I received a message saying that the game copies could only be sent to people who are in the same region as me.

What is the idea behind this stupid idea anyway? I can understand region lock for buying/playing games, but why restrict gifting to the same region only?

If a game that is playable in both the buyer's region and the intended recipient's region, then
one should really allow the game to be gifted from the buyer to the intended recipient. Is Steam making so much money they want to discourage people from sending gifts to friends who live in different regions?

[fluxtorrent]

the region lock exists exclusively to stop people from abusing the lower prices in poorer regions.

[akkmok]

Well they should offer the option to pay the difference between the prices for the item to be sent to another region then.

[wuddih]

Originally posted by akkmok:

Well they should offer the option to pay the difference between the prices for the item to be sent to another region then.

so you are willing to pay double the price just to gift it to someone else?

[akkmok]

I highly doubt that the price difference will be double but the answer is "Yes" since that will be the price the recipient would have to pay if he/she were to buy it himself/herself anyway. I mean I had sent out 2 US$80 copies of the Witcher 3+Expansion as gifts back when all prices were US$... I do not mind paying the MSRP.

In any case they can easily offer a "All region" option after "Purchase as a gift" which gives the buyer the highest price of all the regions in exchange for a copy of the game to be able to be sent to all regions. Since the price paid is already highest of all regions, Steam is not losing anything.

And for people who want a lower price for their own use, just "Purchase for yourself" at the original regional price.

[blitzwarm4st3r]

Agree on this. Region locking gifts is absurd specially if you have friends outside your region. At least they should make the option to purchase an all-region license.

[Sebastian Nielsen]

You also need to consider that some games are different in different regions due to censor laws and such, and some games are completely locked out. Some games might have another release date in certain regions.

Thats why you also cannot send a gift from for example sweden to germany (same prices in germany and sweden, but germany has STRICT censor laws), or even sweden to US (where US is a "cheaper" region than Sweden, eg the prices are lower in US and you would technically "lose" on sending a gift to US)

All this are easier for steam to keep track on, if you only can gift to the very same country you bought the game from.

Because, imagine if a game is banned in germany, and available in sweden.
If a sweden is going to gift the game to germany, it need to be rejected because its illegal to play the game in germany.
If a germanee is going to gift the game to someone in sweden, it needs to be rejected because its illegal to sell the game in germany, even if its intended for export.

Thus, easiest is "need to be same country as the purchase country".

[Mythic]

+1 i agree 100000%

[MightyMookie]

Originally posted by fluxtorrent:

the region lock exists exclusively to stop people from abusing the lower prices in poorer regions.

Then what about me gifting close friends in a region that i can't even damn buy them a game for the sake of just giving them?

[Satoru]

Originally posted by akkmok:

I highly doubt that the price difference will be double

https://steamdb.info/app/346110/

ARK Survival is

4x cheaper in Russia
2x cheaper in Malyasia/Indonesia/Brazil

[OverwatchBanned]

I'm not sure if this works but you can try asking your friends to use a vpn and change his profile country of residence to match yours .

[MightyMookie]

Originally posted by InvincibleMeh:

I'm not sure if this works but you can try asking your friends to use a vpn and change his profile country of residence to match yours .

Yeah and then when they put it back they won't be able to play the game. tried it when using a VPN on Russia on THIEF and they only unlocked the game after a year.

[OverwatchBanned]

Originally posted by ΜΘΘƘIΣ Mookie:

Originally posted by InvincibleMeh:

I'm not sure if this works but you can try asking your friends to use a vpn and change his profile country of residence to match yours .

Yeah and then when they put it back they won't be able to play the game. tried it when using a VPN on Russia on THIEF and they only unlocked the game after a year.

Well that's fcked up .

[Roday]

Originally posted by blitzwarm4st3r:

Agree on this. Region locking gifts is absurd specially if you have friends outside your region. At least they should make the option to purchase an all-region license.

i doubt steam will do this,if they make the option to purchase an all-region licence=a lot of people will choose the cheaper price between local price and row price

[The End]

Originally posted by InvincibleMeh:

I'm not sure if this works but you can try asking your friends to use a vpn and change his profile country of residence to match yours .

I would not advise to do that, it's against the SSA.

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 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.

http://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/

[MightyMookie]

Originally posted by Rockon:

Originally posted by InvincibleMeh:

I'm not sure if this works but you can try asking your friends to use a vpn and change his profile country of residence to match yours .

I would not advise to do that, it's against the SSA.

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 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.

http://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/

Well yeah, VPN is no longer an option so how the hell am i suppose to innocently gift a friend across regions aside from sending them money now?!