It’s now a lot harder to change your Steam store country and take advantage of cheaper game prices in different regions.
A recent change by Valve, clocked by SteamDB, now requires you to first make a purchase using a payment method from the country whose store you’re using.
This closes the loophole where you could use a VPN to fool Steam into thinking you lived somewhere else – somewhere, say, a particular game might be priced a little cheaper.
This has long been against Valve’s terms and conditions, and risks a ban – but people did it anyway.
Valve has recently made changing your store country more strict, which requires completing a purchase using a payment method from that country.
This should hinder the ability of using VPNs to buy games cheaper. pic.twitter.com/IozwoO6gsi
— SteamDB (@SteamDB) July 29, 2020
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The issue recently hit the headlines when Horizon Zero Dawn launched on Steam and users flocked to buy it cheap from the Argentinian store. This caused the game’s local price to then be dramatically increased to match its US dollar price to stop bargain hunters taking advantage, VG247 reported, disadvantaging locals in the process.