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Steam Goes European – Prices Go Crazy
Written by John Walker on December 12, 2008 at 3:32 pm.
Steam is going native for Europeans. Currently in beta, you can log in to the website version with your account and see all the prices in pounds, including VAT. Which brings both good and bad news.
The good news is some of the current prices. They’ve gone a bit mad. The bad news: it might be the end of future savings when buying things via Steam.
So let’s take a look at some of the good news. These are all in GBP. The beta looks at your location and assigns the correct currency, so I’m afraid I can’t work out the same for Euros. Perhaps readers can.
Right now there’s some odd prices up there. Bioshock is currently £13.99. On the US Steam it’s at a mystifying $54.99. Which when bought at UK prices, with tax, would be £42.38. That’s a mysterious saving of over £28. Er, blimey. The Complete Pack for Civ IV is a whopping $59.99 for Americans. That would have been £46.21 for us. It’s £26.99 on the EU beta. Even some brand new games, like GTA 4, have notable savings. US converted price: £30.80. EU price: £26.99. And the complete publisher packs are currently insanely cheap. Fire sale prices.
Edit: Have to include this one. Civ 3 Complete US: £23.12. Civ 3 Complete UK: £2.99. Huh?
Which all sort of leads you to suspect that something’s gone wrong. Which should then lead you to login to the beta page and buy this stuff before someone fixes it. Because even if these prices are intentional, they might not last.
The bad news is the UK is very used to paying hugely hiked up prices when compared to those in the US. In many cases you can swap the $ for a £ and keep the numbers. Steam’s universally dollar-based sales, despite adding on VAT, have often kept things a lot cheaper, which seems entirely reasonable since it’s digital distribution. But publishers must surely have been infuriated by this? Some, like Ubisoft and Atari, have flat-out refused to even sell their games to Europe via Valve’s platform, although have repeatedly declined to explain why. Could it be because they’re undercutting themselves? If your converted dollar price is cheaper than your shop shelf price (or indeed that of your own digital distribution), people can start to see quite how much more they’re being asked to pay.
Of course right now the pound is so useless that the US dollar prices are actually converting to UK rates, which is a tad frightening, and an example of how peculiarly over-priced PC games are in the US when compared to the rest of their economy. So while the forthcoming Empire: Total War’s UK price of £39.99 is obviously quite mad (you can currently pre-order it for under £25 at Game), it does work out to be the same rate as the equally daft $49.99 expected for the States. Should the GBP recover, however, this will become less equal once again.
We contacted Valve to find out what’s the what. Their response? Cryptic:
“The future is now (in beta anyway).”
Interpretation? Prices are coming down on Steam? Not for Euros they aren’t. Bemused.
Right, that’s the closest to economical nonsense I’m ever going to get. But the key thing is here: shit! The UK prices on the Steam beta are CRAZY. Buy stuff!
Huge thanks to Theory and the RPS Steam Chatters for the tip-off.
Related Stories:
- Wheelie Good News: Trials 2 on Steam
- Steamy (release) Windows (for Clear Sky)
- At Last: King’s Bounty On Steam
__________________
« Brütal Legend Finally Gets Publisher | Drakensang English Demo »
qrter says:
As far as I can see the euro prices are 1 on 1 with the dollar prices – GTAIV is €49,99.. L4D is €49,99 etc.
December 12th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
The Poisoned Sponge says:
Not the same for Euros, apparently a lot of the time it’s more expensive, according to the forums. It’s a weird situation.
December 12th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
qrter says:
Not completely true.. things like Far Cry 2 and CoD4 are €49,99 while being $54,99
December 12th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Bobsy says:
£14 Bioshock? Deal.
December 12th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Ian says:
If I didn’t already have games I’ve bought and not even got close to finishing I’d be all over this.
Must. Show. Restraint.
:(
December 12th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Luka says:
euro prices are CRAZY! total rip-off!
December 12th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Therlun says:
This wont end well.
In six months Europe will have its new games on Steam terribly overpriced. That will cause a few angry blog posts here and then almost everyone will accept it and pay more money for digitally distributed products on Steam.
December 12th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
qrter says:
BioShock is €19,99 which is more in line with retailers here.
December 12th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
JohnP says:
Bioshock is a tenner at Play at the moment if you’re willing to wait for them to get it in stock, so it’s not like £14 on Steam is a great deal. (Apart from getting it now, etc.)
