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Konami region-locks PES 2018 (Steam) on China, their biggest PES 2017 audience

vjbJ9jj.png
..and the game already has Chinese language packs inside PES 2018.
Other than China, Malaysia and India are also region-locked for PES 2018, which never happened in the previous installments.

They surely have a good reason for doing this, right? Or is it just another baffling decision from Konami?

Edit: PES 2018 store when accessed from region-locked countries:
gV1DLKb.png
 

L~A

Member
They surely have a good reason for doing this, right? Or is it just another baffling decision from Konami?

I assume it's because it's sold significantly cheaper than in other regions, that's generally why games are region-locked on Steam. What's the price there?

That, or Chinese censorship issue.
 

Plasma

Banned
Region locked as in they can't play multiplayer with other regions or they can't redeem cd keys from other regions? If it's the latter then that's a fairly common thing on Steam that publishers do to try and combat people buying cheap cd keys from other countries.
 
I assume it's because it's sold significantly cheaper than in other regions, that's generally why games are region-locked on Steam. What's the price there?

That, or Chinese censorship issue.

Is it cheaper to buy the game from China ?

There's no price in china, it's region locked for them. They can't view the store page, let alone buy the game.

There were region locking in steam? how does it work?

Publishers decide which country don't deserve their games.
 

PrismStar

Member
Region locked as in they can't play multiplayer with other regions or they can't redeem cd keys from other regions? If it's the latter then that's a fairly common thing on Steam that publishers do to try and combat people buying cheap cd keys from other countries.
Nah, that means they block the game completely in China
 

Jimrpg

Member
I'm living in Malaysia at the moment.

It's a crock of shit to be honest. They're doing it to stem pirates and funnel everyone to the PS4 version. Because most people here will just pirate it, at least my cousin in law says so.

The work around is -

Buy a CD key change your VPN to the US and activate the game that way. I've been told by JaseC, the actual installation package and the game is not region locked, just the activation is, so once you get past that, you can install it.
 
There's no price in china, it's region locked for them. They can't view the store page, let alone buy the game.



Publishers decide which country don't deserve their games.

Oh! My idea of "region lock" was "make a fence around country so they can't play with others". Thanks to your explanation this thread now makes sense. It's weird, but my guess is this issue has something to do with Chinese regulations or legislation.

China: "You need to do this to enter China"
Konami: "No"
 

Jimrpg

Member
I assume it's because it's sold significantly cheaper than in other regions, that's generally why games are region-locked on Steam. What's the price there?

That, or Chinese censorship issue.

Pretty sure PES 2017 was RM179 on Malaysia Steam before a price drop recently to RM89.

RM179 is about US$40.

The PS4 physical version of PES 2018 sells for about RM209 in shops. Fifa 18 is about RM259.
 
There's a lot of games region locked in Malaysia on Steam.

Not sure how I feel about it, especially when we get a lot of region locked PC games cheaper, like Football Manager.

Edit: oh you mean we can't even view the page? Yeah usually it's due to contract issues. Like some distributor has exclusive rights to distribute it so they can't even sell it to Malaysians on Steam.
 

Jimrpg

Member
There's a lot of games region locked in Malaysia on Steam.

Not sure how I feel about it, especially when we get a lot of region locked PC games cheaper, like Football Manager.

The one that annoys me the most is Metal Gear Rising....

We get Football Manager every year as far as I can tell on Steam?
 
I'm living in Malaysia at the moment.

It's a crock of shit to be honest. They're doing it to stem pirates and funnel everyone to the PS4 version. Because most people here will just pirate it, at least my cousin in law says so.

The work around is -

Buy a CD key change your VPN to the US and activate the game that way. I've been told by JaseC, the actual installation package and the game is not region locked, just the activation is, so once you get past that, you can install it.

The weird thing is that it's available in other Southeast Asian countries.

I mean, publishers usually apply regional blocking, not per country basis.

Ah ok, I see. Guess it's just crap anti-piracy measure that's only going to further encourage piracy *shrugs*

Oh! My idea of "region lock" was "make a fence around country so they can't play with others". Thanks to your explanation this thread now makes sense. It's weird, but my guess is this issue has something to do with Chinese regulations or legislation.

China: "You need to do this to enter China"
Konami: "No"

Yeah, this is what you get when you click on PES 2018 store page.

gV1DLKb.png


The game is simply not for sale in China, Malaysia, and India.
 
The one that annoys me the most is Metal Gear Rising....

