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[ManaByte]

"In the last few hours, it has been reported that Xbox has blocked the possibility of making purchases from other regions using VPN. If you try to bypass this new restriction with any tricks, they warn that they will penalize your account and remove what you’ve purchased.

However, there hasn’t been an official announcement yet, so we’ll have to wait. But if this is indeed the case, they won’t allow the use of VPNs when redeeming codes."

If you want confirmation on this, when I had Copilot translate the Tweets, it added this thanks to MS:

It’s essential to note that using VPNs to bypass region restrictions on Xbox may violate the terms of service, so proceed with caution. If you encounter issues, consider using a premium VPN service rather than free ones, as they are less likely to trigger invalid region errors. And hey, it’s always good to stay informed about these changes in the gaming world!

 

[Mr Moose]

 

[Setsuna Mudou]

 

[cormack12]

 

[Sleepwalker]

RIp India gamepass trick

 

[Mownoc]

Now will this people getting cheap gamepass with VPN pay full price now? Or just unsubscribe.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

With the exception of some games that are unavailable in your region, I really don't understand the people who try to capitalize on discounts from other region pricing/currency differences. Are you really saving THAT much money? Meanwhile you need to manage multiple accounts and storefronts, double check that any DLC is purchased in a region compatible with where you own the base game. Sometimes for multiplayer games, your region dictates who you can play with. Seems like a huge hassle, not worth the time or effort.

 

[Bernoulli]

From 12 days ago


Nico0067
•
1d ago
So I did some digging on the internet and found this;

Microsoft recently sent emails alerting about changes to the service contract, something it always does but no one usually takes it into account. However, this time they made a very important change: starting September 30, you will not be able to buy games in a different region, and if you still manage to do so, they reserve the right to withdraw your acquired intangible assets.
With these changes, Microsoft is paired with Sony and Nintendo in terms of region change policies, in a battle against users who buy cheaper games and services in stores with large inflationary effects such as Argentina or Turkey. As of September 30, the country in which your account is located will be the final one, and if you want to buy games in another region you will have to create a new account from 0 in that region and you will only be able to play these games there, without being able to share them between accounts. It is not yet clear what will happen to the codes sold in digital stores such as eneba or g2a.

Well, it was fun while it lasted.

 

[cormack12]

Now will this people getting cheap gamepass with VPN pay full price now? Or just unsubscribe.

It's more for games, like getting games for £12 in Turkey then using a VPN to redeem them out of region. Sites like eneba and kinguin

 

[Astray]

With the exception of some games that are unavailable in your region, I really don't understand the people who try to capitalize on discounts from other region pricing/currency differences. Are you really saving THAT much money?

Yes.

And those guys managed to fuck over actual Turkish and Argentinian gamers on a multitude of storefronts now.

Where I am, there are actual small web stores that basically thrive on selling Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions at regional prices, they even explicitly tell you to use VPN to redeem the codes.

 

[Nonehxc]

'For the PAYERS'TM

 

[El Muerto]

I redeemed 2 India keys yesterday using the vpn trick. Didnt get any warnings.

 

[Badlucktroll]

 

[LavitzSlambert]

Yes.

And those guys managed to fuck over actual Turkish and Argentinian gamers on a multitude of storefronts now.

Where I am, there are actual small web stores that basically thrive on selling Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions at regional prices, they even explicitly tell you to use VPN to redeem the codes.

How does it affect Turkish and Argentinian gamers though? Unless I am misinterpreting this article, the change only sounds like a negative for accounts in countries like the US or UK trying to redeem cheap codes from foreign countries.

 

[Bernoulli]

How does it affect Turkish and Argentinian gamers though? Unless I am misinterpreting this article, the change only sounds like a negative for accounts in countries like the US or UK trying to redeem cheap codes from foreign countries.

Price should go back to normal for them

 

[Astray]

How does it affect Turkish and Argentinian gamers though? Unless I am misinterpreting this article, the change only sounds like a negative for accounts in countries like the US or UK trying to redeem cheap codes from foreign countries.

Cheapskates from other regions start buying games and subs on Turkish and Argentinian marketplaces > Platform holder cracks down by sharply increasing prices on those storefronts > Local Turkish and Argentinian consumers (who can't just get hard currency like dollars to pay with) have to face paying more for games through no fault of their own.