December 12th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Naurgul says:
Note that even though they didn’t just exchange a $ for a £ and kept the numbers, they pretty much did exactly that for euros. Granted, the prices now include VAT but they’re still more expensive than they used to be. For example, L4D used to cost 50$, which translated to 37.5€ meaning you would pay 44.5€ if you included the VAT. Now it costs 50€ meaning it’s 10% more expensive.
I really do hope Valve reconsiders and decides to leave the base prices as they are. We’re not made out of money, even though the dollar is weak in comparison to the euro, you know. :(
December 12th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
qrter says:
I’m not sure when Steam suddenly became a “rip-off”, they pretty much always were – they were never cheaper than retail prices to begin with and the prices seem to be more or less the same when bought in dollars and converted, or am I missing something?
(I’m not complaining – I buy a lot through Steam, I like the convenience etc.)
December 12th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Therlun says:
£14 Bioshock? Deal.
I saw Bioshock for 10 € a few days ago in my local super market…
December 12th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Colthor says:
“The bad news: it might be the end of future savings when buying things via Steam.”
When did Steam ever have competitive prices? It rarely compared favourably to actual shops, never mind online retailers.
These new prices in £ are actually pretty reasonable, and I hope they keep them. It would be a massive improvement in the value-for-money of the service, as well as actually telling you the amount you’re going to pay up-front.
Big thumbs-up.
December 12th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Erlam says:
What’s with Steam screwing europeans over. Aren’t they often Valve’s bread-and-butter?
December 12th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
qrter says:
World of Goo has finally gone worldwide on Steam, I just noticed.
December 12th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
rodti says:
I tried to buy Left 4 Dead from Steam (not a pre-order) and it worked out at £40+ after conversion from USD and with VAT added, so picked up the box for £19 from Amazon. That’s a £20+ saving on a boxed copy from a third party, as opposed to a download-only version from the developer itself. SILLY.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
DiGi says:
Is Steam still hidding VAT? Last update was ugly, I must confirm Paypal payment and after THEN I get final price :(
December 12th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Björn says:
FWIW Civ3 complete is still €5 in euroland.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Therlun says:
I dont think Steam is “hiding” VATs. Prices on the other side of the great pond are given without VAT most of the time, aren’t they?
@rodti
Very silly indeed.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
TychoCelchuuu says:
On my US Steam Bioshock is only $20. So that’s not exactly right.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Paul Moloney says:
Yeah, I’ve bought a lot on Steam, but rarely new full-price games. It’s mainly been bundles on sale – the iD pack and Max Payne for example – and relatively cheap indie games.
P.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
danielcardigan says:
I think some of the weekend specials made Steam cheap for some stuff but in general I’d have to agree that buying off amazon.co.uk or play.com was cheaper than buying from Steam, 9 times out of ten at least. Perhaps that’s exactly what they’re hoping to address with localized prices.
http://store.steampowered.com/sub/1205/
£52.99? Oh cheeses… must hide credit card…
December 12th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
John Walker says:
On my regular Steam, in USD prices, it currently states $54.99. Dunno if this is regional in some way.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
James G says:
Given the currency gymnastics over the last few months (the pound appears to be performing impressive contortion as it dives down the toilet and round the U-bend) I understand why Valve decided to make such a move. Between the beginning of August and mid November, the pound dropped from buying 2 dollars, to under 1.5. This had the effect of raising steam prices by 33%, whereas high-street prices did not change anywhere near as significantly.
ETA: Reading Euro posters it seems that the pricing system is all over the place at the moment. Perhaps they haven’t checked the Euro-Dollar exchange rate for the past seven years.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
roryok says:
I tried to buy Left 4 Dead from Steam (not a pre-order) and it worked out at £40+ after conversion from USD and with VAT added, so picked up the box for £19 from Amazon. That’s a £20+ saving on a boxed copy from a third party, as opposed to a download-only version from the developer itself. SILLY.
I agree, I’m a big fan of Steam but that’s shocking. Digital downloads should ALWAYS be cheaper than the boxed version, whether it be games, music, TV or books. in essence here you are paying double the cost for something you can never re-sell.
Also, I notice the 1:1 dollars to Euros price, hugely unfair since the Euro is worth a good bit more than the dollar and almost the same as GBP at the moment.
