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Steam prices have now fully changed to US Dollars in Argentina plus 100% in taxes.

Draugoth

Gold Member
Steam's new pricing policy for Latin America and the MENA region came in yesterday. Valve followed through on its promise to change Steam's regional pricing for Argentina and Turkey on November 20, meaning games in those countries will now be priced in US dollars instead of the Turkish lira and Argentine peso:

About an hour ago, the changes have been applied. As expected many developers and publishers haven't even bother updating their prices so now some games cost the same as they do in the US. Plus we also pay an extra 100% in taxes.

Steam has a suggested price which is already higher to what they used to be, yet it is up to the developers to use it or not. They can set the price to whatever they want and if no price has been set US prices are assigned by default.

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I wish the Argentinian people the best of luck solving the issues surrounding economics and the financial sector. It's a true rarity to see a libertarian having the chance to tackle this problem the libertarian way. In the short term, harsh times might be what Argentinians have to prepare for. Long term, this might be the way out of the misery Socialism has created over years.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
It sucks for the people living there, because obtaining games through legal channels is going to become an extremely expensive hobby, but I think gamers who were abusing regional prices through VPN's will cry even louder.
 

German Hops

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
It sucks for the people living there, because obtaining games through legal channels is going to become an extremely expensive hobby, but I think gamers who were abusing regional prices through VPN's will cry even louder.
What does this mean?

Like, they were buying at cheaper currencies?
 
I don't know why Argentina is always such a basketcase economically. It's been this way for decades when it seems like it should have all the recipes for success. Not trying to be political but it's ridiculous.
If only there was a single factor that could explain how a country could go from top 10 wealthiest in the world to where they are now... I guess we will never get to the bottom of this mystery.
 
Does Diablo 4 cost more there than rent yet?
I bet in some places that aren't Buenos Aires yes. Living cost and quality there is much better than and more costly than your average Argentinian city. I've been there a couple of times and despite the continuous decadence of their nation, Buenos Aires is better than 95% of the cities in the whole Latam.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I don't know why Argentina is always such a basketcase economically. It's been this way for decades when it seems like it should have all the recipes for success. Not trying to be political but it's ridiculous.
If only there was a single factor that could explain how a country could go from top 10 wealthiest in the world to where they are now... I guess we will never get to the bottom of this mystery.
I dont know, but must be some corrupt fuckery going on. Venezuala is another country in SA that has economic issues. The country with historically among the most oil reserves in the world and only 28M people. They should be raking it in, but it's a shit show.
 

StereoVsn

Member
I dont know, but must be some corrupt fuckery going on. Venezuala is another country in SA that has economic issues. The country with historically among the most oil reserves in the world and only 28M people. They should be raking it in, but it's a shit show.
Well, we all know why with Venezuela. Argentina is a lot more complex but has to do with turning economy inward in the ‘60s I think.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
up to 4000% increase in prices for some games.


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Wow they had some CHEAP prices before.
Bioshoick infinite was 1$?! now it's 30.

As I see it looking at that spreesheet. It's not that the prices are now raised. The prices are now normal.
If dev want's 30$ for a game, they don't want to sell it for 2$ in argentina obviously.
I don't see why devs or steam should care for internal argentinian politics and value of $.

Im Poland we pay in PLN but it doesn't matter. 60$ is stil 60$. We never had a cheaper pass and cheaper games like Argentine or russians.
 
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Roni

Gold Member
It is. It may “seem” this is a smart move to stabilize the currency but it will put Argentina at the mercy of US Fed and they never worked out for anyone else.

That said, this is a topic way beyond the discussion here, lol.

It does suck for folks in Argentina and Turkey.
Oh, believe me, a lot of dunning-kruger cases think that it is the smartest move...
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Wow they had some CHEAP prices before.
Bioshoick infinite was 1$?! now it's 30.

As I see it looking at that spreesheet. It's not that the prices are now raised. The prices are now normal.
If dev want's 30$ for a game, they don't want to sell it for 2$ in argentina obviously.
I don't see why devs or steam should care for internal argentinian politics and value of $.

