LogInNew policy adds a 2900% price markup in some cases.
Image credit: ConcernedApe | Stardew Valley
Black Friday is upon us, but players from Argentina and Turkey are not happy about it. Just as promised last month, Steam changed its pricing policy for these countries rejecting their local currency and replacing it with USD. This decision was driven by the exchange rate volatility there, which made it hard for game developers "to choose appropriate prices for their games and keep them current."
This doesn't mean people in Argentina and Turkey now have to pay the same price as American players do, the prices were supposed to be appropriate for the residents and take their salaries into consideration. However, something went wrong there.
As PC Gamer spotted, Steam users from the affected countries are furious with the new markups as they reach crazy numbers. One Reddit user made a whole spreadsheet with the difference, and according to it, Sid Meier's Civilization VI grew 4298% in price. I tried to find this information on SteamDB but couldn't, so take it however you want. Perhaps the developer just didn't put in the new price at that moment. Here is an email that Steam sent to game developers, which might clear something out:
"If you do not add a USD price to these columns for your game before November 20th, we will default to the standard USD pricing you already have in Steamworks."
Still, you can find some of these gaps on SteamDB. As PC Gamer reports, Far Cry 5 has gone up in price by about 240%, from a converted price of $14.12 to $48. Stardew Valley has grown by 2900% in Argentina, from about $0.50. Baldur's Gate 3 has gone from $28.25 to $35, Starfield – from $33.91 to $42, Call of Duty – from $56.52 to $70, and the list goes on. The prices might change after this whole story blows up even more, but it's painful to watch now.
Then again, some games are now cheaper, although not by the same thousands of percent. For example, Diablo 4 went from $79.13 to $69.99, a drop of 11%.
This new policy had to solve one problem but caused another, and I hope Steam hears players' cries for help and fixes it somehow. Otherwise, users will just go back to good old piracy.
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