It's been two years since Steam implemented protections against customers spoofing their location to buy games from other countries' storefronts, as gamers tried to use currency conversions in order to get games for far cheaper than they normally would be in their home region. It's also been almost two years since the European Commission filed charges against Valve for doing so, as according to them, it prevented members of the European Union from being able to freely shop for the best available prices within any country inside the EU. Now, as result of that, the EU has hit them, along with five other video game publishers with major fines over "geo-blocking" customers. Valve, ZeniMax, Focus Home Interactive, Capcom, Koch Media, and Bandai Namco have been fined to the tune of € 7.8 million total. Valve, as they refused to cooperate with the Commission, was fined €1.6 million, while the other publishers had their fees decreased somewhat, as they worked alongside the Commission during the investigation. European publisher Focus Home was fined €2.9 million, ZeniMax--parent company of Bethesda--was fined $1.6 million, Koch was fined €1 million, while Capcom and Bandai Namco weren't fined as much, at €396,000 and €340,000 respectively.

Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “More than 50% of all Europeans play video games. The videogame industry in Europe is thriving and it is now worth over € 17 billion. Today's sanctions against the “geo-blocking” practices of Valve and five PC video game publishers serve as a reminder that under EU competition law, companies are prohibited from contractually restricting cross-border sales. Such practices deprive European consumers of the benefits of the EU Digital Single Market and of the opportunity to shop around for the most suitable offer in the EU”.

Source

 

[Deleted User]

now that i've seen a bit more of the discussion, i've changed my mind, the EU might share a common currency, but not every member state has the same standards of living, Valve wouldnt have implemented blocking if people in states that can afford their price didn't abuse the system to save a few bucks

 

[Jayro]

This isn't the same kind of region locking we're used to from consoles, that's hardly ever been an issue on PC. The only difference from country to country is pricing, where Valve tried to take into account the economic status of individual member nations. Well, that and Germany receiving censored versions of specific games. Uniformity in the EU would mean every member nation gets those censored versions, and at the highest possible price. Not something I'd personally be cheering for.

They should average those prices, and give everyone the uncensored versions. Consumers are, afterall, smart... and can form their own decisions about what they want censored, if anything. Forced censorship is just another step towards a dictatorship, and nobody likes that.

 

[Patxinco]

This isn't the same kind of region locking we're used to from consoles, that's hardly ever been an issue on PC. The only difference from country to country is pricing, where Valve tried to take into account the economic status of individual member nations. Well, that and Germany receiving censored versions of specific games. Uniformity in the EU would mean every member nation gets those censored versions, and at the highest possible price. Not something I'd personally be cheering for.

That's exactly what's going to happen, i should start getting some games while the prices are still low here in Spain...

Edit: Just joking, here in Spain are pretty high too... T.T

 

[AbyssalMonkey]

They should average those prices, and give everyone the uncensored versions. Consumers are, afterall, smart... and can form their own decisions about what they want censored, if anything. Forced censorship is just another step towards a dictatorship, and nobody likes that.

And countries are allowed to restrict media to their citizens as they please (even if I disagree with it). Though that's besides the point. The EU just mandates that companies must sell to anybody in their union, it doesn't restrict countries from preventing their citizens from buying those goods. It's a one way street. Though that's besides the point.

Averaging would just cause the prices in the richer countries to fall, and would not pick up sales in the poorer countries. If 90% of their profits are made at full price, and the other 10% are made at half price, simple math tells us the price is only going to drop by 5%. That 5% cut isn't going to increase the sales of the once half priced region, it's only going to decrease them, the price did just go up after all. And then the region where they made 90% of their profits are now down 5%, because the price went down. Averaging just loses money in both markets.

 

[Xzi]

They should average those prices, and give everyone the uncensored versions. Consumers are, afterall, smart... and can form their own decisions about what they want censored, if anything. Forced censorship is just another step towards a dictatorship, and nobody likes that.

It's not Valve that chooses to censor the games, that's a requirement of Germany's government when it comes to certain imagery/themes (nazis, essentially). Developers also set their own prices. I'm not sure how well trying to average them out to account for every nation's economic situation would work, and I'm betting AAA developers/publishers won't bother.

 

[Localhorst86]

Uniformity in the EU would mean every member nation gets those censored versions, and at the highest possible price. Not something I'd personally be cheering for.

That's not what this means, at least not in the context of this fine. They are still allowed to sell the censored version in Germany and the uncensored version everywhere else. They can not legally sell the uncensored versions in Germany and some games they can't outright sell at all (quake 3 for example). Thats not the geoblocking the EU is acting on here - they still have to obey the laws of the countries they sell in. The geoblocking the EU is referring to is - for example - blocking someone from Germany to buy the uncensored version or blacklisted game from their non-german store.

Now, that doesn't mean Valve won't do that, they could do that out of spite or to incite anger on the customers side. It just means that thats not what the EU demands here.

They should average those prices, and give everyone the uncensored versions. Consumers are, afterall, smart... and can form their own decisions about what they want censored, if anything. Forced censorship is just another step towards a dictatorship, and nobody likes that.

They literally can't. There are local laws that they still have to follow, and in germany it is illegal to display symbols of illegal organizations (swastikas) without historical critical context. Likewise they can not sell games listed on a specific index, like quake 3, for example (note: it is perfectly legal to own and play quake 3 in germany, its just not legal to sell it). Its a bit of a complicated matter boiling down to legislature being a slow entity when it comes to new media.

 

[Xzi]

The geoblocking the EU is referring to is - for example - blocking someone from Germany to buy the uncensored version or blacklisted game from their non-german store.