We get Football Manager every year as far as I can tell on Steam?
Sorry, I thought it meant that the game is available at a cheaper price in Malaysia, but you can't gift it to anyone who isn't Malaysian
 

patapuf

Member
I'm living in Malaysia at the moment.

It's a crock of shit to be honest. They're doing it to stem pirates and funnel everyone to the PS4 version. Because most people here will just pirate it, at least my cousin in law says so.

The work around is -

Buy a CD key change your VPN to the US and activate the game that way. I've been told by JaseC, the actual installation package and the game is not region locked, just the activation is, so once you get past that, you can install it.

Wouldn't not selling it on steam lead to more piracy instead of less? If that's the rationale of Konami i don't get it.
 
I'm living in Malaysia at the moment.

It's a crock of shit to be honest. They're doing it to stem pirates and funnel everyone to the PS4 version. Because most people here will just pirate it, at least my cousin in law says so.

The work around is -

Buy a CD key change your VPN to the US and activate the game that way. I've been told by JaseC, the actual installation package and the game is not region locked, just the activation is, so once you get past that, you can install it.
That doesnt make sense. Pirates dont have region locking restriction, if they cant get pc version on steam, that will actually make people look for pirated version online.
 
What's easier for most, pirating or buying a copy and activating it via VPN? Hint: the one that doesn't inconvenience the consumer.

Dumb decision on Konami.
 

Jimrpg

Member
The weird thing is that it's available in other Southeast Asian countries.

I mean, publishers usually apply regional blocking, not per country basis.

Yeah, this is what you get when you click on PES 2018 store page.

gV1DLKb.png


The game is simply not for sale in China, Malaysia, and India.

Yep I kept checking steamdb.info hoping for it to be on sale for at least a month, gave up waiting last week and just got a CD key. Not buying the PS4 version when the PC version is equal to the PS4 version this year thats for sure.

I might be wrong, but football, particularly premier league is HUGE in Malaysia. It makes the back page 5 days out of 7 in the newspapers and its not even local. No other sport is even in the same realm. In Australia where I'm from, there's no way the prem makes the back page, because Aussie sport always takes precedence.

Secondly, by not advertising on Steam in the leadup, I believe most people will just get it for the PS4 where its still relatively free from piracy. After they sell through their initial units, they'll put it up on Steam. Square did a similar thing with Nier Automata, and waited for the PS4 Chinese version to be released before releasing the Steam version in SE countries.

Sorry, I thought it meant that the game is available at a cheaper price in Malaysia, but you can't gift it to anyone who isn't Malaysian

Tier 2 (lower priced countries) can't give it to Tier 1 countries. I think it needs to be less than 10% price difference to be giftable.
 

Jimrpg

Member
Wouldn't not selling it on steam lead to more piracy instead of less? If that's the rationale of Konami i don't get it.

If its readily available on PS4, then people will just buy it on PS4.

But to be honest, I have no idea why its not on Steam. Its just my guess that they want people to buy the PS4 version and not the Steam version.

That doesnt make sense. Pirates dont have region locking restriction, if they cant get pc version on steam, that will actually make people look for pirated version online.

They may or may not know its available on PC. There's no Steam page for example. Not everyone is a knowledgable gamer, if there's a PS4 version, they may just save themselves trouble and just get that.
 

Jimrpg

Member
OK, quick question: this means we can't by from China or China can't buy from the rest of the world?

If you're in China, there is no Steam store page for PES 2018. Even if you do a search for it.

There is a workaround though, you can buy a key from a third party site, use a VPN from the US and activate the key that way. After that it will show up in your library and you can install the game.
 
OK, quick question: this means we can't by from China or China can't buy from the rest of the world?

China cant buy it from Steam. They can buy it from other CD Key websites though.

If you're in China, there is no Steam store page for PES 2018. Even if you do a search for it.

There is a workaround though, you can buy a key from a third party site, use a VPN from the US and activate the key that way. After that it will show up in your library and you can install the game.

You dont need to use a VPN. The keys arent regionlocked.

_____________________________________________________

Honestly it sucks and doesnt make any sense at all that Japanese publishers are doing it.

Look at Bandai-Namco:
Xenoverse 1 isnt available in China, 2 is.
One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 and Unlimited World arent available in China. Burning Blood is.
Naruto wasnt available in China till 2 weeks ago.

Square-Enix:
DQH isnt available in China.
Several FF games arent available in China, others are.
 
I think OP does not know what "region-lock" means.

Well, that may be true.

OK, quick question: this means we can't by from China or China can't buy from the rest of the world?