The only reason I'd consider buying from other regions is to circumvent local restrictions on game releases.

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

Microsoft being Microsoft.

Now just release a new controller pathetic Phil.

 

[Punished Miku]

The people who exploit it make it so they cant do regional pricing to help the people who actually live there.

 

[Barakov]

Well, we can take this off the short list of things Xbox has going for them.

 

[DenchDeckard]

End of an era but for the best of those in the countries that need to have cheaper pricing.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

Price should go back to normal for them

Right. I can only see how that would be a good thing. And for the people who are exploiting, I can't imagine it would be huge savings they are missing out on by having to purchase in their own country.

Cheapskates from other regions start buying games and subs on Turkish and Argentinian marketplaces > Platform holder cracks down by sharply increasing prices on those storefronts > Local Turkish and Argentinian consumers (who can't just get hard currency like dollars to pay with) have to face paying more for games through no fault of their own.

The only reason I'd consider buying from other regions is to circumvent local restrictions on game releases.

Think I misinterpreted your initial post. This change seems like a good thing for the people who need it, and not much impact on savings for people who were trying to exploit the currency fluctuations.

 

[Calverz]

end of an era.

 

[Calverz]

With the exception of some games that are unavailable in your region, I really don't understand the people who try to capitalize on discounts from other region pricing/currency differences. Are you really saving THAT much money? Meanwhile you need to manage multiple accounts and storefronts, double check that any DLC is purchased in a region compatible with where you own the base game. Sometimes for multiplayer games, your region dictates who you can play with. Seems like a huge hassle, not worth the time or effort.

Oh it was worth it. Believe me….

 

[Haint]

With the exception of some games that are unavailable in your region, I really don't understand the people who try to capitalize on discounts from other region pricing/currency differences. Are you really saving THAT much money? Meanwhile you need to manage multiple accounts and storefronts, double check that any DLC is purchased in a region compatible with where you own the base game. Sometimes for multiplayer games, your region dictates who you can play with. Seems like a huge hassle, not worth the time or effort.

Gamepass Ultimate worked out to $4 - $5 per months during the better sales/deals Vs. $20 /mo. So yes, 3-4x cheaper was definitely worth it to people who knew about it. If the number of people making use of it was large enough for MS to crack down, I expect Gamepass subscribership's probably going to crater going forward, doubly so with the price hikes. Most people will switch to subbing only a couple Holiday months a year to play a big game then immediately drop it for the other 10 months. This will reflect very poorly on their MAU metrics/financial reports and will probably lose them a lot more money in the long run Vs. locking bargain/value hunters into their ecosystem. The rising prices on these useless online subscriptions that are pure profit centers will just drive anyone with sense to PC where MS and Sony won't get their 30% store cuts.

 

[Astray]

Think I misinterpreted your initial post. This change seems like a good thing for the people who need it, and not much impact on savings for people who were trying to exploit the currency fluctuations.

It's all good man.

Gamepass Ultimate worked out to $4 - $5 per months during the better sales/deals Vs. $20 /mo. So yes, 3-4x cheaper was definitely worth it to people who knew about it. If the number of people making use of it was large enough for MS to crack down, I expect Gamepass subscribership's probably going to crater going forward, doubly so with the price hikes. Most people will switch to subbing only a couple Holiday months a year to play a big game then immediately drop it for the other 10 months. This will reflect very poorly on their MAU metrics/financial reports and will probably lose them a lot more money in the long run Vs. locking bargain/value hunters into their ecosystem. The rising prices on these useless online subscriptions that are pure profit centers will just drive anyone with sense to PC where MS and Sony won't get their 30% store cuts.

Generally, companies don't just leave exploits lying around for people to exploit them so publicly, they had to know exactly how these consumers did what they did, how many did it, and how many months are "locked in".. And they still allowed it because they wanted growth growth growth at all costs.

I always said that when it comes to Gamepass, the regional discount exploiters were a far bigger contingent than most thought. I think Microsoft are done chasing MAUs (with CoD and Minecraft under their control, those will always be high), now the eye of Satya is on Phil and co, and he wants a profitable gaming division ASAP.

