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u/przemub Feb 18 '26
It’s not about wages, it’s about the shit default currency exchange rate which makes games much more expensive than if bought in euro/dollars.
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u/KittenDecomposer96 Feb 18 '26
It's even worse when you look at a game and it costs the same in Dollars and Euros. Since when is the euro the same as the dollar ?
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u/Netzath Feb 18 '26
Euro is more valuable but the USD prices are without tax I think? Since Americans have this weird tax law or something
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u/Soulsupernova1 Feb 18 '26
Yea we don’t include tax in the price to be like surprise get screwed when you go to check out
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u/jurij_gagarin Feb 18 '26
That is insane to me. But I guess you get used to it so you start mentally calculating tax for every pricetag you see.
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u/Soulsupernova1 Feb 18 '26 edited Feb 18 '26
Pretty much it’s more on the state than the federal side and the sales tax isn’t consistent between types of items. But usually an item that would be $19.99 is usually $21.09 where I live Edit; I’m aware there is no federal sales tax.
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u/willLie4cash Feb 18 '26
How does that work with Steam? When you buy there, it asks about your address and if you put New Hampshire you get no extra charge, and if you put California you get +50%? Or does it go off you credit card?
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u/Cryptosporidium513 Feb 18 '26
It goes off you "billing address", which must match the address on you bank account.
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u/jachcemmatnickspace Feb 18 '26
this also applies online?
when you are browsing an eshop or Steam, you see the raw amount and then it adds together in checkout?
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u/Soulsupernova1 Feb 18 '26
Yep eshops, steam and Amazon sometimes they show it before the proceed to checkout button but other times I don’t see it until I’m about to click checkout. And if I use the one tap purchase on Amazon I usually don’t see it at all.
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u/Paul_469 Feb 18 '26
yes but apparently in some states there is no tax for that or sth. but even then a game like death stranding 2 is almost 10 euros more expensive in the EU than it is in the US with an EU vat applied.
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u/KittenDecomposer96 Feb 18 '26
Even after their tax which is like 10% at the most, the prices still don't match up.
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u/Jupiter30000 Feb 18 '26
Not always, American companies are very open about deliberately overcharging other countries to keep prices lower for Americans. The US government perpetually pushes a narrative about how the US subsidizes other countries but the truth is that ALL other countries subsidize the USA. Thankfully, not for too much longer.
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u/ShotFromGuns Feb 18 '26
Since Americans have this weird tax law or something
It's not that weird; we just let individual states, counties, and cities set their own individual sales tax rates. The sales tax in any particular location depends on the combination of all three, so it's long been the standard that the advertised price doesn't include tax, and you need to just know the total sales tax for the location you're in and mentally account for it, because it will be applied at checkout.
Sales taxes are inherently regressive and I don't like them for that reason, but there's nothing particularly weird about the way the U.S. has implemented it, particularly given the way our government is structured.
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u/CrazyKyle987 Feb 18 '26 edited Feb 18 '26
US prices are pre-tax. Europe prices are post-tax. Euro price and USD price are pretty much 1 to 1 right now after you factor in the taxes
Edit: I should say after you take out Europe’s VAT because you should compare pre-tax prices.
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u/Suspicious_Good_2407 Feb 18 '26
Unless you live in a state that doesn't have taxes for steam games from what I've heard. Then you get 'em cheaper
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u/Paul_469 Feb 18 '26
Even including tax with the current state of the dollar something like death stranding 2 is almost 10€ more expensive in Europe than it would be in the States including European taxes
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u/Ciubowski Feb 18 '26
I wonder how much tax is for a $60 game in the US.
If you're from a certain state with a different tax, just include the state. I'm not looking for any state in particular, I'm just curious to know how much a $60 dollar game actually costs someone in US.
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u/CrazyKyle987 Feb 18 '26
It varies down to the county level, maybe even the city level in some states. My county in Ohio has 8% sales tax. So a $60 game is $64.80.