In the Euro localised Steam, Left 4 Dead is €49.99, in the UK store it’s £26.99, which works out as €29.99 at the moment.
If we try to attribute that to higher VAT vs UK rates it works out as 100% VAT, which is obviously not the case ((29.99/118)*100 = @25, 49.99/ 25 = @2)
December 12th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Dave says:
…an example of how peculiarly over-priced PC games are in the US when compared to the rest of their economy…
Yes and no. On the one hand, my wife is still pissed at EA for asking $50 for Spore.
OTOH, that $50 in other entertainment fields could have been just half a concert ticket, 4 movie tickets (without popcorn), or 3 weeks of basic cable TV. So games compare very favorably as long as you buy good ones (hello, Orange Box!)
December 12th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Dain says:
Empire Total War is 40 quid? Hello again Amazon my lost love..
December 12th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Owen says:
Outrun 2006: Coast to Coast is £4.99
Multiwinia £5.99
The Longest Journey £5.99
December 12th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
danielcardigan says:
John Walker says: “On my regular Steam, in USD prices, it currently states $54.99. Dunno if this is regional in some way.”
Sure that isn’t the THQ ACTION pack? Which is £32.99… hmm. The conversion isn’t so hot but the actual prices for what you get is still pretty decent.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
jonfitt says:
I’ve only recently moved to the US from the UK, and have bought games in both countries and I can confirm that compared to the cost of other things in the US, games are more expensive.
$50 / $60 + tax goes a lot further than £30, and I would regularly buy my games a few weeks after launch when GAME usually had them down to £20. Brick-and-mortar retailers rarely ever drop their prices either. Games seem to be either full price or gone.
The conversion rate made it cheaper to buy games from Steam even at US prices, but looking to the future, I think you’ll find Steam matching MSRP for UK games not online prices.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Pags says:
Currently buying Arx Fatalis for three effin’ pounds, hoooooly craaaaap.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Steve says:
At least L4D is now sensibly priced, instead of bloody £35. That was just silly.
Bit late, really – this is how it should have been from the start.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Nels Anderson says:
I remember back when the US and Canadian dollar were on par and buying things off Steam was an absolute steal. No tax, no mark-up just because you’re in Canada; it was a good $10-15 less than store price. Tragically, that did not last and now the exchange rate is around .8, the prices are about the same (Steam’s still more convenient, of course).
December 12th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Fede says:
Arx Fatalis £3
Probably to compete with GOG ($9.99)
December 12th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Heliocentric says:
Uplink/Darwinia Pack £5.99
December 12th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Heliocentric says:
sorry for spam
Rome: Total War – Complete £9.99
December 12th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Hypocee says:
Completely incidentally, I find it pretty funny that whatever Google algorithm picks RPS’ ads keeps putting a US Congress Drill Baby Drill political ad into such heavy rotation on a British entertainment site – yes, I know there are plenty of us colonials here, and probably some earthscorching neocons too, but still.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Hypocee says:
Oh, sorry. One second after posting I remembered the Oiligarchy post. Should have gone there, I r dumb.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
BC says:
Waa! I still get the US version :(
December 12th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
FernandoDANTE says:
HEY GUYS, anyone up for a Left 4 Dead four-pack? How about helping an overseas pal? I live in Brazil, and our currency is worse than yours right now.
If anyone is up for the FOUR-PACK, let me know, I’ll PayPal the money.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Heliocentric says:
Hinterland £13.99
score!
its £16.49 over impulse :) ah… £2.50 to be free of any drm hmm..
I think that’s it from the low end.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Down Rodeo says:
Hypocee: I’ve had nothing but PKR for the past few weeks. I am getting annoyed at the lack of originality here. Plus it means I can block all of RPS’s adverts with one AdBlock+ rule (which I don’t, even though it does destroy my browser performance. Bloody Flash. I hate it.).
In other news, watch me spend all my moneys!
December 12th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Heliocentric says:
okay £22.99 for the unreal pack (£29.94 on impulse), more than the anthology and ut3 would cost from retail though.
December 12th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
FernandoDANTE says:
Could someone please tell me how much the L4D four-pack is going for?