With thay said, I think the next group to get hit will be people who get free subs via MS Rewards.. Not that I wish it on them (imo, unlike the regional discount exploiters, these guys are using the MS Rewards system fair and square, and they ar benefiting other divisions of MS), but you have to think that's inevitable at this point. Because right now, as far as Satya and Phil are concerned, you are either paying full price for GP or you are buying your games at $70 a pop, no in-between.

 

[Haint]

Generally, companies don't just leave exploits lying around for people to exploit them so publicly, they had to know exactly how these consumers did what they did, how many did it, and how many months are "locked in".. And they still allowed it because they wanted growth growth growth at all costs.

I always said that when it comes to Gamepass, the regional discount exploiters were a far bigger contingent than most thought. I think Microsoft are done chasing MAUs (with CoD and Minecraft under their control, those will always be high), now the eye of Satya is on Phil and co, and he wants a profitable gaming division ASAP.

With thay said, I think the next group to get hit will be people who get free subs via MS Rewards.. Not that I wish it on them (imo, unlike the regional discount exploiters, these guys are using the MS Rewards system fair and square, and they ar benefiting other divisions of MS), but you have to think that's inevitable at this point. Because right now, as far as Satya and Phil are concerned, you are either paying full price for GP or you are buying your games at $70 a pop, no in-between.

I would hazard a guess Bing is an even greater loss leader than Gamepass, and the automated rewards exploit bots/scripts gain them absolutely nothing but costing them server/processing time. Considering every additional Gamepass user is effectively "free" (they acquire the games lump sum, not per download), $5/month is certainly far more valuable than $0 or negative $'s.

 

[M1987]

Gamepass Ultimate worked out to $4 - $5 per months during the better sales/deals Vs. $20 /mo. So yes, 3-4x cheaper was definitely worth it to people who knew about it. If the number of people making use of it was large enough for MS to crack down, I expect Gamepass subscribership's probably going to crater going forward, doubly so with the price hikes. Most people will switch to subbing only a couple Holiday months a year to play a big game then immediately drop it for the other 10 months. This will reflect very poorly on their MAU metrics/financial reports and will probably lose them a lot more money in the long run Vs. locking bargain/value hunters into their ecosystem. The rising prices on these useless online subscriptions that are pure profit centers will just drive anyone with sense to PC where MS and Sony won't get their 30% store cuts.

The game pass thing still works,it must be getting cheap games from other countries that don't work anymore

 

[Three]

I would hazard a guess Bing is an even greater loss leader than Gamepass, and the automated rewards exploit bots/scripts gain them absolutely nothing but costing them server/processing time. Considering every additional Gamepass user is effectively "free" (they acquire the games lump sum, not per download), $5/month is certainly far more valuable than $0 or negative $'s.

They've started hijacking searches from auto complete through Swiftkey in a bid to increase search numbers. That keyboard app they bought with the company some time ago.

 

[Mattyp]

Good shit, people bitching about this while prices go up for third world people trying to enjoy games at any affordable bracket at all while you’re just trying to save a few dollars by being a tightass ruining it for them.

 

[Stafford]

Yeah, I won't deny that I've done this several times this year. For both smaller games and bigger ones. But especially smaller ones that were dirt cheap on those sites. Iirc the last big game was Sand Land and I got that for like 30 euros pretty soon after it's release, while in the store it's 80?

Ah well, it is what it is. I'm not going to risk my large library of digital games, plus I use game sharing.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

If software companies didnt do this crazy pricing to begin with, no customers would figure out workarounds. Typically, other products dont have this kind of giant discrepancy. Add in timing and cost of shipping and maybe duties tacked on even if someone tried, and it's not worth it most of the time.

The Steam regional pricing lists for games is insane. In western countries, they all ballpark around $70 US converted to local currency. Give or take $5. And then South American countries, Russia and mid east places would be like $12. Insane. Even moreso, when the game goes on sale, it'd probably be $5 US.

I'm all for getting the best deal you can find. Great example was one time I was looking for a hard to find book for my bro for Xmas. Most local places didnt even sell it. And the one who did charged a crazy price. I ended up buying it from a big UK bookstore online. It was actually cheaper and shipped from overseas even when all things factored in. Done. Fuck the local store. Even arrived on time for Xmas.

