Are ROW games actually region free?

[r6d2]

Hi everyone!

I have been trading all this time under the assumption that ROW (Rest Of the World) implies "region-lock-free" keys and gifts, but after talking to HB support about the Codemasters bundle I have learned that, although that assumption is usually correct, it may not always be the case.

As a reference I found this thread[www.steamgifts.com] on SG that basically states that ROW games ARE NOT the same as WW games.

May any knowledgeable/experienced trader out there elaborate on the subject?

Thanks!

[NookieMonster]

I think ROW can be restricted in some cases. ie Germany and their silly violence in videogames law.
But that does not apply to the whole region. (eu1 in this case)

Could also be because of stricter laws around sexual content in other cases.
In other words, it's because of laws, not because of region restriction.

[Milouze]

It is a relevant question/topic. ROW has always meant region free apart from specific countries like Germany/Australia where local legislation supersedes.

I use EnhancedSteam add-on to see a notification on store page for games which would be restricted from exchanges/redeeming in a different GEO.

However, I would not associate it to any restriction applying to bundle keys...so I will definitely be more careful in the future when it comes to ROW links/keys.

[r6d2]

Thank you both for your comments.

The thing is that some games have different package numbers according to the region they are being bought. Two recent HB bundles --Capcom & Codemasters-- had this problem, and keys gotten when buying the bundle on certain regions were not freely giftable using HB's own platform.

I've been discussing the issue with HB support and they seem to be very confused about the matter. HB does not even make these restrictions explicit during the sale, so you may end up getting keys unusable for giving away.

When I asked my keys to be replaced by ROW keys, they answered me "we can do it as an exception, but ROW keys may not work on your region". So I became confused too.

[vasya 54 RUS]

Codemasters ROW keys from this bundle at HB is not region free. I was not able to activate the key (GRID 2 All In DLC Pack) purchased by the user from USA (that this country listed in his steam profile). My region is CIS.
https://barter.vg/u/89a/o/138329/
Vice versa also did not work

[r6d2]

Originally posted by vasya 54 RUS:

Codemasters ROW keys from this bundle at HB is not region free. I was not able to activate the key (GRID 2 All In DLC Pack) purchased by the user from USA (that this country listed in his steam profile). My region is CIS.
https://barter.vg/u/89a/o/138329/
Vice versa also did not work

Yes, it is in fact region locked for CIS:

https://steamdb.info/sub/34431/info/