December 12th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Acosta says:
This may mark the end of of my relationship with Steam as a replacement for boxed copies purchases (will be interested in offers and so but that’s it). I don’t want to sound melodramatic but I fail to see the point of introducing higher prices for exactly the same product an American is downloading. They had already the mandatory VAT, they should keep the exact price it has depending of the euro/pound conversion to dollars.
I am not going to pay more to Ubi and the rest when I have ways to bring the games here and pay in dollars. Steam was convenient and fast, but I won’t buy anything that I can get cheaper in other market.
December 12th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
A-Scale says:
We Americans like using price conversions to screw you over as retribution for the tea tax. Surprised you haven’t caught on yet.
December 12th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Pags says:
You basts.
December 12th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
roryok says:
We Americans like using price conversions to screw you over as retribution for the tea tax. Surprised you haven’t caught on yet.
Whew. Good thing its just price conversions and you’re not off invading countries or mucking up the climate or anything. =P
I jest, I jest.
December 12th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Pidesco says:
I guess this will eventually spell the end of me making game purchases through steam. They can piss right off with the price hikes.
December 12th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Heliocentric says:
price hikes? most everything is cheaper are you not uk then?
December 12th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
James G says:
@ Heliocentric
Is that including VAT? Because I’d be up for L4D at £20
December 12th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
jalf says:
Steam has never really offered competetive prices for me. Occasionally, they’re some $3 below play.com’s prices, but then they add VAT (25% in Denmark), which brings them far above what I pay on play.com. (Even for Valve’s own games. I saved $5 or so by buying L4D on Play.com rather than Steam). Similar story for the Orange Box…
And from the comments here, it sounds like their Euro prices are worse still. Yay.
December 12th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
FernandoDANTE says:
Thanks, Heliocentric!
Now, to find someone in the UK willing to buy me a copy…
December 12th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Panther says:
Surely they are shooting themselves in the foot? given that everyone can compare prices, there will be much moaning over who gets what for the cheapest price. There isn’t the same excuse that boxed copies use, of having distribution costs or whatever, so why oh why can they not just normalise prices?
Mind you, the only digital distribution I use is GOG, so this isn’t likely to tempt me, especially since I get things weeks or months after release when they’re cheaper, or second hand.
December 12th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Nero says:
I like STEAM as a service with the ease of buying stuff, but I don’t generally use it to buy new games (except Valve games and indie games). Expensive enough and adding that 25% VAT (Sweden) the prices are just too much for me. So giving us the prices in Euro will probably make me buy more.
December 12th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Dreamhacker says:
DONT DO IT! They’re going to start sending bills demanding your souls!
:P
December 12th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Adam says:
I don’t see any real difference…
L4D is priced at $70 something with VAT here in Sweden, and €49,99 in “euro”-Steam which is both around 530 SEK. Retail expensive stores only take 450 SEK for L4D and really chep online retailers charge 399!
Why would I buy on Steam? No benefits at all! I don’t even get a backup disc!
I’d expect at least half price from an online digital store. Especially since I’m locked into their solution for my whole life…
December 12th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
nakke says:
I tried to buy Left 4 Dead from Steam (not a pre-order) and it worked out at £40+ after conversion from USD and with VAT added, so picked up the box for £19 from Amazon. That’s a £20+ saving on a boxed copy from a third party, as opposed to a download-only version from the developer itself. SILLY.
I did the same. Now what’s even more silly is that I just entered the CD key to Steam, and voilá, it downloaded the whole game through Steam and I never had to even touch the DVD. Hooray! Amazon could’ve just sent the 20 digit code to me immediatly for all I care.
December 12th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Hi, I blurgh says:
Heh, they never add any VAT on my purchases. Probably because Norway is not a member of the EU.
December 12th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
frymaster says:
don’t forget most prices on steam were regional anyway (though this was mostly moaned about with 3rd-party publishers; I don’t know if valve themselves kept used a global single price for their games or not
part of it may be the introduction of this is forcing publishers to re-evaluate the prices. A lot of the time, the prices stay high on steam long after they’ve tumbled elsewhere, mainly I think coz the sods forget to update them
and part of it may be breakage
oh, and since all prices of steam are publisher-set, it’d be rare to find it more expensive at retail. What publisher could undercut the RRP and expect retail shops to pay any attention to them in future? none
December 12th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Pidesco says:
@Heliocentric: Nope, not UK. Portugal here. From now on the only games I might buy from Steam are Valve games, I guess.
