Steam will begin selling games to gamers from Turkey and Argentina in dollars

Steam will stop selling video games in Turkish lira and Argentine pesos from November 20 due to the volatility of these currencies. Price lists in the platform store, as well as the balance of wallets of users from Turkey and Argentina will be converted into US dollars, reported on the Steam website.

“Volatility in exchange rates in Argentina and Turkey in recent years has made it difficult for game developers to price their games appropriately and keep them current. Developers often talk about this at meetings with us,” the message says.

Steam has also had difficulty maintaining Steam payment systems in these countries due to constant fluctuations in rates, fees, taxes and logistical issues, the platform claims. Converting game prices into dollars is expected to help provide greater stability and consistency for players and developers, while increasing the number of ways to pay for purchases.

The platform’s message clarifies that on November 20, the balance of wallets of users from Turkey and Argentina will be converted into dollars at the exchange rate on that date. At the same time, the platform is introducing two new pricing regions in Latin America and the Middle East, for whose users regional prices will be set in dollars for the first time. As a result, prices may rise in some countries and fall in others, Steam warns.

Steam is a platform for downloading, distributing and streaming computer games. Launched in 2003, it is one of the oldest and most popular platforms. At the beginning of 2020, 667 million accounts were registered on the platform; in 2021, the number of monthly active users was 132 million. The platform sets a recommended price for games for each region. They contain Steam’s “idea” of what a game might be worth in other currencies, given its base price in US dollars and a number of economic indicators. In total, the Steam store supports 39 currencies.

In 2022 the company announced, which will update recommended regional prices more frequently, and has also increased recommended regional prices for some regions. So for Russia they increased by almost 70%, and for Turkey and Argentina – by 400% and 500%, respectively. Game publishers can independently set prices for each region, Steam emphasized then.

Due to the departure of large international publishers from the Russian market, gamers began to actively use pirated versions of games. In 2022, two-thirds (69%) of Russian users played at least one pirated copy, and 51% of players began to pirate more often than they did in 2021, Vedomosti wrote in the summer. As experts noted, players are accustomed to buying games on Steam in one click, but now to do this they need to perform the same number of actions as when downloading a pirated version.

According to Mediascope, 70% of the Russian population aged 12 to 64 at least sometimes play games on some medium, and 33% of the population play on a PC.