Steam price fixing
March 01, 2010
One could argue this should've been assumed, given man's tendency to be greedy, but here's a picture I've just put together demonstrating how us Australian customers are paying more for our games over Steam:
The list on the left side is a capture direct from my Steam app, and the right side is a capture from my having browsed the Steam store via a proxy website (so they'd think I was living in the US of A). And believe it or not, both sets of prices are listed in $USD.
So yeah, let's look at what we've got here; among other differences, that's an extra $30 for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision), Napolean: Total War Imperial Edition (Sega) and Bioshock 2 (2k Games). Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (EA) is an extra $20, AvP (Sega again) an extra $15, and Warhammer 40k DoW2 Chaos Rising (THQ) an extra $10.
So yeah fellas, what's the deal? You taking the piss or something? Makes me laugh, when I think about it; yeah, piracy is wrong, but this shit is fine. Huh? What, it costs them more having an Australian download the game instead of an American? Of course not.
What a pity. The opportunity was there to do it so right and so well. After all, the goods are non-tangible and the internet makes the delivery. One store, prices listed in US dollars regardless of location, and all the rest of us pay is whatever the going exchange rate is at the time. Brilliant.
But no, as usual, human greed has to go fuck it up once again. Yeah, there's a switch!
Oh, and check out the dates too. Not only does the average Australian have to pay more, he's also got to wait longer before he can play it. The Yanks can start playing Supreme Commander 2 tomorrow (Tuesday March 2nd), but for reasons unknown, I've got to wait until Friday 5th.
That said, I'm grateful Supreme Commander 2 has the same price, and it's nice to see Valve themselves not engaging in this activity. At least there are a couple out there trying to do the right thing. They're the ones who'll be getting all my business from now on.
The list on the left side is a capture direct from my Steam app, and the right side is a capture from my having browsed the Steam store via a proxy website (so they'd think I was living in the US of A). And believe it or not, both sets of prices are listed in $USD.
So yeah, let's look at what we've got here; among other differences, that's an extra $30 for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision), Napolean: Total War Imperial Edition (Sega) and Bioshock 2 (2k Games). Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (EA) is an extra $20, AvP (Sega again) an extra $15, and Warhammer 40k DoW2 Chaos Rising (THQ) an extra $10.
So yeah fellas, what's the deal? You taking the piss or something? Makes me laugh, when I think about it; yeah, piracy is wrong, but this shit is fine. Huh? What, it costs them more having an Australian download the game instead of an American? Of course not.
What a pity. The opportunity was there to do it so right and so well. After all, the goods are non-tangible and the internet makes the delivery. One store, prices listed in US dollars regardless of location, and all the rest of us pay is whatever the going exchange rate is at the time. Brilliant.
But no, as usual, human greed has to go fuck it up once again. Yeah, there's a switch!
Oh, and check out the dates too. Not only does the average Australian have to pay more, he's also got to wait longer before he can play it. The Yanks can start playing Supreme Commander 2 tomorrow (Tuesday March 2nd), but for reasons unknown, I've got to wait until Friday 5th.
That said, I'm grateful Supreme Commander 2 has the same price, and it's nice to see Valve themselves not engaging in this activity. At least there are a couple out there trying to do the right thing. They're the ones who'll be getting all my business from now on.