Steam has managed to close a loophole which its users have been exploiting for years, and it should result in more people paying full price for games. Now, in order to shop in a different region's store, users will need to make a purchase using a payment method from that specific region.

In the past, all that was needed to shop in a different store was a good VPN that could trick Steam into thinking the user was somewhere they weren't This resulted in many frequently changing regions to get the best deals on certain games that were discounted elsewhere.

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Of course, Steam has never condoned this, and even though the offense was punishable by ban, many made use of the exploit regardless. Now, players will have a much harder time switching regions, as it isn't nearly as easy to get a new payment method in Argentina if one lives in the U.S. for example. Without being able to switch regions as easily, more players will wind up paying full price for games which they may otherwise have gotten for cheap by buying from a different region.

It will probably only be a matter of time before someone finds a way around this as well, but it is certainly a step in the right direction. For those gamers that actually move to another country, they will need to get a new payment method from that region before using the Steam store in their new area. Otherwise, a VPN could be used to simulate being in whatever region the person was in prior to moving. There are plenty of great, free VPNs for those wanting to take this route.

Steam is cracking down on region switching.

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Source: EuroGamer