If you reside in China, you can't buy it from Steam, but you can still can buy it from global resellers. You can also still receive the game via gift, I guess.

Yep I kept checking steamdb.info hoping for it to be on sale for at least a month, gave up waiting last week and just got a CD key. Not buying the PS4 version when the PC version is equal to the PS4 version this year thats for sure.

I might be wrong, but football, particularly premier league is HUGE in Malaysia. It makes the back page 5 days out of 7 in the newspapers and its not even local. No other sport is even in the same realm. In Australia where I'm from, there's no way the prem makes the back page, because Aussie sport always takes precedence.

Secondly, by not advertising on Steam in the leadup, I believe most people will just get it for the PS4 where its still relatively free from piracy. After they sell through their initial units, they'll put it up on Steam. Square did a similar thing with Nier Automata, and waited for the PS4 Chinese version to be released before releasing the Steam version in SE countries.

Premiere League is also huge here in Indonesia. In every sports news section, the first 10 minutes will be all about PL. Even our national league get less priority.

Yeah, that Nier Automata case was surely weird. They said that it's mainly due to Chinese language localization, but most of us don't even read/speak Chinese.
 
Yeah, that Nier Automata case was surely weird. They said that it's mainly due to Chinese language localization, but most of us don't even read/speak Chinese.

It was a bold-faced lie.

When it launched on PC in China 1 month later, it didnt even have chinese language options unlike the PS4 version...
 
How does this decision make any sense?

If they want to pretend the game doesn't exist on PC to get people to buy the PS4 version, they still make money from one game.

If they want to pretend so that pirates don't buy it from Steam then crack and distribute it, chances are, people who KNOW how to do that will KNOW the game exists outside the country.

People who would knows the game exists, doesn't want to go through the hoops of pirating and buys the PS4 instead won't even be capable of cracking the game.
 
Is steam the biggest PC platform in China too? Or do they have their own alternative?

It is becoming really really important. No one used it 3 years ago, when it had american pricing.

Since Valve introduced Chinese regional pricing, it became big. A lot of Chinese friends use it.
Also look at stuff like PUBG. Most owners are Chinese.

How does this decision make any sense?

It doesnt. Its not only Konami. A lot of japanese publishers dont have any consistent release politics for China.
Like I showed in my previous post, it doesnt make any sense.

Why is Burning Blood available, but not the two other One Piece Games.
Why was Naruto locked till 2 weeks ago?
Why are some K-T games available, others not?

Edit: Also something that happened. Japanese publishers try to circumvent regional pricing lately. You still have the normal currency conversion for some games, but Bandai-Namco, K-T, S-E set the price for their games to almost the same amount as US $. Doesnt really help them, since Sanada, which was more expensive in China this way, sold 1k.
 

Jimrpg

Member
Well, that may be true.



If you reside in China, you can't buy it from Steam, but you can still can buy it from global resellers. You can also still receive the game via gift, I guess.



Premiere League is also huge here in Indonesia. In every sports news section, the first 10 minutes will be all about PL. Even our national league get less priority.

Yeah, that Nier Automata case was surely weird. They said that it's mainly due to Chinese language localization, but most of us don't even read/speak Chinese.

It was a bold-faced lie.

When it launched on PC in China 1 month later, it didnt even have chinese language options unlike the PS4 version...

Actually it wasn't a lie though.

I believe it was misintepreted.

The tweet was -

Z3IxZ5u.jpg


It doesn't say anything about the Steam version having Chinese subs just JEFIGS. But the Steam version did come out at the same time as the PS4 version with chinese subs. Yes Steam users should be mad that it didn't have chinese subs, but they didn't lie about it.
 
Actually it wasn't a lie though.

I believe it was misintepreted.

The tweet was -

Z3IxZ5u.jpg


It doesn't say anything about the Steam version having Chinese subs just JEFIGS. But the Steam version did come out at the same time as the PS4 version with chinese subs. Yes Steam users should be mad that it didn't have chinese subs, but they didn't lie about it.

Even if it wasnt a lie, how does it make sense that the PC version doesnt have chinese language options, when the PS4 version has?

Imagine Yakuza would be finally released on Steam and it would only be in Japanese, while the consoles have english.
 

mieumieu

Member
But if Chinese Steam Users could get PES 2018 far cheaper via a site such as CDKeys, how is Konami screwing them over :V

Not really since most Steam games in China follow regional pricing.

Also I doubt the govt was involved since if they are, the whole Steam would be blocked lol

Could be some publishing deals with Sony (PS4 version) or other local distributors.
 
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