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Steam is now worthless in Europe (prices now in , $1=1 apparently)

L

Ledsen

Member
I searched, could only find this is in the Steam thread, but it deserves it's own.

Steampowered.com said:
Products on Steam are now priced using local currency in the United Kingdom (Pounds Sterling), and Europe (Euros). All other countries remain in United States Dollars.
Click to expand...

The exchange rate they used was 1 dollar = 1 euro (edit: not for all games, but for many. If you have more information on before/after prices, please share). The actual exchange rate is 1 dollar = 0,69 euro. Even if you take into account that some prices were "lowered" from say $49 to €45, that's still a price increase between 20-50% for most games. Digg the story here:

http://digg.com/pc_games/Bad_news_for_European_gamers_Steam_prices_soar_almost_50
 
B

BeeDog

Member
Many games on Steam were overpriced as is (when I could go and pick up the retail copy for a lower price), but this is just pure bullshit.
 
wolfmat

wolfmat

Confirmed Asshole
I've always said "Fuck Valve", but for entirely different reasons. Yet another reason to raise the middle finger. These guys are greedy as shit.
 
P

Psychotext

Member
BeeDog said:
Many games on Steam were overpriced as is
Click to expand...
Very much so. I've never really used Steam much but I had a look at some prices when L4D came out and I was astonished how high they were.
 
E

epmode

Member
wmat said:
I've always said "Fuck Valve", but for entirely different reasons. Yet another reason to raise the middle finger. These guys are greedy as shit.
Click to expand...
Yeah. Good thing I live in America, where it's still awesome.
 
T

TheGreatDave

Banned
Valve, why do you make things so difficult?

This is bullshit. I guess I'll just wait till your shit is for sale at half the price in stores? Bah.
 
V

VOOK

We don't know why he keeps buying PAL, either.
It baffles the fuck out of me why there can be price differences between regions for DD. I mean even on the app store a .99c app here in Australia $1.29. Fucking SHIT.
 
wolfmat

wolfmat

Confirmed Asshole
No Means Nomad said:
yeah fuck those guys and their awesome games.
Click to expand...
Their games are awesome, there's no dispute there. But they piss on their customers. Don't take their high level of quality as an excuse for sucking their dicks.
 
B

Benson

Member
I'm not that bothered, Steam has always been overpriced when compared to online retailers. The only game I've purchased via Steam was SIN episode 1, which I don't believe was available anywhere else at the time of release.
 
D

Draft

Member
Steam needs better competition.

Their pricing is the best example of this.

Left to run amock, Valve will continue to gouge.
 
J

Joseph Merrick

Member
I don't think this is correct? Have anyone got the numbers for what the european dollar prices was before and what the euro prices are now? Something like CoD4 was 70 dollars for me, but 50 euros now. So, about the same.
 
T

TheExodu5

Banned
Steam has become somewhat unaffordable for Canadians as well. We pay in U.S. currency, and the Canadian dollar has dropped to $0.77 U.S.. A $50 game now costs $65. Not the end of the world, but still annoying.
 
M

MrPing1000

Member
This can only be a mixture of greed and keeping the retailers happy.

There is no reason to charge more, none. Bandwidth is what is costing money and it makes bugger all difference where you are.
 
B

beje

Banned
Fuck them, now we have a better deal going to the store for the disc version of the game, plus it's not just a digital goods.

They're not going to see any more money from me in a very very long time.

And I'm really sure they're going to regret it. Come on, 95% of european people in Steam just used it for being cheaper than retailers. Now it's just a worthless service.
 
V

Visualante

Member
I'm not buying any more full priced titles from Steam.

Steam is just a content delivery service. Valve have to facilitate what publishers want in order to attract their business. (oh, hi EA) Either the dollar pricing was a barrier to people from Europe and they chose not to make purchases because they didn't understand the currency or the publishers wanted localised pricing because retail was complaining that Steam undercuts their rounded up prices.

Remember there is still the US to Euro gift loophole.
 
L

Ledsen

Member
Joseph Merrick said:
I don't think this is correct? Have anyone got the numbers for what the european dollar prices was before and what the euro prices are now? Something like CoD4 was 70 dollars for me, but 50 euros now. So, about the same.
Click to expand...

Some prices have been changed, that's correct. Far from all of them though. Look at something like Aquaria. It was 16 dollars, now it's 16 euros. And I believe CoD4 has always been one of the most expensive games on Steam. Anyways, I changed the OP to note that not all games have the same price increase.
 
T

Timber

Member
No Means Nomad said:
yeah fuck those guys and their awesome games.
Click to expand...
D'ya miss the part where this thread isn't about their games at all? Steam has always been a shit service for people in euro countries, now they're giving people even more reason to ignore it and just go retail instead.
The 1 dollar = 1 euro bullshit really needs to end.
 