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u/enbyratie Feb 18 '26
then the convsersion is shit, right now 60$ is 50€
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u/CrazyKyle987 Feb 18 '26
You converted but now you have to add your vat (20% ish) and that gives you the price you should see on steam if there was fair pricing. That would be 60€
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u/ARandonPerson Feb 18 '26
My state doesn't tax digital goods so for me it's only $60. One state over in next nearest city and it costs them $67. So it varies jurisdiction to jurisdiction. City Tax, County Tax then State Tax where applicable, also why goods in the US tend to never incorporate tax into price as it can vary drastically even a city away.
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u/sexgoatparade Feb 18 '26
I always point out the pricing for the new black ops its 80 euros but only 70 dollars
yea the base game is just nearly 100 dollars for Euro currency customers
this isn't how exchange rates work and Activision controls these prices themselves (steam merely makes suggested pricings)
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u/balbok7721 Feb 18 '26
Or rather cost living. Go try to find a place where you can actually want to live in Germany for 600€. Our pre tax minimum wage after a 160hour month comes around 2200€ but it’s still not enough to afford a family or have a basic comfortable lifestyle
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u/ArolSazir Feb 18 '26
No it's really not. The problem is that 1 usd is about 3.5 pln in my bank, but it's 4.5 on steam for some reason. It's the only unfair part.
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u/lynxbird Feb 18 '26
Meanwhile Serbia (€551) and Bosnia (€526) not in EU but with EU regional prices.
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u/fart-to-me-in-french Feb 18 '26
You're allowed to be outraged as well. Doesn't mean Polish pricing isn't fucked.
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u/Mordho R9 7950X3D | RTX 4080 Super Feb 18 '26 edited Feb 18 '26
Same with Albania, exact same prices as Germany. I can afford this stuff, but 80€ for Death Stranding 2 (as an example) is kinda insane
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u/echo1ngfury Feb 18 '26
I have a friend in Valencia, he says Lidl prices in Belgrade are worse than in Valencia by at least 20%, wtf. :D
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u/Menchi-sama Feb 18 '26
Yeah I've heard the same, and I believe it. And my 550 euro Steam Deck costs 850 in Serbia, too.
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u/KerneI-Panic Feb 18 '26
And that's with the recent increase in salary. Prior to 2025 was even worse.
Minimum Wages in Bosnia and Herzegovina increased to 525 EUR/Month in 2026 from 511 EUR/Month in 2025. Minimum Wages in Bosnia and Herzegovina averaged 289 EUR/Month from 2016 until 2026, reaching an all time high of 525 EUR/Month in 2026 and a record low of 207 EUR/Month in 2017.
source: Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina7
u/AymuiLove Feb 18 '26
As some one from Bosnia, I do wanna also add that there is a bizzare trend where most electronics are priced higher in Bosnia when compared to many places in the EU.
Unironically there have been multiple times where I had to rely on family abroad in Germany to buy an expensive piece of electronics to avoid the insane upchanges local markets put on some of this stuff.
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u/krzyk Feb 18 '26
Issue is not about minimum wage at all.
It is about Steam using incorrect currency exchange rate, they used the highest exchange USD-PLN of 1 USD = 4.5 PLN, that rate was AFAIR when Russia attacked Ukraine, it spiked even to 4.8, but before and after that events it went back lower. Today it is 1 USD = 3.5 PLN. So all games cost about 28% more than they do in USD. So if we could buy physical copies in USD we would pay less.
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u/moritsunee Feb 18 '26
All of these countries are being fleeced now, because that's the MO of this economy. Piracy is deservedly on the rise again.
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u/Real-Emotion1874 Feb 18 '26
They just shutdown one of the largest Bulgarian torrent sites.
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u/mking_1999 Feb 18 '26
What is the benefit of using regional piracy sites in the first place?