Im Poland we pay in PLN but it doesn't matter. 60$ is stil 60$. We never had a cheaper pass and cheaper games like Argentine or russians.
When people would post Steam country comparison charts, Russia, Turkey, South America were always dirt cheap. Each game varies, but I remember those charts where a typical $60 US game would be like $12. So I thought the general bottom price might be around $10 for a game.

Bioshock Inifinite is an old game, but still $32 CDN on Steam now. I didn't know games could crater that much to $1.

Lets face t guys. I dont care how rich or poor Argentinians are compared to to the rest of the world bringing up monthly wages or whatever. If you're getting $30 games for $1 gimme a break. Time to pony up like everyone else.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
When people would post Steam country comparison charts, Russia, Turkey, South America were always dirt cheap. Each game varies, but I remember those charts where a typical $60 US game would be like $12. So I thought the general bottom price might be around $10 for a game.

Bioshock Inifinite is an old game, but still $32 CDN on Steam now. I didn't know games could crater that much to $1.

Lets face t guys. I dont care how rich or poor Argentinians are compared to to the rest of the world bringing up monthly wages or whatever. If you're getting $30 games for $1 gimme a break. Time to pony up like everyone else.
I think something that gets lost in the conversation is that games still cost as much as they do to make and support regardless of the economy in the places where people play. Some smaller developers probably struggle a bit selling in countries where the suggested prices are so much lower, especially with the number of people who live in higher-priced countries who price cheat with VPN.

Argentina has bigger issues at the moment than the price of video games. With all of the turmoil it seems like everyday necessities are going to take priority over sales of video games.
 

Elysium44

Banned
It'll go over most people's head that you're talking about the US federal reserve lol.

They can do it - at least for now - as they have the world's reserve currency, the world's number one economy and military and are self-sufficient in energy too. The rules are different when you're top dog. Of course, it is not sustainable but the game will go on for a long time yet.
 
Also, the final price resembles the value of the real dollar (dollar blue it's called there). The dollar mentioned there is the government 'official' dollar, that no one can get to buy...
 

timothet

Member
Wow they had some CHEAP prices before.
Bioshoick infinite was 1$?! now it's 30.

As I see it looking at that spreesheet. It's not that the prices are now raised. The prices are now normal.
If dev want's 30$ for a game, they don't want to sell it for 2$ in argentina obviously.
I don't see why devs or steam should care for internal argentinian politics and value of $.

Im Poland we pay in PLN but it doesn't matter. 60$ is stil 60$. We never had a cheaper pass and cheaper games like Argentine or russians.
I was about to write about it. Regional pricing in current state is a joke. The idea is nice, but developers/publishers do not give a fuck.
Looking at Poland's prices at steamdb it looks like 60$ is NOT 60$. Starfield for example is more expensive in Poland than US/Eurozone. It costs $70 with current 20% discount. It is only more expensive in Switzerland. Looking at other games, this situation occurs rather often.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I was about to write about it. Regional pricing in current state is a joke. The idea is nice, but developers/publishers do not give a fuck.
Looking at Poland's prices at steamdb it looks like 60$ is NOT 60$. Starfield for example is more expensive in Poland than US/Eurozone. It costs $70 with current 20% discount. It is only more expensive in Switzerland. Looking at other games, this situation occurs rather often.
Everything is a bit more expensive because we have tax included and because fuck EU I guess
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Also, the final price resembles the value of the real dollar (dollar blue it's called there). The dollar mentioned there is the government 'official' dollar, that no one can get to buy...
The prior government banned the USD so it traded super high on the black market. Like 60,000% to their peso, or some obscene number.
 
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Hugare

Member
I don't know why Argentina is always such a basketcase economically. It's been this way for decades when it seems like it should have all the recipes for success. Not trying to be political but it's ridiculous.
Politics in Latin America is an absolute mess

I live in Brazil, so I know

And even Brazil is in better shape than Argentina. Which is nuts.

They've elected one crazy dude, but the other option was the guy responsible for the 140% inflation that the country had to endure
 

StereoVsn

Member
Yep, a movement that started in the 40s and led the country for 80 years, transforming a country that used to compete with USA and now at 130th in world position
Yeah, and it kind of worked still in the 1950s, but once globalization and international trade started hitting hard, this didn’t quite function anymore.
 
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