Steam Updates Regional Pricing System to Better Support Middle East Players

Valve has introduced a new update to Steam’s regional pricing system, a change that could significantly impact players in the Middle East and North Africa.

A major pricing system update

The update improves Steam’s pricing conversion tools, allowing developers to price games more accurately across 35 currencies and four global regional pricing groups. The goal is to reduce large price differences between regions.

Previously, some regions experienced price differences of 20–30% above the USD equivalent, which led to criticism from players worldwide. The new update aims to address this by using updated conversion data that better reflects current global market conditions.

What this means for Middle Eastern players

Steam uses a dedicated pricing group known as USD_MENA for countries in the Middle East and North Africa. This system provides recommended discounted pricing for countries that do not have their own local currency on Steam.

Countries in this group include Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Algeria, Iraq, and others across the region.

This approach allows developers to offer more affordable pricing aligned with local purchasing power.

Impact on the regional gaming market

As the gaming market in the Middle East continues to grow, regional pricing has become increasingly important for accessibility.

More accurate pricing tools could encourage developers to adopt fairer prices in the region and may help increase legitimate game purchases on the platform.