 

[Fahdis]

If software companies didnt do this crazy pricing to begin with, no customers would figure out workarounds. Typically, other products dont have this kind of giant discrepancy. Add in timing and cost of shipping and maybe duties tacked on even if someone tried, and it's not worth it most of the time.

The Steam regional pricing lists for games is insane. In western countries, they all ballpark around $70 US converted to local currency. Give or take $5. And then South American countries, Russia and mid east places would be like $12. Insane. Even moreso, when the game goes on sale, it'd probably be $5 US.

I'm all for getting the best deal you can find. Great example was one time I was looking for a hard to find book for my bro for Xmas. Most local places didnt even sell it. And the one who did charged a crazy price. I ended up buying it from a big UK bookstore online. It was actually cheaper and shipped from overseas even when all things factored in. Done. Fuck the local store. Even arrived on time for Xmas.

What's wrong with that? Have you seen the amount of money per capita? Net income for the poor countries? Its a miracle Steam has the best regional pricing available. What would be better is KYC so people can't fake shit.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

What's wrong with that? Have you seen the amount of money per capita? Net income for the poor countries? Its a miracle Steam has the best regional pricing available. What would be better is KYC so people can't fake shit.

Because it's a rip off for the western customers. You dont see BMW selling cars for $10,000 in poor countries.

Countries like Canada, UK, France etc... are often treated as regional profit centre countries. In other words, the main US market can be competitive, but these smaller less competitive countries have jacked up prices where profit margins are higher than the US, which boosts the overall company margins.

Last 3 companies I've worked at, we (Canada) are treated as high priced lackeys. And it's tiring. That's why I said in my post about finding a good deal overseas (even with shipping over the Atlantic), I'm all for scoring a deal where possible.

 

[Fahdis]

Because it's a rip off for the western customers. You dont see BMW selling cars for $10,000 in poor countries.

Countries like Canada, UK, France etc... are often treated as regional profit centre countries. In other words, the main US market can be competitive, but these smaller less competitive countries have jacked up prices where profit margins are higher than the US, which boosts the overall company margins.

Last 3 companies I've worked at, we (Canada) are treated as high priced lackeys. And it's tiring. That's why I said in my post about finding a good deal overseas (even with shipping over the Atlantic), I'm all for scoring a deal where possible.

You can't compare cars to software. Besides there are either motorcycles for the majority, local built cars that are cheap or imports with double the taxes for the rich (which of course they never pay). I still think its fair for westerners to pay up the ass. Gaming isnt a cheap hobby.

I have 3 nationalities. I am also Canadian. At this point its the 3rd world as well $80 games. Taxes up the ass on checkout. I changed my Steam region to my Asian Birth Country. Thank god. I'd never be able to afford games otherwise.

 

[adamsapple]

With the exception of some games that are unavailable in your region, I really don't understand the people who try to capitalize on discounts from other region pricing/currency differences. Are you really saving THAT much money? Meanwhile you need to manage multiple accounts and storefronts, double check that any DLC is purchased in a region compatible with where you own the base game. Sometimes for multiplayer games, your region dictates who you can play with. Seems like a huge hassle, not worth the time or effort.

I got Baldurs Gate 3 Digital Deluxe for $19.99 the day it launched on xbox.

Yeah it was pretty good savings but it ended up fucking over local economies in those regions.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

Cheap schemes was the last valid reason to own Xbox in Eastern Europe. I’ve checked some local ebay-like sites in a few countries, and Xbox Series is by far the mostly popular platform to sell in recent 24 hours.

 

[adamsapple]

Cheap schemes was the last valid reason to own Xbox in Eastern Europe. I’ve checked some local ebay-like sites in a few countries, and Xbox Series is by far the mostly popular platform to sell in recent 24 hours.

Links?

 

[StreetsofBeige]

You can't compare cars to software. Besides there are either motorcycles for the majority, local built cars that are cheap or imports with double the taxes for the rich (which of course they never pay). I still think its fair for westerners to pay up the ass. Gaming isnt a cheap hobby.

