Euro and Sterling Now Available

[Evo]

This is the word from the Steam News page.[br]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.</blockquote>[br]That is all.

 

[tschumann]

I sure hope Australia is next to get this special treatment.

 

[Operational]

I sure hope Australia is next to get this special treatment.

Our population wouldn't be big enough to warrant it.

On the other hand the Australian Dollar is the 6th most traded in the world so maybe there is an appeal to it beyond what would be a small fraction of 22million Australians.

 

[AciD]

**** yay, games are even more overpriced now. I wonder why I must pay in euros when I am not earning in €.

 

[Reflex]

What?!
You have to pay euros?
But your in Poland aren't you?
:hmph:

 

[Silk]

What?!
You have to pay euros?
But your in Poland aren't you?
:hmph:

If i remember correctly, Poland will start using the Euro in 3 years from now.
If so i wonder why steam would use it already.

 

[AciD]

If i remember correctly, Poland will start using the Euro in 3 years from now.
If so i wonder why steam would use it already.

We will have Euro "When it's done" and I have to pay in ? because I live in Europe >_>.

 

[Jokko88]

I live in Norway and we don't use euro! And why does the games cost the same amounts of euros like it did with dollars, the games are much more expensive now! Is there anyway to change back to dollars? If not I have to buy games in a real store from now on.

 

[Druckles]

I'm silently laughing at what Valve have done, here. They've made it cheaper for some at the same time as making it even more expensive for those who were already paying far more than they should.

 

[Jokko88]

I think Valve has made a huge mistake, making $1 = 1€ is completely idiotic.

 

[Barnz]

I still see dollar icon, yay!

 

[Paulaner]

I think Valve has made a huge mistake, making $1 = 1? is completely idiotic.

But VAT is now included. Umh... let me get my calculator to see if the games are actually cheaper.

 

[mr.fua]

But VAT is now included. Umh... let me get my calculator to see if the games are actually cheaper.

It includes VAT but it is still way expensive.

Looking in google, right now 1 dollar is about 0.684 euros. Adding the, let's say 20% VAT (although in most countries it is lower), it becomes 0.82 euros.

So having the 1=1 in games is now a 20% increase in price.

Bad move Valve, very bad move.

They should keep one price for everywhere, as it was before, it is the best approach. If they just changed the currencies keeping the same price everywhere it would be a great way of advertising the Steam platform. One Steam platform for everyone.

 

[Lobster]

The problem with having Dollar prices for everywhere, is that US buyers pay standard retail prices all the time on steam, and everyone else bounces up and down depending on economic stabillity, the UK prices are now pretty much the same as standard UK retail prices, and I would assume its the same for the Euro.

If you put so much value on a box, then you should buy retail, if anything this may make publishers like Ubisoft open things up to Europe as the return will be the same.

 

[Silk]

The problem with having Dollar prices for everywhere, is that US buyers pay standard retail prices all the time on steam, and everyone else bounces up and down depending on economic stabillity, the UK prices are now pretty much the same as standard UK retail prices, and I would assume its the same for the Euro.

If you put so much value on a box, then you should buy retail, if anything this may make publishers like Ubisoft open things up to Europe as the return will be the same.

Perhaps so ...
But don't take away our right to complain about having to pay 20% more for the same thing.
It's human nature.

 

[Paulaner]

Perhaps so ...
But don't take away our right to complain about having to pay 20% more for the same thing.
It's human nature.

Yes, it's your right. And it's the right of everyone of us to look for the lowest prices. Retail and online stores have interesting prices and awesome bargains, so I keep Steam for weekly deals only.

 

[boglito]

Trust Valve to use a "feature" like this as an excuse to crank up their prices by a whopping 46%. I can see DougL and GabeN doing high-5s all the way to the bank. And the mindless fanboys keep crying for more.

 

[fix-cz]

We were screwed for years by some publishers by charging us extra 'non-NA' tax and now Valve screw us even more with 1$=1€ thing,

That's worst Christmas gift I have ever got. Nothanx Valve.

 

[Slime]

Eh, what?

I can accept Steam prices being identical to retail, as I'm fond of how Steam works, but this is nothing short of completely screwing customers over.

 

[Paulaner]

I can accept Steam prices being identical to retail

Well, I don't accept this since Steam is digital download: no box and no printed manuals. I have less, so games should be always cheaper.

 

[G(ordon)-man]

Guess what? No kroons.

