Valve will cease to support regional currencies in Turkey and Argentina, switching them to the US dollar. Steam users from other countries will see the new regionally priced items in US dollars (USD).
Players who have their Steam accounts in regions like Turkey and Argentina began receiving notifications from Valve about price changes today.
Several messages appeared on Reddit, with users sharing corresponding screenshots: ‘Steam prices and wallets in [country’s name] will be converted to USD starting from November 20th.
Why is Steam abandoning local currencies in favor of USD?
“The exchange rate volatility in Argentina and Turkey in recent years has made it difficult for game developers to choose appropriate prices for their games and keep them up to date,” Valve explains in their blog
“We have heard this loud and clear in our developer meetings and roundtable discussions,” they continue.
The company added that it has had difficulties operating in these territories and maintaining regional payment methods due to ‘constant currency fluctuations, rates, taxes, and logistical issues.
“Setting game prices in USD for Steam customers in Argentina and Turkey will help us provide greater stability and consistency for players and partners while allowing us to continue offering a variety of payment methods to Steam users in those countries/territories,” Valve concludes.
Turkey and Argentina have long been the two regions with historically cheap games.
The prices were so appealing that some users, unwilling to pay $60 for new AAA releases, even began changing their Steam regions to these countries, digitally pretending to be Turkish and Argentine players and buying inexpensive games in lira and pesos.
The first changes occurred in October 2022 when Steam updated its recommended regional prices, and Turkey and Argentina experienced increases of more than 450%.”
At that time, the company explained that it had to make ‘significant changes to those conversion recommendations to keep up’ with the constant evolution of purchasing power and currency exchange rates.
This led many publishers to increase the prices of their products, although they generally remained cheaper than in the United States and Europe. The most recent significant price hike occurred last week: Activision games increased by 1,000% to 2,300% in Turkey and Argentina.
This has made some titles cost more in Argentina than in the United States. If not resolved, this will create an insurmountable gap for Argentine players.