December 12th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Vega says:
The new prices are great for UK customers but for the rest of Europe it is fucked up. The games are so overpriced now that it is ridicules. New games are now 15-20 USD higher for European customers then they where before…
December 12th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
A-Scale says:
Whew. Good thing its just price conversions and you’re not off invading countries or mucking up the climate or anything. =P
I’m not invading anyone, and I doubt I’m doing any more to muck up the environment than you are. Perhaps I use more water, if my trip to England showed me one thing, it is that your people shower less. Anyhow, enjoy your 80 dollar L4D.
December 12th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Frankie The Patrician[PF] says:
COD4 costs 55 euros nao, hahahahahaha… Oh my God, I hate Gamersgate’s 1USD=1EURO conversion rate and now Steam is going nearly the same way? Time to start using sendit.com and cdwow.com, continental Europe prices are truly fucked up (both in retail and now on Steam even more…)
Doh, I knew it!
December 12th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Rob says:
Another one; Pirates! £6 vs $30
December 12th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Hmm-hmm. says:
I don’t understand the whole Steam hubbub. Sure, it’s handy to be able to download games if you can’t easily get them at a regular store (if at all). And if the games on there are more expensive than they are in stores.. well, colour me confused, bemused and not interested.
December 12th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Hmm-hmm. says:
*addendum* That doesn’t mean I have condemned Steam to the depths of the fiery pits, however.
December 12th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Y3k-Bug says:
@John Walker
I believe it is regional, yes.
I live in New York, and Bioshock is $19.99 on the Steam site.
December 12th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
FernandoDANTE says:
Well, FUCK ME SIDEWAYS, Team Fortress 2 is TEN DOLLARS, this weekend only.
December 13th, 2008 at 12:41 am
qrter says:
Why would I buy on Steam? No benefits at all! I don’t even get a backup disc!
The big benefit to me that Steam gives is that I can download and install the Steam client on any PC, login to my account and download and install any game I own. I can install my games to multiple PCs (although I can only play on one PC at a time – the one I’m logged in at). All of that is, to me, a big deal.
And when Steamcloud finally works for every game (it only works for L4D at the moment, I think), which automatically saves your config and save files to Valve’s servers, it’ll be even more convenient.
(And Steam does have an inbuilt function that lets you make backups of every game you own, which you can burn to CD-R and/or DVD-R, so you can quickly reinstall it without having to download again.)
December 13th, 2008 at 12:58 am
Jonas says:
Ergh, if I’m not terribly mistaken, the price of Hinterland went up by about 40% after the conversion (20 Euros as opposed to 20 dollars).
Maybe I should get it before the beta is over.
Also, interesting that their “localized currency” lists prices in Euros for me when Denmark isn’t part of the EMU. I guess converting to all the different national currencies outside of the EMU or the GBP just isn’t worth the trouble.
December 13th, 2008 at 1:34 am
Adam says:
And Steam does have an inbuilt function that lets you make backups of every game you own, which you can burn to CD-R and/or DVD-R
So I have to pay a higher price and pay for the DVDs myself? Nice…
December 13th, 2008 at 1:50 am
Pags says:
Um… how do you normally make backup discs Adam? I don’t know of any games that come packed with several blank discs for you to copy the game onto, but perhaps I’m just unlearned. Not that you actually need backup discs anyway with Steam; unless you forget your password (which I’m pretty sure you can always recover) or something, you’ll never be faced with the problem of ‘losing’ your game – a problem you could face more easily with discs, seeing as you can physically lose a disc.
Your original point about it being way too expensive for no real benefit is valid – in many cases it’s cheaper buying nice boxes with manuals and such – and it certainly seems like they screwed their European customers who aren’t British. Just your recent line of argument that perhaps needs some rethinking.
December 13th, 2008 at 2:24 am
Shadout says:
Will surely buy less if we end up getting screwed over by the euro prices :/ Even though I like steam a lot, and are fine with paying same price as retail, ill pick digital copy over DVD whenever possible really. But not as overprices as a 1:1 dollar-euro convertion would give.
Because of the low dollar the last year, games on steam has actually been reasonably priced for a while imo.
December 13th, 2008 at 3:29 am
RotBot says:
I bought boxed copies of Orange Box and L4D on release for $5-$10 cheaper than Steam even with its pre-order discount. So Steam really has never been cheaper than retail here in America, if you know where to look (CheapAssGamer).
