Pricey Propositions

A little over a year ago I tried to gift a game through Steam to a family member for their birthday.  Unfortunately, Steam rejected the transaction because we weren't living in the same country.  I actually submitted a troubleshooting request hoping to navigate around the obstacle, but the customer support representative basically told me to give a gift card or forget it.  I didn't want to give a gift card because it's the thought that counts (getting someone something they didn't even know they wanted).  The expense wasn't an issue.  So, with a heavy heart, I had to give up on the present idea even though it wasn't this way before.  I had used the same system to give games on previous birthdays.  So, what changed?  Steam, in their infinite wisdom, decided to introduce regional pricing.

Basically, regional pricing is a way to sell games in countries that are generally too poor to purchase them at their suggested retail value.  To give an example, a hot new release might go for 60 dollars in the USA, but in Argentina it could be quarter of that price or less (when comparing currency conversion rates).  The reasoning here being that the average income in Argentina is much lower than in America.  So, on paper this is a method which can net some extra sales and a bit more profit than would otherwise be possible when using a universal pricing strategy.  It's by no means a new concept even in the video game industry.  The Final Fantasy series has notoriously always been slightly more expensive in Japan than other regions.  Of course that started off in a world where everything was physical media.  Now, in this age of digital distribution, there's a big 3-letter problem with this business strategy - VPN.

Provided you have a Virtual Private Network client, it's not especially hard to purchase games in cheaper territories without living in (or even visiting) them.  In other words, regional pricing is great in theory (publishers and Valve Corporation get to make more money while people in poorer countries get to play games that would normally be too expensive for them to afford).  However, in practice it's easily exploited and abused.  Recently, publishers on Steam have been drifting back to the old system which, in turn, has led to a lot of finger pointing on social media with statements that can be summed up as one of the following:

• It's those cheating digital boarder hoppers that ruined things!
• It's the fault of the governments of those poorer countries for not getting a handle on inflation!
• It's the greedy publishers who are to blame!

You get the idea.  In truth, all three groups are being terrible in their own ways, but I'd like to single out publishers for a moment because of what I see as a fundamental flaw in their reasoning.  Someone who jumps through a bunch of hoops to get a game for cheaper might not have bought the game at all if it were only available for purchase at a higher price.  It's very much an extension of corporate views on internet piracy.  Just in case anyone needs a reminder, an illegal download of a game doesn't necessarily equate to a lost sale.  There are plenty of games people pass on that they would have played had the price been a lot cheaper (or free).  When it comes to enthusiasts of this hobby of ours many have free time aplenty, but not a whole lot of cash to burn.  I can see how this regional pricing exploit was one way to stretch an otherwise limited gaming budget.  Alternatively, it's possible that most corporations are well aware of all this and simply don't care.  Maximizing profits is the ironclad mandate by which they chose to function...right down to exploiting cheaper labor markets to reduce development costs...funny how it's okay if they do it, but unacceptable if anyone else does.  Oh well, maybe I'll at least be able gift games digitally again some day.