C

Crye

Member
I love steam for the cheaper smaller games I usually cant find else where, but for everything else its just stupid, I can go out and actually buy a real disk version, box, manual for cheaper then I can a digital version from steam, always.
Prices for many things are not too bad, but in no way are they representative of the fact that your not actually buying any thing physical.
 
B

Baloonatic

Member
Pretty much why I don't buy games directly from Steam, they're crazy expensive. I was going to buy Left 4 Dead on there as it was available before retail in the UK, but it was nearly £40. PC games are generally £20-£30 over here brand new.
 
wolfmat

wolfmat

Confirmed Asshole
Crye said:
I love steam for the cheaper smaller games I usually cant find else where, but for everything else its just stupid, I can go out and actually buy a real disk version, box, manual for cheaper then I can a digital version from steam, always.
Prices for many things are not too bad, but in no way are they representative of the fact that your not actually buying any thing physical.
Click to expand...
That's one thing. Another issue for germans is having to bloodpatch games because Valve is so greedy that they don't want to lose advertising opportunity in case of potentially landing on the index.

So that speaks volumes about where their priorities lie. They just don't give a shit.

As a result, I have to crack and hand-patch all my games. And now they want more money for that. What a bunch of cunts.
 
T

Tntnnbltn

Member
VOOK said:
I mean even on the app store a .99c app here in Australia $1.29. Fucking SHIT.
Click to expand...
Umm... yay?

30vm81v.png
 
G

ghst

thanks for the laugh
guess i'll slot this in here..

ghst said:
steam prices confuse the hell out of my sometimes. i've been considering picking up far cry 2 for a little while, and with the euro currency beta i could pick it up for £26.99, a fair price to pay in the uk. still with an inexplicable premium over what i'd pay for retail, but whatever.

so i go back to check it today, with the euro currency mandatory and BAM...£34.99.

do these publishers have any concept of how to actually sell their fucking game?


i'm no marketing analyst, i've got no business degree, but i can't think of a single damn person who'd stretch to this premium - even for steam. that game is selling for an average of £25, dropping to £18 in some cases. i was willing to pay more than either of these prices with the affect of actually saving ubisoft money on retail shipping, but no way in hell £34.99 more.

then i went on to check up on my most anticipated game on the horizon...empire:total war. £39.99!

WHY?!
Click to expand...

oh and..

Baloonatic said:
Pretty much why I don't buy games directly from Steam, they're crazy expensive. I was going to buy Left 4 Dead on there as it was available before retail in the UK, but it was nearly £40. PC games are generally £20-£30 over here brand new.
Click to expand...

with the implementation of the £, valve are vaguely on the ball with their own products. left 4 dead goes for £26.99 on steam now, which is only a small (yet still inexplicable) premium, especially when compared to the £35 you'd have paid of it when they were still only retailing in dollars.
 
V

Visualante

Member
Ledsen said:
And I believe CoD4 has always been one of the most expensive games on Steam.
Click to expand...
Say hello to Far Cry 2, £34.99 as opposed to Call of Duty's £29.99.

£17 more than it costs on PS3 and 360 right now, and £10 more than it does from PC retail.
I have a feeling Ubisoft's patchy support for Steam in Europe is an indication that Ubisoft was one of the big players asking for localized currency in Europe. I bet Prince of Persia and Shawn White soon turn up in the Euro store.

Price breakdown for the highest priced games and packs in the UK store (for US readers) http://i40.tinypic.com/5nstxx.jpg
 
D

dejan

Member
Didn't see this thread, so I copied my post from here.

dejan said:
Steam DE (germany):
Fallout 3 50 €
GTA IV 50 €
CoD WoW 50€
Left 4 Dead 45€
Far Cry 2 not available

Steam US (for comparison):
Fallout 3 50$ ~ 35€ (1€ = 1.45$)
GTA IV 50$ ~ 35€
CoD WoW 50$ ~ 35€
Left 4 Dead 50$ ~ 35€
Far Cry 2 50$ ~ 35€

Oh, did I mention the 19% VAT on every purchase from the german store?

Btw I can get all of these games for 35€ at retail.
Click to expand...
 
S

syllogism

Member
The prices will probably be adjusted, but in all likelihood they'll stay higher than they used to be

e: the prices now include VAT, so it's not QUITE as bad as it seems
 
B

brain_stew

Member
Everything is much cheaper here in the UK. The pound being close to worthless made the previous Steam prices seem extortionate, but they're very reasonable now.
 
I

itsinmyveins

Gets to pilot the crappy patrol labors
I was annoyed at the prices before they changed to euros because they sucked already, and now they're making it even more expensive? Thanks, Valve. Won't buy games from Steam any more, I guess.
 
L

Label

The Amiga Brotherhood
Does not bother me at all really, as it's still just pretty cheap, £26 for L4D is abotu the same as it is in stores. And around the same price I paid for it in $$.
 
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