December 13th, 2008 at 4:33 am
qrter says:
So I have to pay a higher price and pay for the DVDs myself? Nice…
I don’t know where you order your DVD-Rs from, but a DVD-R costs about €0,21 a piece for me.
For a game like Fallout 3 (which I bought through Steam), that’s €0,42 spent on DVD-Rs.
Just thinking of all the cents I could’ve saved makes me mad! ;)
December 13th, 2008 at 5:51 am
Rei Onryou says:
I succumbed…
Eidos Pack – £53 vs $100 (£77.30 incl. 15% VAT) = £24.30 saved!!!
Ghost Master – £3 vs $5 (£3.86 incl. 15% VAT) = £0.86 saved.
Civ 3 Complete – £3 vs $30 (£23.20 incl. 15% VAT) = £20.20 saved!
Arx Fatalis – £3 vs $10 (£7.73 incl 15% VAT) = £4.73 saved!
Wow, I just saved £50 through conversions. The question is, what have I now lost out on (where conversion has resulted in a higher price)? Although, for now I suppose I have the choice of UK/US prices depending on if I’m using the beta on site or normal through client.
Now I know what a shopaholic feels like…
December 13th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Stijn D says:
Prices are ‘normal’ in €.
World of Goo -> $19.99 or €19.99
-_- And just on a moment I though of buying my games on Steam. -> Epic fail Steam!
December 13th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
drewski says:
Excuse my lack of sympathy, but Australians have been getting screwed over for a year or so with local Steam pricing. Purely because publishers won’t let Valve undercut their shopfront prices.
Yay for internets imports – same boxed copy as you get at home, half the price. And no risk Valve go belly up and you can’t play what you’ve paid for.
GoG is the only DD service that isn’t crap, frankly.
December 13th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
GrantTLC says:
“GoG is the only DD service that isn’t crap, frankly.”
After years of listening to people worship Steam as some kind of second coming, this thread has been a breath of fresh air.
More, please.
December 13th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Adam says:
What I’m trying to say is that (Valve game) retail boxes comes with a disc. Digital purchase does not. I can still download the game in Steam if I have bought the retail box.
So, best of both worlds. If I buy retail, I get a disc and I get a downloadable copy. For a cheaper price.
I just don’t see how they can justify their prices that way. It’s not really an issue of the cost of Blank DVD-R discs (which deteriorate faster than pressed retail discs, by the way). It’s just an issue of value for money for me.
December 13th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
El_MUERkO says:
I’ll enjoy paying in £s instead of $s but if Valve take the cash change as an opportunity to rip me off then I’ll happily wait for their games to appear in the bargain bin :)
December 13th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Raff says:
Outrun 2006 – £4.99!
December 14th, 2008 at 5:58 am
Rob says:
Good catch Raff; thanks.
December 14th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Arnulf says:
All I can say to this:
The British should finally lose the Pound and adopt the Euro!
December 14th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
lumpi says:
We got a chance here! Keep your foot in the door!
Valve will be forced to explain why the hell sending a f#&%ng BIT to Europe costs 15$ more than sending the same bit to the US. There’s always been VAT and vatnot, but don’t let this slip away. I’d LOVE to see Steam being the first online distribution platform to have a sane idea of the global market.
Even if some greedy companies don’t wont to let their inflated prices for us poor Euros go.
December 14th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Taalen says:
Nevertheless, they’d have to pay me for letting Steam infest my computer.
Enough to get another computer solely for that purpose.
December 14th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Larington says:
British Pride & the British Newspapers (Interesting combination eh?) would never allow the UK to make a sudden switch to the Euro.
December 14th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Heliocentric says:
Bugger are we going euro! We are cheapest on steam mostly. gbp ftw tbh. Also rofl
December 14th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
jonfitt says:
Try to avoid falling into the trap of treating the currency exchange rate as the same thing as a “price of goods conversion rate”. That only works when you are free to choose ‘where’ you buy your goods as in what currency.
The Internet looks like it makes this possible, but in many situations it does not so long as the retailer maintains different access rights for different countries. Importers of boxed copies get around this, but digital distribution is easier to control.
