Request for more frequent currency conversion updates on Steam

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Lonnger 2 Jul @ 1:48am

Hi Steam Community and Steam Team,[\h1]

I’d like to bring up an important topic regarding the currency conversion rates that Steam uses when suggesting prices in different regions, including Poland.

Currently, the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Polish zloty (PLN) is significantly lower than it was when the conversion rates were last updated. Back then, 1 USD was around 4.24 PLN, while now the rate is closer to 3,60 PLN. That’s nearly one zloty difference per dollar, which has a real impact on the prices of games and DLCs in our region.

I understand that pricing processes are complex and don’t depend solely on exchange rates, but I believe that more frequent updates to the conversion rates would benefit both players and developers. Steam has long supported gamers and creators, promoting fair conditions and a pro-gaming approach. Updating currency rates regularly would be one way to continue fulfilling that mission.

I’d like to encourage both the community and the Steam team to work together on a solution—perhaps by setting a more regular schedule for updating rates (e.g. quarterly), or introducing a mechanism for more dynamic adjustments.

Are others also feeling the effects of outdated conversion rates in their regions? Maybe it’s worth gathering more voices and presenting a collective opinion?

Thanks for reading, and I hope for a constructive discussion!

Best regards,
Lonnger

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Showing 1-6 of 6 comments

Ettanin 2 Jul @ 4:48am

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.

peppermint hollows 2 Jul @ 5:39am

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

I am just going to copy-paste my comment from another thread about this, because someone mentions it every time and I've yet to see a satisfactory explanation. It'd be enlightening if someone who is familiar with the exact stipulations of the EU law surrounding this to actually explain what's going on here. Anyway, the copy pasted comment:

"Admittedly, I don't know precisely how that law works but it simply isn't true that devs aren't capable of setting a different price in the zloty compared to the euro. There are a lot of examples of devs who have done so, and there's been a lot of threads talking about this where people have mentioned devs lowering prices for PLN after requests from Polish users. There are quite a few games where the price difference between EUR and PLN is even large enough that a user with their store set to PLN wouldn't be able to gift the game to a user with their store set to EUR.

Here are several more besides Cyberpunk as someone else already pointed out:

Slime Rancher 2
https://steamdb.info/app/1657630/
EUR: 28,49€
PLN: 89,99zł (21,15€ converted), -25.75% difference

DOOM: The Dark Ages
https://steamdb.info/app/3017860/
EUR: 79,99€
PLN: 299,00zł (70,28€ converted), -12.13% difference

Dead by Daylight:
https://steamdb.info/app/381210/
EUR: 19,99€
PLN: 71,99zł (16,92€ converted), -15.35% difference

And possibly the largest price difference I've seen so far
House Flipper 2:
EUR: 36,26€
PLN: 96,73zł (22,73€ converted), -37.29% difference"

Ettanin 2 Jul @ 5:49am

Price discrimination

As an EU national or resident you can't be charged a higher price when buying products or services in the EU just because of your nationality or country of residence.

When you buy goods online in the EU, prices may vary from country to country or across different versions of the same website, for example due to differences in delivery costs. However, if you buy goods online without cross-border delivery – such as when you buy something online which you intend to collect from a trader or shop yourself – you should have access to the same prices and special offers as buyers living in that EU country. You cannot be charged more or prevented from buying something just because you live in another country.

The same rules apply when you buy services provided at the trader's premises, for example when you buy entry tickets for an amusement park, book a hotel, rent a car, or when you buy electronically supplied services (such as cloud services or website hosting), you are entitled to have access to the same prices as local buyers.

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/pricing-payments/index_en.htm

Last edited by Ettanin; 2 Jul @ 5:49am

76561197960377633 2 Jul @ 5:49am

it wont change
its been like this since at least 2011, i think it was a few years before that as well

valve know about it since before this website was even made.
steamunpowered was created due to polish prices

Last edited by eram; 2 Jul @ 5:50am

peppermint hollows 2 Jul @ 6:00am

Originally posted by Ettanin:
Price discrimination

As an EU national or resident you can't be charged a higher price when buying products or services in the EU just because of your nationality or country of residence.

When you buy goods online in the EU, prices may vary from country to country or across different versions of the same website, for example due to differences in delivery costs. However, if you buy goods online without cross-border delivery – such as when you buy something online which you intend to collect from a trader or shop yourself – you should have access to the same prices and special offers as buyers living in that EU country. You cannot be charged more or prevented from buying something just because you live in another country.

The same rules apply when you buy services provided at the trader's premises, for example when you buy entry tickets for an amusement park, book a hotel, rent a car, or when you buy electronically supplied services (such as cloud services or website hosting), you are entitled to have access to the same prices as local buyers.

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/pricing-payments/index_en.htm

Right, I get that - but I'm not asking for a copy paste of the law. I am pointing out that it is already possible for there to be large price differences between the EUR and PLN, so explain that part to me instead of just copy pasting the law in question.

Ettanin 2 Jul @ 6:01am

Originally posted by peppermint hollows:
Originally posted by Ettanin:
Price discrimination

As an EU national or resident you can't be charged a higher price when buying products or services in the EU just because of your nationality or country of residence.

When you buy goods online in the EU, prices may vary from country to country or across different versions of the same website, for example due to differences in delivery costs. However, if you buy goods online without cross-border delivery – such as when you buy something online which you intend to collect from a trader or shop yourself – you should have access to the same prices and special offers as buyers living in that EU country. You cannot be charged more or prevented from buying something just because you live in another country.

The same rules apply when you buy services provided at the trader's premises, for example when you buy entry tickets for an amusement park, book a hotel, rent a car, or when you buy electronically supplied services (such as cloud services or website hosting), you are entitled to have access to the same prices as local buyers.

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/pricing-payments/index_en.htm

Right, I get that - but I'm not asking for a copy paste of the law. I am pointing out that it is already possible for there to be large price differences between the EUR and PLN, so explain that part to me instead of just copy pasting the law in question.

because no one sued Valve nor the publisher for this discrimination.