Steam is one of the digital game stores with the largest global reach today. It is not for nothing that she is the dean of the sector and in its 20 years of life (although it is true that at first it was only a tool to obtain accessories for certain games) it managed its growth with a big head. It has, like everything in this life, its detractors, but the general assessment that we can hear from the majority is positive.

A key element when digital commerce reaches a certain region, This is usually the acceptance of the local currency, because it makes users feel more comfortable when shopping. Because? Well, because you don’t need to do any conversions to know exactly how much you’re paying, plus you avoid any commissions you might pay for currency exchange, something most banks don’t usually forgive.

However, this makes it easier for customers to operate, it makes them significantly more complicated for the companies that offer them, especially if we are talking about currencies that are subject to a lot of fluctuation (which is also a problem for those who sell through platforms that offer it). For similar reasons, i.e. fluctuations in value and commissions, Steam already eliminated payment via cryptocurrencies about six years ago, in December 2017. I am not comparing, to be precise, cryptocurrencies with national currencies, but the casuistry coincides in some points.

An example of a subscription automatically canceled by Steam that will need to be renewed using US dollars as payment currency.

So Valve took a measure that probably won’t be funny in the affected markets, because Steam will begin using US dollar pricing in several Central and South American countriesand also in the Middle East and North Africa. This is the list of affected countries broken down by region:

LATAM-USD region

• Belize
• Savior
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Nicaragua
• Panama

• Argentina
• Bolivia
• Ecuador
• Guyana
• Paraguay
• Suriname
• Venezuela

MENA-USD region

• Bahrain
• Egypt
• Iraq
• Jordan
• Lebanon
• Oman
• Palestine
• Turkey
• Yemen

• Algeria
• Libya
• Morocco
• Tunisia
• Sudan

This change will be effective in less than a month, from November 20, 2023, when the money accumulated in the wallets of the affected users will be converted to dollars and the active subscription will not be automatically renewed. Instead, users will have to sign up again, this time for a rate defined in US dollars.

Although the communication about the change does not mention anything in this direction, there is something that has raised some suspicions. In her, as you see, specifically, two markets are mentioned, Argentina and Türkiye which, as you may already know, are the two countries with the lowest prices on Steam, markets where with some tricks you can buy games for much less money than you would have to pay in your local store.

So Steam specifically mentions Argentina and Türkiye, raised suspicions of a possible price increase in said markets, perhaps in an attempt to illegitimately use them to obtain games at much lower prices. However, as already indicated, there is no mention of this point in Valve’s text, so we can assume that, as before, they will continue to maintain prices adapted to the economies of these countries.