Steam Regional Currency Changes and Australia

If you have been following the Steam news lately you will know that regional currency is coming. But thanks to Enhanced Steam’s JShackles, we now have a few more details. Steam will support the following currencies and exchange rates at some point.

For a tf2 key it will cost:

usd = $2.19
gbp = £1.29
eur = 1,61€
rub = 73,60 py6.
brl = R$ 4,80
jpy = ¥ 222.36
nok = 13,41 kr
idr = Rp 26504.12
myr = RM7.06
php = P96.76
sgd = S$2.71
thb = ฿70.72
vnd = 46,950.28₫
krw = ₩2,224.93
try = 4,69 TL
uah = 26,76₴
mxn = Mex$ 28.61
cad = CDN$ 2.36
aud = AUD$ 2.34 (+1.069)
nzd = NZD$ 2.49

So how good or bad is this? Well it will come down to publishers… So pretty bad. Let’s crunch the numbers by looking at a popular example:

So say I wanted to buy Watch_Dogs on steam. It costs … No sorry, I can’t do this because I’m never buying that… ever.

Ok better example. Here is how it plays out:

The verdict? Pretty much any way you look at it, Australians will be paying more for games. You can also bet that the currency rate will not be adjusted quickly as the AUD$ rises, assuming it ever does (which it already has compared to the reference rates). There is no way publishers like Ubisoft and Namco will accept their games suddenly being cheaper day after day, so expect it to remain more or less static until the currency drops…where it will be adjusted in real time.

Can we do much about it? Well buying outside steam or gifting seems sensible, but that doesn’t seem to be a long term solution. A lot of work is going into this region locking and those loopholes are unlikely to be available for long. This is especially true when considering the growing Russian key market, which will no doubt ruin it for everybody.

So yeah, the Steam sale is on now so buy up. Oh and any Steam funds you have? They will be converted too… So might want to spend that all as well.

Sigh.

PSN Prices to be Adjusted?

Update:
The EA titles have dropped from $105 to $100! Yay! Resogun and Killzone et al remain at the previous levels. So basically Australian’s are getting slightly less fucked over by EA and Activision, which makes Sony’s prices kind of worse by comparison. Progress!
—–

The good people at Eurogamer are reporting that the European PSN prices will be adjusted before launch. If necessary refunds will be given to make up the difference:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-11-27-playstation-4-psn-game-prices-will-be-adjusted-ahead-of-eu-launch

“Although PS4 launches in Europe on the 29th November, we have switched on the European PSN early to test and make sure that features and functionality are fully operational for launch,” Sony told Eurogamer.

“However, as PS4 and PSN have not yet officially launched in this region, nothing on the PSN is final, including pricing on the store. You will continue to see some prices adjusted over the next few days in preparation for launch on Friday.”

Quite how stupid pricing fits into testing is beyond me, but it is still welcome news. Does this apply to Australia? I asked the author of the article but he could only indicate that it relates to the specifically mentioned regions and no further information is available.

I’ve reached out for comment from Sony, but given I’m just a random scumbag there seems little hope of them letting me know. For now I’m filing this away under “I’ll believe it when I see it”.

So what exactly am I after here? Well I’ll be tracking three games to see what happens:

Killzone Shadowfall $89.95
Fifa 14 $104.95
Resogun $21.55

When we see a 20-30% drop in these prices (and the rest for EA) then we’ll know Sony’s testing was successful.

Oh and my last gen example of $110 GTA5? It is currently $34 for a US code on Amazon. You have to just shake your head sometimes.

#Resogun Australian Price Gouging

Unfortunately it is worth harping on this point for a little bit longer. When you sign up to PS+, you get Resogun, a well regarded action title. This seems like a swell idea given the value of the service, but what if you just want to own the game forever? Well for the US you will be set back $15. For Australia?

Once again we are looking at a ~40% increase from other parts of the world. Different to the discussion on the PS4 itself, in this example there is no extra shipping and no retail to compete with. Further Sony can’t just blame EA or Activision for screwing us over, this one is on them.

Once again the obvious answer is to spurn the Aus PSN store like a rabid dog. But just ignoring it until Sony blocks it off doesn’t help matters and overall this just represents a lost opportunity to right some wrongs with a fresh start. If anybody from Sony is out there, please let sanity prevail and adjust the prices!