I have 3 nationalities. I am also Canadian. At this point its the 3rd world as well $80 games. Taxes up the ass on checkout. I changed my Steam region to my Asian Birth Country. Thank god. I'd never be able to afford games otherwise.

I'm all for scoring deals.

It's like buying fruits and vegetables. Fuck buying local. If apples and oranges from Chile or Argentina can somehow ship good stuff from 10,000 km away, go through container ships and ports, and trucking, and somehow sell good stuff at cheaper than an Ontario farmer growing apples a 15 min drive north of Toronto, fuck the local. I'll happily support the South American company. Good product and a good price. Better value.

Difference is it's all done for me in grocery stores. No need to digital download it on VPN like buying a game.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

Links?

It’s useless to you unless you’re fluent in Russian or Kazakh/Uzbek (plus many such sites are geofenced). I’ll provide screenshots with machine translation later though.

 

[Majima Everywhere System]

I only expected this to work once. It also put an Xpiration date on MS consoles for me.

 

[adamsapple]

It’s useless to you unless you’re fluent in Russian or Kazakh/Uzbek (plus many such sites are geofenced). I’ll provide screenshots with machine translation later though.

Thanks.

To me, doesn't make sense why people in those regions would feel the need to sell their console based on this new VPN blocking. It's not like they would be getting any extra benefit from it, they're already in that region with the 'cheaper' prices.

This is mostly to deter us filthy westerners who have been abusing it for cheap games / codes for a while.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Argentina and Turkey will suddenly lose 90% of their players.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

Thanks.

To me, doesn't make sense why people in those regions would feel the need to sell their console based on this new VPN blocking. It's not like they would be getting any extra benefit from it, they're already in that region with the 'cheaper' prices.

This is mostly to deter us filthy westerners who have been abusing it for cheap games / codes for a while.

Quite a lot of CIS countries are lower income ones, plus they were basically in global region Russia for localization and regional pricing. Due to war in Ukraine and sanctions that system collapsed with nothing to fill the gaps (Kazakhstan has no dedicated PSN region for example), so console gamers tried to switch for other cheap regions and Xbox was friendly enough with easy payment system to boot. It was even moderately popular thanks to MS Store ease of use from small countries.

Hope that gives some perspective.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

Now will this people getting cheap gamepass with VPN pay full price now? Or just unsubscribe.

Not really because you dont even need a VPN lol. You just put whatever region you want on your console and add the credit card from your current region and it shows you only games from the cheap region you selected. You never needed a VPN for any of that.

 

[DragonNCM]

Thanks.

To me, doesn't make sense why people in those regions would feel the need to sell their console based on this new VPN blocking. It's not like they would be getting any extra benefit from it, they're already in that region with the 'cheaper' prices.

This is mostly to deter us filthy westerners who have been abusing it for cheap games / codes for a while.

And what about us who don't have MS store in our country ?
We should just quit playing ?

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

what is the point of this?

 

[ReyBrujo]

I don't own an Xbox but got friends who got one and here in Argentina the main issue was game availability. There are publishers who prefer not distributing their games here because the exchange rate is pretty low and people from other storefronts would buy them from here, so you sometimes are forced to buy from another region.

The Switch e-shop got low prices for many third parties (games that are usually 29.99 can be bought for 5.99 or lower, for example) which made lots of people start using Argentine accounts to buy them. Nintendo strengthened their policy so that now you cannot buy from the Argentine storefront with an international card, however now if you are from Argentina and buy it with determined cards (some of the fintech ones, or some international cards) you risk your console being shadowbanned, your account will no longer be able to buy anything from the e-shop, not even a new Switch Online term. And since your Switch is shadowbanned the only real solution is to buy a new one (there are workarounds that might or might not help, there are people who haven't been able to do any buying since Nintendo started this back in November 2023).

what is the point of this?

Maximizing sales when your userbase is small.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Maximizing sales when your userbase is small

After reading some comments, it seems that using a VPN to buy games at a cheaper price was the only valuable reason to get an Xbox. Isn't this further deterring people from buying the console?

 

[NuclearDiarrhea]

Good. Pay the full price, you cheap fucks.

 

[Draugoth]

Using VPN to buy from stores like in Turkey and Argentina have been a common pratice Eneba is about to lose 50% of it's revenue