Europe had a nice ride while Steam was only available in Dollars, but now they are separating access in different currencies expect to see your local prices lose connection with whatever the currency exchange rate happens to be.
December 14th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Arnulf says:
Hehe. Way to make a discussion lively again. In secrecy I admire the Brits for their idiosyncrasies. So for the time being they can keep their precious Pound.
Anyway, importing software into Europe inflicts a kind of balance tax. So it’s not Valve to blame but the Eurocrats. But I would be careful to lay too much blame at their feet. As far as I understand it, the thing is that developing software in Euroland is way more expensive than in the Northern Americas. This is a way to evening out the odds, so to speak.
December 14th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Heliocentric says:
To me and as for as long pay pal operates in the ol usd i can buy most things in either £ or $. So if they make any one cheaper? Thats what i pay in. Failing that i have thralls friends in the US.
December 14th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Andrew says:
Just did a test and added a load of games i want to my cart.
Total comes to £152.82. Using a currency converter thats $228.355
Switch back over to Dollars on steam and it comes to $383.82/£256.849
In conclusion £=FTW!
December 14th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
NutMan says:
A lot of the prices quoted in this article are wrong. Civ 4 Complete is $49.99 not $59.99 USD and Bioshock is $19.99 USD not $54.99 USD
Also a commenter said that Far Cry 2 and COD 4 are $54.99 USD which is wrong. They’re both $49.99 USD
December 19th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
NeoXF says:
I thin you guys should check this…
http://store.steampowered.com/sub/1203/
Look at the “Individual” price, then at the “Package”. Oh, and did I mention Full Spectrum Warriors is a free game now?
Wow, Steam is a mess right now, I don’t even know if I’m gowing to get VALVe Complete Pack anymore…
December 21st, 2008 at 1:49 pm
OneOne says:
I’m mystified at anyone thinking Steam has ever been competitive. It may be more convenient, if you have a large and unlimited internet connection, but ever since its inception, Steam has *never* been cheaper than getting a box from Play, Amazon, CD-Wow or Sendit.
Now that they’ve hiked their prices by 40% or more in the “Eurozone”, I’ll keep chuckling as their sales inevitably tank into the gutter. Those of you buying £ – get in there fast before they rise again. The USA and UK could end up propping up the whole of Steam as ther marketplace for the rest of Europe’s 650 million people look elsewhere for games software.
December 22nd, 2008 at 2:31 pm
jalf says:
I know a few people for whom Steam *was* competitive. It’s a bit of a special case, but because Norway is not a member of the EU, they had to pay VAT on purchases from play.com, but they *don’t* have to pay VAT on downloaded products, so Steam used to be cheaper there. Which is why they’re *really* pissed now… :D
For the rest of us? Yeah, play.com was cheaper before, and is *certainly* cheaper now.
The only reason this pricing fiasco bugs me is that I was just looking forward to being able to buy EA games without the DRM through Steam.
December 22nd, 2008 at 3:03 pm
cosy says:
spain
Bioshock 19,99€
Civ IV 29,99€
GTA 4 49,99€
Civ 3 4,99€
December 26th, 2008 at 10:07 am
JimNNail says:
People started posting about it at my XFire blog lol.
http://www.xfire.com/blog/jimn/336822/
December 27th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
salem5 says:
first EU != EU
That time was a fest for the UK, for Germany it was hell. WE are the suckers who had to pay overpriced, it was before the change possible to save 5€ or more in Steam by buying with US Dollar prices, even with tax. But with that change, they made us pay horrendous prices which have topped buying Retail sometimes with additional 10€!
If its pricing, EU != EU, as long as the island-eggheads use their own currency :P
December 27th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
ezcruci says:
From this i could get a neck that could blow up again.I bought a copy of css for about 10 dollars living here in germany as us citizen about 2 years ago , now i want to purchase another game and i could have not believed it if i haven’t seen it with my own eyes; example gta 4 cost 39.99 euros = dollars around 29.66 $.Now they want 67.38 dollars for it.Lmao Dont piss down my back and tell me its raining…….
Going to order on amazone.com send to my dad in cali to my second address and have him sent it to me.
All i have to do is to be a littte bit more patient, but this will pay of and save paper credit.
January 7th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
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Also interesting: Arx Fatalis and Civ 3 complete are both £3, which can’t be right, can it?
December 12th, 2008 at 3:36 pm