Steam's Recommended Pricing for Poland

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scromblo 11 Sep @ 5:56am

Hello,
my suggestion is for Valve to look into adjusting suggested regional pricing for Poland.

Let me explain. For many years now Steam's recommended pricing for Poland has been very outdated. I understand that Valve doesn't enforce their pricing suggestions and developers can price their games however they see fit, BUT many just use the recommended pricing which means the price in PLN will ALWAYS be the second highest in the world. Neither our economy nor the strength of PLN is good enough to warrant this. And they never were.

Please be aware that this issue is VERY common, especially among indie games and software. I often see posts on Polish twitter/reddit and Steam Discussions talking about this. I, myself, try to notify the developers too. It is a major problem. Every time a game/software releases with suspiciously high price we have to check SteamDB's global prices for that product only to see that the price in PLN is the second highest in the world. To put it simply, this sucks. Very often we see games that are even HALF the price in other currencies like USD or EUR. How is this even possible? As I mentioned earlier, the PLN or our economy are not that powerful.

All we, as Polish gamers, are asking is for Steam to have updated recommended pricing for Poland so that we don't have to notify the devs each and every time in order for them to even be aware of this issue.

It is not our imagination, this is a real problem and it needs some kind of solution.

For more information please look into #PolishOurPrices or the website polishourprices pl (it's in English).

Thank you.

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Showing 1-15 of 15 comments

Ettanin 11 Sep @ 6:03am

Valve cannot go against EU law and get polish nationals better prices while excluding other EU member citizens from the better offers.

Conversely, Valve cannot demand payment in Euros because poland demands by national law that all prices are in PLN.

This legal conumdrum could be solved by automatically updating the PLN price suggestions daily to tie it to the EUR equivalent. However, Valve cannot go against the publisher's consent and update the prices for them.

As such, such automatic price suggestion updating wouldn't effectively reflect in a better pricing for existing games.

scromblo 11 Sep @ 6:19am

I am not asking for Valve to forcefully update prices for developers. What I am asking for, however, is to update the recommended pricing exchange rate so that the prices in PLN aren't the second highest in the entire world. I understand that the already released games might not get updated prices, but future games will.

I do not think this would go against EU's or Poland's laws and regulations. 3rd party stores and payment processors like PayPal regularly update their exchange rates. I do not see them getting in legal trouble over this?

Nx Machina 11 Sep @ 7:20am

It is a recommendation only.

Developers, publishers set the prices for their games.

Lets compare what Epic and Valve state about pricing.

https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/epic-games-store/requirements-guidelines/content-ratings/pricing-overview

Pricing Your Product

> Pricing is one of the most important decisions to make as you set up your product <

The Epic Games Store is committed to facilitating fair and competitive pricing for your products, but ultimately the prices you set are up to you.

https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/pricing

Partners on Steam are responsible for setting and managing pricing for their products.

As for half the price in the US and the EU.

The US price does not include tax and the EU price is only slightly cheaper.

If you want price parity with the EU get your government to join the Euro.

I'm from the UK. I would personally like to pay Brazilian prices.

Last edited by Nx Machina; 11 Sep @ 7:22am

Mensis 11 Sep @ 7:22am

Damn, I didn't quote it in time. Oh well, I saw that post before the edit. "I'm from the UK. I would personally like to pay Brazilian prices." at least two different times. If that isn't proof people on this section literally just copy-paste their own replies so they can disagree with suggestions as fast as possible, I don't know what is.

scromblo 11 Sep @ 7:30am

Originally posted by Nx Machina:
It is a recommendation only.

Developers, publishers set the prices for their games.

Lets compare what Epic and Valve state about pricing.

https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/epic-games-store/requirements-guidelines/content-ratings/pricing-overview

Pricing Your Product

> Pricing is one of the most important decisions to make as you set up your product <

The Epic Games Store is committed to facilitating fair and competitive pricing for your products, but ultimately the prices you set are up to you.

https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/pricing

Partners on Steam are responsible for setting and managing pricing for their products.

As for half the price in the US and the EU.

The US price does not include tax and the EU price is only slightly cheaper.

If you want price parity with the EU get your government to join the Euro.

I'm from the UK. I would personally like to pay Brazilian prices.

Please just read the information on #PolishOurPrices website. Would changing currency do anything? I am not sure. We use the PLN, which is simply just not strong enough to be above EUR or USD. The exchange rates on Steam are really outdated.

