2
That's the downside to a unified market.
I live in NYC, where the median household income is about 40% higher than in Philadelphia. Rent is more expensive in NYC, which drives salaries up for what is otherwise the same job. When video games are sticky at certain price points, like $70 right now, that price feels cheaper to me here than it does just a few hours away in Philly. Money is weird like that, but when you've got digital distribution, they've got to make some calls about how to price things accordingly. If I buy a 20 oz bottle of Diet Coke in Brooklyn, it might be $2.50, but it could easily be $4.50 or $5 in Manhattan.
They can't realistically restrict keys to only be valid for certain countries in the EU. Cheap keys in one country would mean everybody gets these cheaper prices and the publishers would rather not have that.
The same reason it doesn't have regional pricing by state in the US. They picked regions and priced them the same for that region, and the EU happens to be a region comparable to the US.
Because the value of 1 euro is always 1 euro no matter where in EU you live.
Games are priced the same in California as Florida despite California having a higher cost of living.
Same thing. Because 1 dollar is 1 dollar.
And that's why the only correct choice is a piracy. We just cannot afford to waste that kind of money on unfinished games. Especially while the economy is getting worse and worse.
Or one could play FOSS games. However, in such case I would still recommend supporting the developers as much as one can, if the game is enjoyable. Usually, those games are better than any AAA game that came out lately.
Man, I wish I could have a Lemmy community that bans pirates from all discussion.
Either a game is shit, made by abusive managers forcing crunch time, in which case there’s no moral issue with pirating it but also: Why would you want to for a shit game? Or, a game looks great, is fairly made by inspired artists looking for a return on their risk, in which case: Why are you not paying them for their work?
And I also have no patience for anyone claiming the latter type of game doesn’t exist. Stop gluing your eyeballs to AAA ads while constantly whining about them, and find some recommendation lists. My GOTY list for 2026 is already packed.
Or, a game looks great, is fairly made by inspired artists looking for a return on their risk, in which case: Why are you not paying them for their work?
Vast majority of people making games are on a Salary. They're not getting any more or less return from you buying a game.
this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2026
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