For example, take the price of RE9: Requiem (Deluxe) in comparison to major currencies and notice that it costs LESS than from the Western world: (Why is that the case?)
| Country | Local Currency | in USD | in GBP | in EUR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | ¥9,990 | $62.85 | £46.80 | 53,75€ |
| South Korea | ₩91,800 | $61.90 | £46.30 | 53,15€ |
| China | ¥398 | $58.30 | £43.30 | 49,70€ |
| India | ₹4799 | $51.70 | £38.50 | 44,20€ |
| Kazakhstan | 29,100₸ | $60.95 | £45.30 | 52,15€ |
| Philippines | ₱3490 | $58.40 | £43.50 | 49,95€ |
| Indonesia | Rp 1039000 | $60.80 | £45.30 | 52,00€ |
| Vietnam | 1690000₫ | $64.40 | £48.00 | 55,10€ |
Now take the exact same game in “Western” money, it costs even MORE :
| US | UK | EU |
|---|---|---|
| $79.99 | £69.99 | 79,99€ |
Like, why is it so expensive? I would say the US one costs more as sales tax isn’t accounted for (until checkout) on their store front while VAT is included on both UK & EU store fronts via steam.
Steam singlehandedly diminished prevalence of piracy in some markets where it was overwhelmingly rampant before, by making it affordable to buy games compared to just downloading them from a torrents forum.
And just so it’s clear, I’m not gonna pay fifty bucks for a game, because I can live two weeks on that.