Steam just got +40% more expensive

[Nikolai]

Turns out Steam's management just went loco. From selling all their games in dollar, Europe now has to buy it in euro. Even us who isn't part of the euro zone or the EU. Which means the games just got more than 40% more expensive!

Fallout 3 cost 351 NOK yesterday with the dollar as currency. Today it cost 499 NOK, since we now have to pay in euro. Call of Duty 4 cost 340 NOK yesterday, now it cost 479 NOK. If I go to my local shop and buy it on a CD with manual and everything, I can get it for 399 NOK.

Where's the reason behind this?

[Solver]

Next time you want a game from Steam, you'd probably be better off asking an American to buy it for you and sending him the money in dollars...

[Unimatrix11]

Nice to have the prices in Euro actually - if the numbers were adjusted... I mean rounding up to the next full Euro or so is okay, but 1:1 ?!

[Asher]

Seems fair to me to punish Europeans...

Also, I had to chuckle when you asked the reason behind charging Euros in Europe instead of dollars. You shame us all.

[Nikolai]

Originally posted by Asher
Seems fair to me to punish Europeans...

Also, I had to chuckle when you asked the reason behind charging Euros in Europe instead of dollars. You shame us all.

More correctly, why charge the same in euro when the dollar is much less worth. It's idiotic and the only bad thing with f.ex. GamersGate. Steam had one big advantage and managed to screw it up.

[Asher]

If they're charging in Euros it means they're paying Euro taxes. Of course you get charged more. You guys live in a socialist state, deal with the higher prices?

[Solver]

When they sold in dollars, taxes were added to the dollar price as well when making the purchase. The thing is, the current displayed prices in Euros (which include the tax) are higher than the previously displayed prices in dollars plus the tax, which doesn't really make sense.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Solver
When they sold in dollars, taxes were added to the dollar price as well when making the purchase. The thing is, the current displayed prices in Euros (which include the tax) are higher than the previously displayed prices in dollars plus the tax, which doesn't really make sense.

How much more expensive?

[Solver]

All in all, about a third, actually varying from 20% to 40% depending on the game and the country. Refer to this thread.

When I checked Left 4 Dead, it was 53$ for me (45 base + 8 in taxes), right now it's 45 EUR, which is 65$ with today's exchange rates. This is with a low tax rate of 18% and a cheaper game. Fallout 3 was 59$ previously and is now 72$.

Of course, the rampant piracy rates over here actually disadvantage those who want to buy retail because retail prices are insane.

[Solver]

The silliest part is that they just applied this pricing to all of Europe, excluding the UK. The Euro is not an all-European currency, it's not the official currency of the EU. In non-Eurozone EU countries the Euro doesn't have any official status.

[Asher]

The Euro does make more sense than US dollar, though.

Sounds to me like the EU is dumb enough to be screwed collectively.

PC games sell much better there, lo and behold you've got higher prices...

[snoopy369]

I would presume they have a European division, and that division would rather only deal in Euros than deal in (Euros + Dollars).

Did they move to charging the prices that are identical to the retail prices (ie, would a $59 game like Fallout be 59 Euros in Europe in stores?) It's entirely possible they were required to adjust their pricing to more closely match stores - I know a lot of the online retailers are restricted in various ways to make sure the retail stores aren't overly disadvantaged (like release days and such) which would lead to retail stores retaliating against the game producers.

[Solver]

Originally posted by Asher
The Euro does make more sense than US dollar, though.

Only for Eurozone countries. For the 12 EU countries that are not in the Eurozone, let alone countries like Norway, the dollar makes as much sense as the Euro, both are just foreign countries with no special legal status.

[Solver]

Originally posted by snoopy369
Did they move to charging the prices that are identical to the retail prices (ie, would a $59 game like Fallout be 59 Euros in Europe in stores?)

That's the entire problem, they did. And according to what I read, Valve set the prices. Given that 1 EUR = 1.39 USD, their 1=1 conversion is ridiculous.

[snoopy369]

Valve set the prices for Fallout in retail stores???