Last edited by scromblo; 11 Sep @ 7:31am

Nx Machina 11 Sep @ 7:30am

Originally posted by Mensis:
Damn, I didn't quote it in time. Oh well, I saw that post before the edit. "I'm from the UK. I would personally like to pay Brazilian prices." at least two different times. If that isn't proof people on this section literally just copy-paste their own replies so they can disagree with suggestions as fast as possible, I don't know what is.

When people complain about prices, they forget the price is set by the developer, publisher.

The Outer Worlds £24.99 Steam, Epic, GOG.

The Outer Worlds Spacers Choice Edition £49.99 Steam Epic, GOG.

Assassins Creed Valhalla £49.99 Steam, Epic, Ubisoft Connect. ACV is a Ubisoft product.

Poland can have price parity with the EU by joining the Euro and I can state i want to have Brazilian prices after the thread is Poland pays more.

Last edited by Nx Machina; 12 Sep @ 10:01pm

Mensis 11 Sep @ 7:35am

Originally posted by Nx Machina:
When people complain about prices, they forget the price is set by the developer, publisher.

Maybe consider reading the thread first. I know that's asking a lot of the Suggestions / Ideas regulars, but I digress.

Originally posted by scromblo:
Let me explain. For many years now Steam's recommended pricing for Poland has been very outdated. I understand that Valve doesn't enforce their pricing suggestions and developers can price their games however they see fit, BUT many just use the recommended pricing which means the price in PLN will ALWAYS be the second highest in the world.

scromblo 11 Sep @ 7:38am

Originally posted by Nx Machina:

When people complain about prices, they forget the price is set by the developer, publisher.

The Outer Worlds £24.99 Steam, Epic, GOG.

The Outer Worlds Spacers Choice Edition £49.99 Steam Epic, GOG.

Assassins Creed Valhalla £49.99 Steam, Epic, Ubisoft Connect. ACV is a Ubisoft product.

Once again, a dismissal.

Yes, Valve only gives recommended pricing and it is up to the publisher/developer to set their prices. Can they pick different ones? Yes, 100%. Do they most of the time? No.

Look, nobody is asking for prices in Poland to be the cheapest in the world. All we want is for the exchange rates to be always up to date and NOT the second highest in the world. I have no clue how can anybody look at Poland and think that the Steam games prices being the second highest in the world is good and fair. I really can't understand this.

Last edited by scromblo; 11 Sep @ 9:12am

Mensis 11 Sep @ 7:39am

Originally posted by scromblo:
Originally posted by Nx Machina:

When people complain about prices, they forget the price is set by the developer, publisher.

The Outer Worlds £24.99 Steam, Epic, GOG.

The Outer Worlds Spacers Choice Edition £49.99 Steam Epic, GOG.

Assassins Creed Valhalla £49.99 Steam, Epic, Ubisoft Connect. ACV is a Ubisoft product.

Once again, a dismissal.

Yes, Valve only gives recommended pricing and it is up to the publisher/developer to set their prices. Can they pick different ones? Yes, 100%. Do they most of the time? No.

Look, nobody is asking for prices in Poland to be the cheapest in the world. All we want is for the exchange rates to be always up to date. I have no clue how can anybody look at Poland and think that the Steam games prices being the second highest in the world is good and fair. I really can't understand this.

Honestly, just ignore this guy. He does this kind of thing on every single suggestion post. Unfortunately a lot of people that post regularly on this forum do that, in fact. They come here simply to disagree with every suggestion that gets posted. I'm not sure what they get out of it.

I'm only responding to correct him as he clearly didn't bother even reading the topic before replying.

Nx Machina 11 Sep @ 7:39am

Originally posted by scromblo:
Please just read the information #PolishOurPrices website. Would changing currency do anything? I am not sure. We use the PLN, which is simply just not strong enough to be above EUR or USD. The exchange rates on Steam are really outdated.

If Poland joined the Euro would you have price parity with those who pay in Euro's?

Yes because all Members States who use the Euro cannot pay more nor less that another Member State who uses the Euro. EU policy.

As for the exchange rate it is not based on Steam but the exchange rate of your currency in the real world.

Secondly am I not allowed to state I want to pay Brazilian prices in the UK? Of course i can because people in Poland compare the US and EU prices.

And finally developers, publishers set the prices and they can freely ignore Valve's recommendation, as it is not a definitive prices it is a suggestion.

See post #6 for prices.

#10

Nx Machina 11 Sep @ 7:44am

Originally posted by scromblo:
Once again, a dismissal.

A dismissal?

As in ignoring the same price for the same product on different stores.

The Outer Worlds £24.99 Steam, Epic, GOG.

The Outer Worlds Spacers Choice Edition £49.99 Steam Epic, GOG.

Assassins Creed Valhalla £49.99 Steam, Epic, Ubisoft Connect. ACV is a Ubisoft product.

