Recently I noticed on Steam store pages they have this new notice;



So, does it mean new games that I bought in Malaysia cannot be played if I'm travelling to US or Europe?

I know this isn't the case previously, but with this new notice it kind of worries me...

Well, if it said that, mean you not ABLE to play from others region.

when travel don online mode, always offline mode play.

That means the game is region locked to SEA.

Gawd knows who are the idiots who came out with this retarded idea.

Maybe because they are offering special prices for the selected region and this implementation is to avoid people using proxy to purchase it?

I guess because maybe they make it cheaper for us to encourage we buy ori.

Sometimes DRM is just stupid, you are actually renting the game, not own it.

Both South Park and Thief are still 59.99USD. Please tell me which game is actually cheaper than rest of the world.

At the very least, the censored Australian version of South Park is sold at $54.95. In SEA, we are paying the same price as the rest of the world but our games are region locked. Thats utterly retarded.

Renting or not, region locks on games are probably the dumbest thing ever along with regional pricing. There are GST and VAT in some countries, but the price conversion is far more than what GST/VAT imposed.

This post has been edited by Cheesenium: Mar 6 2014, 11:54 AM

Idunnolol. I said maybe.

This might make turn me into jack sparrow again... the reason I don't buy Xbox360 is specifically this... the games are not playable once you are out of region.

Looks to me that this is true, you can't play out of region. Still waiting for Valve support's answer. But I noted that somebody here in LYN as well was mistakenly blocked for out of region game with beta client, so I guess this is true then...

My first reaction to this, "now PC Master Race might not mean so much anymore... i feel like a console peasant..."

I actually buy games on GMG/Gamersgate/HumbleBundle more than Steam themselves nowadays because these people has better promotion. So, I dont think it's because of the pricing.

Since Thief has this notice, and my copy of Thief that I bought from GMG works fine I guess if you buy retail it still depends on where you actually claimed the game? or it only applied to those games bought from Steam Store only. Retail copy will still depends on the retail policy...

This post has been edited by mrl: Mar 6 2014, 01:21 PM

I wouldn't really mind activation (and not playing) locks if we had the cheapest prices in the world but we don't. We're actually paying US rates with 3rd world salaries akin to Brazil or Russia (ours is lower actually). Our piracy rate is just as high if not higher than theirs and yet they're still forcing us to pay top dollar for stuff we can't even play outside of the country. Steam and the publishers are bending over to placate pirates in those countries and yet they can't even bother to do the same for us, instead giving us the same region locks with 2-3x the prices. It makes no freaking sense. Whoever came up with this is retarded as fluff.

My question is, how often region lock will affect you? If you are a student studying overseas or traveling a lot, then, maybe thats true but still you can always opt to buy/activate your games overseas. If Steam tries to ban you, then, you'll have your visa/overseas documents to prove that you are not bypassing region lock by VPN. If you are staying in Malaysia for long term, I doubt region locks will affect you unless if you eventually migrate, you can always ask Steam to remove the region locked game than buy the RoW version when its dirt cheap a few years down the line. Still, how many of us will migrate at the end? That is provided that the game is good to begin with. If Hitman Absolution is region locked to SEA, i doubt i'll even want to play it overseas as its a pretty terrible game to me.

Also, you do not have to buy from Steam store all the time, considering it is cheaper to buy from GMG, Gamersgate or Amazon. Those sites usually provide RoW keys. Provided Steam does not expand the shit that they turn your RoW key into MY key which had happened before with aussie copies of SR4.

And independent games usually are region free anyway, and they are selling better and far more interesting than a lot of games by those multinational companies.

On top of the fact that, it is evident that some companies like EA, Capcom, Square Enix and so on are moving towards F2P, I really doubt one will have many games to buy in the future. Retail AAA isnt making them much money, maybe with exception to Take 2 Interactive or Bethesda as they are selling their single player games by truckload.

It might not affect everybody... but it does effect me as travelling to different region is pretty much a norm and when it happen it might be for a long time... the reason why I bought a gaming capable laptop as a companion in the first place...

And I dont plan to migrate but again it will become a major inconvenience for me as well if I'm travelling.

Yes, I have the choice to buy/activate overseas, but then when I'm back I can't play it as well.

Sorry if I look like I'm ranting here (oh well, I am ranting )

I did check, what other games have these policy as well on Steam and what I find is it's probably not a very major issue. But then again, Sony is capable of doing region free makes me feel uneasy with this whole thing coz I dont exactly like region locked stuff. This whole thing might have been done by the publisher and Steam are forced to follow their will.

Actually, the whole reason I opened this topic was to get confirmation if this note means what it mean (a change in policy, which looks like it is) and follow up with one more question, is it only applicable for Steam Store or even retail/physical version sold by independent retailer. Though it turns out as a rant... Sorry for that

I checked my Steam account details.

The Thief key I got from AMD Rewards is Thief WW, assuming WW is for World Wide.

I bought Grid 2 DLC when I was overseas, the DLC's name has a Worldwide behind.

South Park, which I got from GMG, did not state SEA or MY at the back.

So, its safe to say that if you buy it elsewhere, its probably RoW key.

This post has been edited by Cheesenium: Mar 7 2014, 12:36 AM

lets just hope that green man gaming keeps on selling row keys then.

At least for a while, whatever key you activate, thats what you'll get.

From reddit.

Yeah it makes no freaking sense for SEA. Besides Singapore, the rest of the countries in the region are 3rd world. Yet they wants us to pay 1st world price and restrict us from playing out of our region.

That clears my worry a little bit. At least now we know that we just need to double check if the key they are selling are RoW/WW or region locked. Hopefully this isn't a start to an event of all games being region locked like Xbox system.

Greedy Konami opened the floodgate.

If you are overseas, buy the games from overseas. If steam butthurt over it, show them your air ticket, visa or other documents, you have a strong point to argue from as if I'm overseas and bought games from so and so country, what's wrong with it when I'm physically there. I'm not using VPN or any illegal methods.

As long as you do not buy from other region locked countries like Russia or South America.

Very sad to hear this. PC is supposed to be region free.

Asking Valve on Facebook what gives.

I remember when they had sales for an EA game. Battlefield 2 I think. US price: US$4.99. ROW price: no offer, US$49.99

This post has been edited by RAMChYLD: Mar 21 2014, 11:28 AM