Valve has made things even more difficult for those looking to take advantage of Steam’s regional pricing when they shouldn’t. Users will now have to complete a purchase using a payment method from the country they want to select before Steam will allow players to purchase games in that region.
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
— Steam Database (@SteamDB) July 29, 2020
As spotted by Steam Database, Steam now requires users to make a purchase using a payment method issued in the country they want to change their store to. In other words, you can’t buy games in Poland unless you have a Polish credit card, for instance.
Store country is a setting that dictates the content and prices Steam displays. Some in the past used this feature to change their country to one where games are cheaper in order to get a deal one or more purchases. In those cases, users would VPN to those places while using their existing payment methods, which were issued in their actual country of residence.
“If you have moved to a new country, or are living abroad for an extended period of time, you can update your Steam country setting when you complete your first purchase using a payment method from that country,” Steam’s updated policy explains.