Rest of World Group

video by Jorwell

The Steam Group Rest of World which is fighting against unfair game prices and availability for different countries around the world has now reached 5000 members.

The group is now going to act on its promise and will be attempting to get in touch with and developer or publisher which they feel are excluding the Rest of the World from being able to purchase games, purchase games at a fair price and to purchase games as they are meant to have been releaed.

More information on this latest information can be found here and Jorwell’s original video can be seen here in higher quality.

So while I may fully applaud Valve and Steam at times I will be one of the first to admit that there are some serious issues with Steam. An article on cnet.au that has come to my attention (thanks Digi) has sparked me to write about the situation with Steam, various Publishers and games being charged different prices across the world, some not being available and other games not being localized properly.

First off lets take that cnet.au article and see what they say.

The article sets out some important ground work which everyone should be aware of in regards to this issue. Steam is merely the platform of distribution for many of the games on the network, they have repeatedly stated on the Steam forums and elsewhere that it is up to publishers to provide post-release support, set prices and decide where the game will be available for purchase.

The cnet.au article has some responses from major publishers on Steam guilty of blocking off the rest of the world or even for altering prices dramatically in different world regions.

Ubisoft: “Ubisoft is still studying the different options concerning the digital market and official announcements on this subject could be made in the coming months.”

THQ AU: “Unfortunately we are unable to comment on the situation with Steam at this stage.”

Sega AU: “We honestly have nothing to do with Steam here in Australia.”

Atari AU: “This is a US deal with Steam done by Atari Inc and has nothing to do with Atari Australia.” Kotaku AU got a bit more of an answer, managing to get it’s “US-only due to licensing agreements”.

2k Games AU: 2k Australia forwarded a request to 2k US, but we’re still awaiting a response. According to Kotaku AU, the games catalogue used to be there and is coming back eventually.

Rockstar: No response.

The cnet.au article also details some price comparisons between games from both the US and Australia. This isn’t just an Australian issue, I have seen many games not be available for purchase in the UK via Steam or to be charged a price higher than retail, and higher than that in the US.

Due to my position working for Half-Life 2.net I have the privilege of a Press Account which means I get any games that publishers wish for those of us with these accounts to be able to play.

This means that for the large part I am able to stay clear of this mess that many publishers are causing. However it is still something that I recognise as being an issue, a big issue. While publishers may tout different licensing, age rating and other reasons for their ‘North America First’ stance it really is not acceptable.

We are living in the digital age, the internet is meant to be the beacon, the Olympic Torch if you will of freedom. Games should be available world wide on Steam as long as they are not banned in the country in question. If there is a localised version of a game available at retail in a country then that version at the very least should be available on Steam.

Pricing wise it is evident that publishers are varying prices world wide as they realise that with the weak US$ right now that international sales are a great place to pick up lost revenue. This should not be the case though, putting a game such as Call of Duty 4 US$40 more expensive in Australia than in the US is just going to stop people buying it from Steam.

When I think of the internet I think of freedom, within limits of course (that is another issue entirely) and with that we should be doing away with region locking totally, not just via digital distribution channels. Game should be priced fairly world wide and should be available world wide.

This is an issue that if we sit back and accept will just get worse. That is why action must be taken.

The Steam Community Group Rest of World (RoW) is just start and with over 4000 members at the time of writing that is the best place to start and get your voice heard.

My statement to publisher on Steam:

Dear Publishers,

Chris Evans