The imploding Russian ruble may have forced the hand of another tech company.
It appears Valve has taken steps to prevent people from buying cheap versions of games from its Steam PC digital distribution service in Russia, where the currency has reached all-time lows against the dollar in recent weeks.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1626747,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"D"}']According to Engadget and the NeoGAF, users are reporting that games purchased in Russia are being “region locked” for the first time so they can’t be used elsewhere in the world. The move is apparently an attempt to prevent players from exploiting the low value of the ruble to buy games that might otherwise cost more than $40 for just a few bucks.
Yesterday, Apple shut down sales in its Russian online store because it was unable to adjust the prices of its gadgets fast enough in response to the tumbling ruble.