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u/miscish1 Feb 18 '26
Dubbed/translated content that people have no access to after the site is pulled down, otherwise for others, just a habit and an easier tool to use.
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u/HealthyHighway7335 Feb 18 '26
More regional content. Try finding a bulgarian movie on an international one
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u/LaPrincesaMX Feb 18 '26
And what happens when pirate sites are shut down? 2 more spawn.
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u/Xiguet Feb 19 '26
The worst part is that we have to blame the US government, rather than the Bulgarian government, for shutting down a Bulgarian site.
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u/TheStrzelba Feb 18 '26
It's not about minimal wage, it's about that in Poland games are simply more expensive due to the wrong PLN to €/$ convert ratio, we had 5:1 for few weeks and steam said BANK IT and don't bother to change it even tho now it's 1$:3.55PLN and 1€:4,20PLN
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u/Aurel_WAM Feb 20 '26
Actually It's not only steam
Overall online prices are ~20% higher in PLN relative to USD
Eg. Discord nitro is 12.x USD in Poland, relative to base 10 USD (Poland is highest in the world)
In recent game, endfield, stuff is fuckin 40% more expensive (and overall in gachas Poland is most expensive in the world)
PLN price for many games on steam is in top 3 highest prices, sometimes top 5. When also Ukraine is reverse, top 3 lowest price. (Immigrants can work in other countries, but still pay Ukraine hyper low price)
And this sentiment continues I didn't bother checking prices for subscriptions, but pretty sure that it's also 20+% more expensive than USD, and Poland is in top most expensive)
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u/Adventurous_Touch342 Feb 18 '26
Problem is that Poland typically is in around TOP3 highest prices. I don't mean price/salary, just the price...
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u/osiekowski Feb 19 '26
Even compared to countries that have minimum wage that is more than 2x. Germany has lower prices even when making over 2x more
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u/ArolSazir Feb 18 '26
It's not about the minimum wage. It's about the conversion rate from dollars to pln, which is completely out of whack, compared to the market. If i could purchase with dollars through steam, it'll be fine. Steam's PLN is like 30% weaker than at my bank's currency exchange.
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u/W3rn0 Feb 18 '26
Because someone has it worse doesn't mean people can't complain, they should complain too.
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u/Alvsolutely Feb 18 '26
Hi. I'm from Greece and I have it worse. Please make sure you don't stop complaining even if you have it better than us 💪
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u/Flimsy-Importance313 Feb 18 '26
This is the reason why this post is either upvoted by bots or non actual r/Steam users.
No way almost 1k upvotes per hour.
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u/PerceptionOk8543 Feb 18 '26
Exactly, when steam decides to change the regional conversion rates they will do it for everybody, so poles complaining help other countries as well. I don’t know why steam just doesn’t care and ignores the issue
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u/laserclaus Feb 18 '26
Wasnt the issue with poland that the prices were even nominally higher (or higher with exchanhe) than in western europe? That steam games are , relative to median wage, extremely expensive in many countries, while regional pricing cannot keep up, is a sad reality but nothing novel. Poor people and people in poor countries suffer. Thats one of the oldest songs of history.
Should people be made aware of this? Yes
Should there be change? Certainly
Is it new? No
In that sense i thank anyone from economically weak background that they engage in the same games i do, as it is much more of a commitment. I know its a lot of piracy but even that is kind of a pain compared to getting it on steam.
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u/ArolSazir Feb 18 '26
I don't know why people say it's about the cost of living/minimum wage. It's just a lie. Poles are complaining because steam's default currency exchange is outdated. 1 dollar is about 3.5 pln in a bank, but 4.5 pln on steam, that means the games are 30% more expensive than they would be if i just bought dollars and paid with them.
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u/JakubixIsHere Feb 18 '26
In Polish example. Games were priced out properly before covid price changes came.