Well, the geo-blocking is in place specifically for pricing reasons. I was being a bit hyperbolic by suggesting censorship laws specific to Germany might be extended to the rest of the EU, but the pricing increase for a number of nations is a very realistic outcome.

 

[mive]

This is a pretty big double edged sword that the EU is throwing around. While I'm in general not in favor of region blocking (fucking Nintendo not letting me play JP games on my US console), regional pricing is generally a consumer friendly move. The standard of living and wages are (probably) vastly different across the EU, and all that this is going to do is have valve say "fuck it, you're all paying $60 for the game now", because that's what the majority of their consumers are already purchasing in wealthier places (France and Germany, maybe). Now places with a lower standard of living are going to have their prices raised.

This is much easier to imagine when you compare the standards of living in the west vs a country like India, where $60 is estimated to be roughly $1260 USD equivalent. You think anybody in India is going to be buying games at such an absurd rate? The answer is no, so they geo-lock the software and sell it for cheaper instead, where they might actually be able to make legitimate sales instead of no sales at all.

then people in these countries just "pirate" more. I'm sure they aware about that so I doubt they'll raise prices in these countries.

 

[Localhorst86]

Well, the geo-blocking is in place specifically for pricing reasons. I was being a bit hyperbolic by suggesting censorship laws specific to Germany might be extended to the rest of the EU, but the pricing increase for a number of nations is a very realistic outcome.

But that's on Valve, then. And if that in turn results in higher piracy rates in the lower gdp areas of the EU, that's also on Valve.

 

[Xzi]

But that's on Valve, then.

Valve does not set the prices, developers/publishers do. And the EU is leaving them no other option but to set their prices uniformly.

 

[AbyssalMonkey]

then people in these countries just "pirate" more. I'm sure they aware about that so I doubt they'll raise prices in these countries.

I mean, I get where we are and all, and I do it too, but from a business perspective, and a legal one too, doing something that promotes piracy, the literal breaking of the law, isn't very smart.

 

[Localhorst86]

I mean, I get where we are and all, and I do it too, but from a business perspective, and a legal one too, doing something that promotes piracy, the literal breaking of the law, isn't very smart.

And that's why I think it is very unlikely Valve (or the publishers) are going to substantially raise the prices for the lower gdp areas. Because it would entice piracy.

 

[AbyssalMonkey]

And that's why I think it is very unlikely Valve is going to substantially raise the prices for the lower gdp areas. Because it would entice piracy.

Let's lose money

 

[FAST6191]

While I can see some merit in the setup as got people slapped I am also not going to diss the EU's actions in this -- sucks to be an average wage non pirate in presumably eastern Europe's EU members.

Valve does not set the prices, developers/publishers do. And the EU is leaving them no other option but to set their prices uniformly.

They are the ones to actively enforce the region blocks though.

 

[pedro702]

Valve does not set the prices, developers/publishers do. And the EU is leaving them no other option but to set their prices uniformly.

the eu is not forcing them to change the prices, they can just leave them like they are... and only smart consumers would go trough changing to every country to see the price changes, most people wouldn't bother with it, they dont need to advertise that the price is cheaper if you choose another country...

 

[Localhorst86]

Valve does not set the prices, developers/publishers do. And the EU is leaving them no other option but to set their prices uniformly.

They are leaving them plenty of options.
Option 1: set prices uniformly so no one has reason to circumvent geoblocking, but there's also no reason to enforce geoblocking within the EU.

Option 2: stop selling in the EU and lose out on the entire European gaming market.

Option 3: continue as currently and disable the geoblocking, conforming to the EU rules. They don't have to avtively advertise the lower prices in other EU countries, and there are probably ways to make it less attractive to purchase a game in a foreign region.

And I am sure there's more options.

 

[Xzi]

They are the ones to actively enforce the region blocks though.

Correct, to the benefit of countries with smaller economies/lower GDP. People see certain buzzwords such as "geo-blocking" and immediately assume they're bad, when in reality they were only ensuring that buying games remains a viable alternative to piracy even for people living below the poverty line. The EU leadership clearly did not think this through fully, as the result will be an increase in piracy. To what extent, we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[MarkDarkness]

You obviously have no idea what this article is about...

I... kind of do? I am not going to be "that guy on the Internet", but I literally have a peer-reviewed article on regional price diversification as a tool to lower game piracy rates, so... yeah.

 

[Localhorst86]

Correct, to the benefit of countries with smaller economies/lower GDP. People see certain buzzwords such as "geo-blocking" and immediately assume they're bad, when in reality they were only ensuring that buying games remains a viable alternative to piracy even for people living below the poverty line. The EU leadership clearly did not think this through fully, as the result will be an increase in piracy. To what extent, we'll just have to wait and see.

Stop pretending the EU is forcing Valve (or the publishers) to set a uniform price. If valve (or the publishers) do that, that's their own decision and any possible consequences are theirs to bare.
The EU does not have to "think this through", the EU single market is a construct to benefit both consumers as well as corporations doing business in the EU, and the EU is putting a fine on companies not adhering to the regulations. That's all this is.

 

[Xzi]

Stop pretending the EU is forcing Valve (or the publishers) to set a uniform price.

They are. It's a no-win situation for devs/publishers, they're going to lose money over this one way or another. But if they allow wealthier nations to buy new games for 80% off what they'd normally be paying, they'll lose the maximum amount possible. Better to take the hit and have poorer nations pirate the game, while still bringing in their "normal" profits elsewhere.

The EU does not have to "think this through", the EU single market is a construct to benefit both consumers as well as corporations doing business in the EU, and the EU is putting a fine on companies not adhering to the regulations. That's all this is.

There is no benefit to consumers here, so thinking it through would've been the smarter move for sure.