Steam is the largest digital platform for the purchase and storage of computer games. In combination, this project is almost a complete social network for gamers. You can add as friends, track the activity of other users, chat, make friends, watch friends' gameplay and much more.
Introduction
The service has one feature - its store and wallet is tied to a specific region in which you are located or have been registered. This does not affect the functionality and use of the main features of the Steam application, but the pricing policy and the currency on the wallet differ. The question of how to change the region in “Steam” is most often asked by those users who move from one country to another temporarily or permanently. Also, some game projects and individual copies have restrictions by region (you cannot start this or that game in a certain country when it will be available in another place. Consider the procedure for changing a region in "Steam", as well as several conditions.
What gives a change of region?
First, consider the changes that the user receives when changing the region on Steam. For example, you registered your account in the CIS, and then went on a trip to countries or even moved to another place. Since you are registered in the CIS, the account will be tied to this particular place, which means that the corresponding pricing policy will be relevant in the store. Also, the Russian account will have a wallet with rubles, not dollars or other currency. Compared to other countries, prices for digital keys in the CIS seem much more profitable. Therefore, many users after moving do not want to start paying the full price, but wish to continue to purchase games at a reduced price.
The second scenario, in which you need to change the region in Steam, is access to individual games. To start a game blocked in your country, you need to assign an account to a different region. Also, this option will be relevant for those who want to use regional discounts, promotions and so on.
Previously, Steam users did not hesitate to openly change regions in order to profitably acquire new products and favorite games. Now developers are closely monitoring regional politics and do not allow gamers to speculate on prices.
How to change the region in "Steam" for purchase?
Let's talk about changing the region for buying games in a digital store. With this method, you can change the place if you really moved to another place. If you are in the same country, then you need to change the server using the VPN program. After that, you can change the region in "Steam". To do this, you need to follow these steps:
- Go to the auxiliary menu by clicking on the profile icon on the store’s main page.
- Then select "About Account".
- In the window that opens, you need to find the button "Change the country of the store."
- Now open the list of regions and click on "Other".
- If you see a message that it is impossible to change the region in "Steam", then it means that you have not connected through a VPN server in another country. The Steam service tracks the connection location by IP.
- If everything is done correctly, the program will automatically determine your location and change the country the next time you enter the application. It is worth noting that you cannot spell the name of the region on your own. Therefore, pre-select the country by VPN before logging in to Steam.
Some important limitations
Despite the fact that the described method looks quite simple and quick, changing the country in the store has several significant limitations that you need to know about:
- you can’t change the region several times in a row or if in the last two days you have made purchases or other operations from this account (exchange of items, sale on the trading floor, and so on);
- not always described method will work. In some cases, Steam support can calmly require the user to confirm their stay;
- in case of any suspicious changes, the administration has the right to ban your account;
- some games cannot be added to your account or bought, even if you change the region in "Steam" to Russian or another, in which the desired project is available;
- use e-wallets to pay for purchases in a digital store - it’s more difficult to track them by location.
But you can change the region not only for the purchase of digital copies of games in the Steam store. Users can also change the download region in "Steam" and display the country in their personal profile. Consider this option in more detail.
Change the region for downloading games
To do this, you need to use the following instructions:
- Open the main application window and click on the Steam button in the upper left corner.
- In the menu that opens, select the "Settings" item.
- Now you need to go to the "Downloads" section.
- Pay attention to the line "Region for download". If you have a poor connection when downloading games, or too low speed, then you can change the location of the server. The program automatically sets the address closest to you. For example, in Russia there are as many as 7 such points.
- After the change, click on the OK button and restart the application.
Change country in profile
This change method does not affect anything other than the signature in your profile window. The user can put any region so that other gamers see this signature.
To do this, you need to open your page and click on the "Edit Profile" button. In the "Country" column, open the list and select the region you need. After that, click on the “Save Changes” button at the bottom of the page.