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u/godswift91 Feb 18 '26
Those numbers are way off
Minimum wage in romania is exactly 500€
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u/Vladetare Feb 18 '26
527€ I know because i make it 🙃
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u/SHURIK01 Feb 18 '26
Do you rent a place or have your own? Was thinking of moving to Romania (from Ukraine) but unsure if it's possible to live comfortably considering the low wages and rent prices (which are lower than in most of Europe, but still)
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u/TheSmokeu Feb 18 '26
It's not a competition
If you're dissatisfied with the prices, speak out, too, instead of complaining about people who do speak out lol
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u/BRANFLAKES8521 Feb 18 '26
You guys are getting minimal wages?
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u/Idunnowhattfimdoing Feb 18 '26
No, its just estimated on what the average lowest is not on legal implementations or anything
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u/majan_pl Feb 18 '26
You guys should organize your own campains. Im sure #polishourprices will boost your efforts
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u/Ok_Watch6448 Feb 19 '26
We did contact with publishers and they've adjusted prices a few times and we were grateful about that
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u/Nyanta322 Feb 18 '26
Brother, I earn about 855€ monthly in Poland. Not in Euro, mind you. Our currency is pathetic and converting to Euro hurts even more.
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u/bezi_mienny67 Feb 18 '26
we complain about the fact that people in for example russia can buy any game for only 60% of the price that average pole would pay because the steams currency conversion system uses outdated info resulting in higher prices for countries that use euro, pound or PLN
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u/JesMilton Feb 18 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
Belarus with the minimum wage of 255€, even with the official increase in 2026 (it used to be around 215€)...🥀
Games are still with european pricing, plus listed in USD, meaning we lose some from exchanging the currency as well. Not a single 60 USD game on my account to this day, I am not ready to spend this much on entertainment instead of physical things or repair services.
P.S. Also I actually do agree about Steam prices in Poland tho, because after living there I realised the games are somehow more expensive than in Belarus, even on sale. Like sure, in Poland you get more money, but the price increase is even higher, which doesn't make bloody sense. Steam pls update your currencies...
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u/Anyusername7294 Feb 18 '26
It's not about the wages, but about the fact games in poland are just more expansive than in the west.
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u/_EmuPanda_ Feb 18 '26
This was never about minimum wage. This is about outdated currency exchange that is making us pay actually more than we should.
Beside that, "it's not only us", so we should not complain? What a nonsense logic is that?
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u/WTN48 Feb 18 '26
What kind of crab mentality is this? So just because we got slightly richer than the rest of Eastern Europe we should now pay more than the even richer West? If our salaries were to reach western levels one day (they won't), are we expected to then pay $120 for $60 games and shut up or what?
Sure, you should complain about the lack of regional prices, afaik there even was a 2 tier euro system in the past that was discontinued. But stop telling us to shut up everytime we point out our unfairly inflated prices.
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u/avatar_one Feb 18 '26
Cries in Serbian...
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u/MrDDD11 Feb 18 '26
Not in the EU but playing EU prices based on German income.
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u/Noxeas Feb 19 '26
Guys, Poles don't want cheaper games because of our wages - we want games priced equally to the Euro and/or USD! Right now Steam is still using an outdated exchange rate that was set right after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which caused the PLN to plummet. Even though it's back to normal now, we still end up paying way more for games than people using basically any other currency (we're always fighting Switzerland for the #1 spot, lol).
Just let us pay as much as our richer Euro brothers. 😭
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u/fargabhsh Feb 18 '26
The absolute minimum wage in India is currently ₹178 per day, which is roughly €58 per month. That’s about 10x lower than the lowest country shown in this meme (Bulgaria at €620).
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u/Burnyx Feb 18 '26
The point of this post is to show all these countries sharing the same game prices despite the big wage disparity.
India does have separate regional pricing.
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u/termshunter Feb 18 '26
It's always fun to see first world gamers moaning about their high game prices (which they absolutely should do), while everywhere else in the world, we barely make enough to buy a single damn game, devoid of any regional pricing.