 

[PimpinPenguin]

I already regretted buying Left4Dead on Steam when i found the retail versions were ?10 cheaper. And this is a Valve game, i was never expecting it to be more expensive, and that was with the suppose 10% pre-order discount. Then i found GTA4 was cheaper at retail and atleast with them you get the maps and didn't have to wait till the last minuter before the game becomes available. And to top it off i get charged by my bank due to buying them in US currency.

I much as Steam has grown on me i'm going back to good ole retail. Steam was supposed to be cheaper, cutting out the middle man getting it direct form the devs, having it at the same price or more is not worth it.

 

[Reflex]

Guess what? No kroons.

Obviously Estonia is too small for that importance.

 

[G(ordon)-man]

We have no iTunes. iPhone arrived 3 months ago. Kurat!

 

[Reflex]

:O i didn't know it was that bad.

 

[Eejit]

L4D is actually cheaper on Steam now than when it was available for pre-order with 10% discount, due to the way sterling tanked.

Cry some more!

 

[Reflex]

Great and I'm just buying it tomorrow

 

[perrkele]

As much as I'd like to support Valve by buying stuff through Steam, this is just ridiculous. Amazon.co.uk and Play.com, here I come! They ship games to your door at around half the price of buying through Steam now. Too bad...

 

[Marler]

Cool!

 

[Eejit]

The runup to Christmas isn't the best time to compare Amazon's or Play's prices anyway. They're much lower than usual due to the seasonal price war.

 

[Laivasse]

LOL@1-to-1 dollar/euro conversion, that's obscene if true. I'll just give my credentials to someone in America and have them buy stuff for me for a fraction of the price. That's if I can be bothered to buy from Steam at all any more.

The problem with having Dollar prices for everywhere, is that US buyers pay standard retail prices all the time on steam, and everyone else bounces up and down depending on economic stabillity, the UK prices are now pretty much the same as standard UK retail prices, and I would assume its the same for the Euro.

Fluctuating dollar conversion rates are not a problem - not to anyone other than greed-driven execs at any rate. What's a problem is the broken logic of having an artificial price hike based on where you're from. If you're buying from Steam the point of sale is the same and the product is the same no matter where you're connecting from, so the idea that there should be a 20%+ price difference between regions where the average wealth is not significantly disparate is retarded. Standardising that mentality with the new pricing scheme for the euro is terrible.

Ubisoft et al can piss off, their resistance to global digital distribution amounts to little more than trying to hold back the tide.

 

[Reflex]

your profile says that you live in the uk so why are you worrying?

 

[[Matt]]

L4D is actually cheaper on Steam now than when it was available for pre-order with 10% discount, due to the way sterling tanked.

Cry some more!

I just bought L4d now thanks to this fact.... yay for the pounds collapse!! ::hmph:

 

[Druckles]

your profile says that you live in the uk so why are you worrying?

Oh, don't get into that!

 

[Laivasse]

Yeah, deja vu, bra.

 

[Paulaner]

This is not a matter of supporting a platform. Steam is not an abstract principle to follow, but a way to buy games. I buy games where I can save money. (yes, L4D retail was cheaper so I grabbed it in a store, the same for Bioshock, the same for X3:Terran Conflict, the same for Fallout 3)
As for the stability of european Steam prices to have unavailable games in Europe, well, this is kind of pointless. I don't care having UBI Soft games on Steam if I have to pay them more than retail.

 

[The Monkey]

It was great paying in dollars seeing at how cheap it is compared to 10 years ago. This sucks balls. What's so bad about paying in foreign currency? The conversion takes like two seconds in your head.

 

[Newblade]

Valve's screwed it up for European (non UK) consumers.

 

[Diesel_Power]

Perhaps us Canadians will be next? Paying in Canadian dollars would be nice. Paying in American dollars means games are 10-15 dollars more expensive on steam vs retail here.

Ofcourse when the Canadian dollar was stronger than the US dollar earlier this year, shopping on Steam was fun! It's just a shame I didn't have my new computer then to buy better games.

 

[Insano]

This is bullshit. Sorry, but I don't have any other word to describe it.

Valve managed to make almost all games at least €10 more expensive over one night. I'm one of the biggest supporters of Steam, but I'm not even sure anymore if I'm going to buy from Steam anymore. Play.com etc manage to get better retail deals and they even deliver the game to your doorstep.