Originally posted by scromblo:
Look, nobody is asking for prices in Poland to be the cheapest in the world. All we want is for the exchange rates to be always up to date. I have no clue how can anybody look at Poland and think that the Steam games prices being the second highest in the world is good and fair. I really can't understand this.

The exchange rate has to do with your currency in the real world.

Secondy Polish prices are not the second highest in the world. There are European countries who pay more than Poland.

Are food, clothing, rent etc cheap in Poland or are they affected by inflation?

Surely all those are more important than games. I know personally games are at the bottom of list for myself.

Why? Because purchasing games is voluntary not mandatory. They are not a necessity unlike food etc.

Last edited by Nx Machina; 11 Sep @ 7:55am

#11

scromblo 11 Sep @ 8:00am

Originally posted by Nx Machina:

If Poland joined the Euro would you have price parity with those who pay in Euro's?

Yes because all Members States who use the Euro cannot pay more nor less that another Member State who uses the Euro. EU policy.

Poland is in the EU.

Originally posted by Nx Machina:
As for the exchange rate it is not based on Steam but the exchange rate of your currency in the real world.

It is Steam's exchange rate. Current USD to PLN exchange rate is around ~3.60. Steam's is around 4.60~4.70. If a game costs 20 USD then it shouldn't be over 100 PLN in Poland. They have not updated the exchange rate since October 2022.

Originally posted by Nx Machina:
Secondly am I not allowed to state I want to pay Brazilian prices in the UK? Of course i can because people in Poland compare the US and EU prices.

You can, but that's not what the thread is about.

Originally posted by Nx Machina:
And finally developers, publishers set the prices and they can freely ignore Valve's recommendation, as it is not a definitive prices it is a suggestion.

I just told you, yes, they can ignore Steam's recommendation, 100%. But, most don't. Especially indie games and software.

Originally posted by Nx Machina:
The exchange rate has to do with your currency in the real world.

Secondy Polish prices are not the second highest in the world. There are European countries who pay more than Poland.

Now you are straight up lying. You can check prices on SteamDB at any time. Set the currency to PLN and sort the list. Some popular examples as of right now Monster Train 2, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Door Kickers 2, StarVaders.

Originally posted by Nx Machina:
Are food, clothing, rent etc cheap in Poland or are they affected by inflation?

Surely all those are more important than games. I know personally games are at the bottom of list for myself.

Why? Because purchasing games is voluntary not mandatory. They are not a necessity unlike food etc.

Again, not what this is about. Yes, food, clothing, bills and rent are more important than games. Agreed. But the prices of all of those (except games on Steam) are adjusted for PLN's buying power. Yes, they are affected by inflation. Yes, purchasing games is voluntary.

Last edited by scromblo; 11 Sep @ 8:01am

#12

scromblo 11 Sep @ 8:04am

Originally posted by Mensis:
Honestly, just ignore this guy. He does this kind of thing on every single suggestion post. Unfortunately a lot of people that post regularly on this forum do that, in fact. They come here simply to disagree with every suggestion that gets posted. I'm not sure what they get out of it.

I'm only responding to correct him as he clearly didn't bother even reading the topic before replying.

True. No wonder life gets more difficult when people just dismiss issues.

Last edited by scromblo; 11 Sep @ 8:05am

#13

Ettanin 11 Sep @ 8:21am

Originally posted by scromblo:
I am not asking for Valve to forcefully update prices for developers. What I am asking for, however, is to update the recommended pricing exchange rate so that the prices in PLN aren't the second highest in the entire world. I understand that the already released games might not get updated prices, but future games will.

I do not think this would go against EU's or Poland's laws and regulations. 3rd party stores and payment processors like PayPal regularly update their exchange rates. I do not see them getting in legal trouble over this?

how will this change prices of already existing games if the publisher has to update the prices even if they are based on what is recommended?

It won't because Valve will not update it for them.

Therefore, ask the publisher, not Valve.

Last edited by Ettanin; 11 Sep @ 8:22am

#14

scromblo 11 Sep @ 8:28am

Originally posted by Ettanin:
how will this change prices of already existing games if the publisher has to update the prices even if they are based on what is recommended?

If Valve updates the recommended pricing, then whether they set their own prices or used the recommended pricing, the devs/publishers would need to update manually/confirm changes themselves. That's why I don't have much hope for prices of already released games, some might update, some might not.

New games will already use the updated rates if they decide to use the recommended pricing though.

Last edited by scromblo; 11 Sep @ 8:29am

#15

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Date Posted: 11 Sep @ 5:56am

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