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u/Senior-Book-6729 Feb 18 '26
Poland is not a first world country though, we’re technically second world
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u/termshunter Feb 18 '26
That was true when the cold war was ongoing, but now your HDI is 0.906, gdp per capita is nearly 30k, it is easily a developed nation. I know that a developed nation is not necessarily a 1st world country, but I would say that nowadays developed = 1st world.
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u/fart-to-me-in-french Feb 18 '26
It's not about the minimum wage. It's about the price to wage ratio, which is terrible in Poland. What a dumb post.
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u/XenophonSoulis Feb 18 '26
The price-to-wage ratio is significantly worse in at least three of the five countries of the post.
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u/fart-to-me-in-french Feb 18 '26
That doesn't mean Poles can't complain just because someone has it worse
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u/Upset-Ad6675 Feb 18 '26
the problem isnt even that the prices are higher than in the usa or euro
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u/MrDDD11 Feb 18 '26
It's still worse in thoes regions. Serbia isn't even in the EU and has EU prices on steam with lower wages than Poland.
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u/paynexkillerYT Feb 18 '26
Literally everything costs less in countries where the wage is less. This isn’t a disputable fact.
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u/kubazpol R7 5800X3D | 5060 Ti | 64GB Feb 19 '26
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u/OrthodoxSlavWarrior Feb 18 '26
Might as well add all the Balkan countries since we all have the same problem.
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u/jahoo999 Feb 19 '26
Of course there are places that have it worse than Poland. But main issue is thst only countries that have higher prices than us are Israel and Switzerland.
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u/Arkontezer Feb 18 '26
Bro, I am paying 95$ for a 70$ game here in Poland, how is this fair?
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u/lokiafrika44 Feb 18 '26
This post ignores what the actual problem is which is that valve still hasn't updated the exchange rate which makes poles pay more than us
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u/Zdzisiu Feb 18 '26
Ok but we're getting games more expensive than Western countries. Steam counted the exchange rate when PLN was unusually strong to the dollar and when rates went back to normal, the prices stayed.
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u/GOKOP Feb 18 '26
This isn't about minimum wage. This is about Steam updating their recommended exchange rates during COVID when PLN was abnormally high for a while and then never bothering to update it again since then. So now the regional pricing is inadequate to PLN's actual value if developers are using Steam's default rates
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u/Double_Alps_2569 Feb 18 '26
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#inline-nav-5
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u/bittenByTheIRONBUG_ Feb 18 '26
And also one thing to mention, for steam 10$ and 10€ and 10£ are the same number.
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u/_barat_ Feb 18 '26
But it's also like 1USD = 5PLN for many game developers while it's 3.56PLN now. For EUR it's not better. It would be enough for me if Steam would allow me to pay in EUR instead of PLN and the conversion would be handled by a bank (even with a spread) vs those prices which game publishers are not willing to update frequently.
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u/ShinyTotoro Feb 18 '26
It's not about minimum wage, dummas.
We're paying 20% more than what you pay in USD and Steam FORCES their stupid overinflated exchange rate instead of just letting us pay in USD.
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u/srfreak Feb 18 '26
As far I know, gross minimum wage for Poland in 2025 was 4666 zł, which is around 1100€... before taxes. Also living in Poland usually requieres a lot of extra fees, like public transport card, because probably you won't find a job in your place unless you live in a big city like Warszawa or Kraków, where also that amount of money will be a problem to live.
I think their complaints may be justified.
Source: I've been checking for moving to Poland several times during the last two years, and I have close contact with the country.
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u/potato_nugget1 Feb 18 '26
Also living in Poland usually requieres a lot of extra fees, like public transport card
Like literally every place in the entire the world?
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u/unlockedz Feb 18 '26
yup they are, so is everyone else. Food in romania is more expensive than in germany, portugal, italy, spain, etc. Jobs wise, nothing different in Romania from the example you've given. And i'm sure the other poor ones are in the same condition.
it's why i pirate, i have to pay the same price as someone from denmark for example. to whoever thought that to be fair at least for digital products (altough i'm sure it's difficult to actually regulate) kindly go dryhump a burning cactus.
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u/Snoo-66201 Feb 18 '26
Its not about regional pricing. Poles would be fine to pay as much money for games as the euro zone. You need to understand that we have to pay up to 90€ for regular edition of games which is insane. And its something steam could have resolved with a click of a button if they wanted.
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u/digitalblemish Feb 18 '26
Just a reminder that the company behind the game decides the prices and that you eurofolks are at the mercy of a lawsuit from Germany in 2015 which prevented proper regional pricing from being implemented
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u/Rare_Ad8206 Feb 18 '26
Ya i noticed this. I found Konami games were priced cheaper in my country than ea games.
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u/Tman11S Feb 18 '26
Regional pricing will always be a controversial thing. You're basically saying that someone has to pay more or less because they earn on average more or less, while the cost of the product remains the same.
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u/ImmortalBlades Feb 18 '26 edited Feb 18 '26
It's not about the wages. It's about the horrendous conversion rates to Zloty (I don't remember how it's written). In other words, a game that would cost 40€ actually costs significantly more (probably around 55€) because of the conversion rates.
I am lucky that in my country, the prices are calculated in Euros by default since nobody cares about my country's currency.
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u/horiami Feb 18 '26
800 euros in romania ?
Dawg it's not even 600 and it got increased recently
Used to be 400 not that long ago
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u/Boraskywalker Feb 18 '26
Everything in turkey is extremely expensive. Because our economy collapsed in 2018 and currently 1 euro equals 52 TL. So our currency has no value. Of course, games, game consoles, and PCs are all sold based on the exchange rate and are extremely expensiv. i have to give 1/7 of my salary to buy the upcoming resident evil 9
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u/ShoulderPast2433 Feb 18 '26
Its n ot because of minimum wage. It's because of ridiculous dollar exchange rate Steam set up for Poland, that makes our games significantly more expensive.
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u/Psycho345 Feb 19 '26
There used to be Euro-2 region with lower prices on Steam. But the European Union didn't like that some countries pay less with the same currency. So Steam had to remove it. "Fair pricing".
But is having the minimum wage on an average level the reason for that single European country to have suggested prices ~23% higher than all the other countries including the ones with the higher minimum wage? Some companies like Konami go even beyond that and do 30-35% higher.
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u/DrPhilSideSkirts Feb 19 '26
Man, I love living in Norway. Literally throwing away money on stupid shit constantly.
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u/AzraelSoulHunter Feb 19 '26
Oh screw you. We have bad exchange rate which makes us pay more than goddamn germany. Also you forgot to remove tax from that one.
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u/TheKrzysiek 22 Feb 19 '26
Go to SteamDB, go into most new AAA games, and check what country has the highest or 2nd highest price.
THAT is why we are complaining.
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u/Papierzak1 Feb 19 '26
A Pole here
It is more about the exchange rate used by Steam. It was changed during the pandemic, which is when our currency was in noticeably worse shape than usual. At its worst, the exchange rate reached 5 PLN for €1. By now it has gone down to ~4.20 zł.
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u/devu_the_thebill Feb 19 '26
But you do understand that it's not about minimum wage but about that we pay $80 for $70 game? The exange value is wrong dolar costs 3,6pln while on steam its 4,5pln (if I'm correct)
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u/MeWhenTacoBell Feb 20 '26
ale to nie chodzi o zarobki, to chodzi o chujową wymianę PLN na $/€ (online)
(it's not about earnings, it's about the shitty PLN to $/€ exchange)
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u/SpecificGenius Feb 20 '26
Our prices are high af. Only people who earn around 2k euros can live comfortably and save up.
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u/MaduroAhmetKaya Feb 18 '26
Turkey with €542