I saw an offer on a forum that claims you can get on GOG the "Ultimate RED Collection" (The Witcher series and Cyberpunk 2077) for 25,9€ if you use a VPN and set location to Russia.

I want to know if anyone tried to do this before or knows the policy of GOG with VPN purchases.

I saw on a forum from last year that some moderators told it's safe, but the case wasn't exactly like this (get a game for a cheaper price).

Have nice day! §( ̄▽ ̄

4 years ago*

Comment has been collapsed.

Of course it's against their ToS.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

the same goes for steam im told

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Yeah, if a seller has different prices for different regions (based upon the perceived value of their currency), then it is, indeed, against their Terms of Service—it doesn't matter what company you're talking about or what they sell. That said, to my knowledge—which is limited, of course—there's nothing illegal about using a VPN to get a product for cheaper than whatever the value of your currency is.

Cheers!
c[O,..,O]p

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Trust me, they have no objection in banning you, and not only can you not buying anything anymore you also lose all access to your games.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Thats what i was thinking. I just saw a comment on their forum from last year saying it was ok, but i guess was a specific case scenario.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Consider that when buying at GOG, you get your stuff DRM free.
It seems a little odd to me for someone wanting to own a 'legit' copy but also willing to circumvent regional pricing matters with VPNs or gray markets. If the price point is an issue (whether due to harsh budget issues in current times, or you are against a companies policies/pricing) and you don't want to wait for a price drop, then it makes me wonder why piracy isn't the go-to option. Attempting to buy games with VPN stuff and then associate them with your actual account seems that it would just put your account at risk, or associate it with potential fraud / mass resellers in the case of gray markets. Plus there's the ethical aspect when it comes to indies or small devs, or even when it comes to GOG-centric sellers they're already foregoing DRM which makes me feel the pricepoints are more respectable in general.

I dunno, maybe this is just me throwing out my mere opinion, but it feels somehow more wrong to use a weaker currency / economy in that manner, and just makes me think this is the kind of stuff that makes less scrupulous devs justify not adjusting their prices for such regions, etc. But yeah, 'just an opinion' here. I'll see myself and my janky moral compass out :P

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

No, it's not just you, I completely agree with everything you said.

I'm all for saving as much money as possible and paying as little as possible, but when that involves having to use a VPN to take advantage of regional pricing in a weaker economy... It would be taking advantage of GOG's generous intentions by having regional pricing in the first place, and enough of that would just lead to no more regional pricing.

If you want to be a legitimate consumer and support developers, then be a legitimate consumer - wait until the game is on sale at a price you're comfortable with.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Yes, completly agree with that. I was just wondering, as the site where i saw the "offer" said there was no problem, but seems to be really shady thing to do.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

4 years ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

The problem with exploiting VPNs and regional pricing is that you are attempting to acquire a legit key to keep, but are likely getting a price that is far lower than what you would end up paying on a sale. Once you own that key, your incentive to pay the devs the rest of what they are essentially owed is gone. It's an equivalent to 'moral piracy' only instead of buying the game when you are able to, you just donate whatever you felt like, only given the pricepoint in VPN gouging, it's often not even 'paying what you think the game is worth'. It's certainly better than piracy with no intention of paying or acquiring the game legally later, but it still uses a loophole that lends credence to devs who don't adapt to regional matters. It just doesn't sit well with me, though that is more under the assumption of people being able to buy normally, but just not wanting to.

"Only rich\elite people care about "accounts""
Sorry but that's a really weird asspull. If anything, only the rich can afford to re-purchase all of their games again, if their original account was restricted due to accidental association with fraud. And even using your own card to subvert regional pricing with a VPN is capable of looking suspicious, especially where the industry is guarded against resellers. Though you're more likely to get the key revoked than anything more severe, repeated flagging for suspicious activity may have a cumulative effect. The people who complain that their accounts or access to various storefronts have been restricted / banned aren't likely to be totally random and without anything that prompted the false positive. It's a potential risk (albeit probably minor at first) that people should be mindful of. Just as people should be mindful that piracy of steamgames comes with the risk of key logging trojans that can log details and steal accounts.

"VideoGames industry is a business machine,it not live with ethics,live with money"
The industry does not have a single face. It is more like a hydra. While most of the heads do behave in a heavily profit-centric manner, sites like GOG make certain considerations in their model that are more pro-consumer than outright profit driven, hence why they have a stronger 'moral' defense, and why the distaste is stronger here. What one platform offers that another does not, is not relevent to 'supporting the devs' when the devs themselves decide their promotional content and organise their sales/availability on subscription services, nor is the discussion of physical vs digital media and playing at a friends house, as this topic is about acquiring a key to keep for yourself by pretending to be from a region with a weaker currency, so they lower the buying price. It's a false comparison.

I don't think it's quite as simple as you make it out to be, but then again few things really are, heh.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

4 years ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

4 years ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Wow, that's a really helpful response. Thanks. 👍

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Could you please also post your original support ticket Ashleee is here replying to?

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

What I wanted to know is what did you exactly ask GOG. Did you ask them if it was OK to use a VPN? Or did you specifically ask them if it was OK to use a VPN in order to buy games cheaper than in your physical location?

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

i ask use vpn for buy cheap yes

OK, it's your word and for any lack of proof I'll have to believe you. But:

  • You said you created that ticket like 5 years ago or so, and according to this post on GOG's forums, back in 2017 the GOG User Agreement explicitly mentioned they were not OK with using a VPN to circumvent regional pricing. But then again, the current version of the document doesn't mention it at all, so... dunno.

  • Also, in their reply the support tech considered opportune to remind you about potential pricing discrepancies when using a VPN. And I find this very strange if you had indeed asked about using the VPN in order to get cheaper prices, because in that case of course you'd be very aware of that possible consequence.

Anyway, I'm also from the EU and I'm also strongly against regional pricing, its arbitrariness, and the whole $1==1€ bullshit. But the "at least they get something" and the "49€ instead of 59€ is better than 0€" excuses are very flimsy in my eyes (among other things, because if you use a VPN to get the Russian price, you'll pay way less than those 49€).

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

4 years ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

GOG regional pricing in is heaven for me compared to Steam/Uplay/Origin, most games on GOG have the lowest price, I actually can think on buying games on release for the first time

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Argentina and Brazil have some of the best prices out there regarding Steam. Origin sucks here in BR tho.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

4 years ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

It is just that abusing regional pricing ultimately screws all the people in poorer countries when publishers are fed up and pull their regional pricing off. I am no angel, I did this years ago to buy Telltate A Game of Thrones, but felt terrible and never did it again. I am not going to tell anyone what to do but I can raise awareness instead.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Happend to me back in 2011, bought a key and turned out to be region locked. I think since then i never purchased keys from other region that wasn't mine.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

yeah this happened on steam Argentinian store, Horizon Zero Dawn was first released for like 7$ there, then so many people knew about that and changed their store to Argentinian one, company knew about that and raised the price for like 40$

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

GOG provides you with DRM-free games, so please don't cheat on them.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I think this sums it up.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

If it matters for you, is totally up to you.
Getting rid of DRM is a sign of trust towards the customers and a risk for a lot of copies without earning money. I mean: you can play a coop-game without buying it three or four times, because you can just send the game exe to your friends.
DRM-Freeness also means, that you are not punished for being a paying customer...

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 1 year ago.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Bad boy.
By fact you can buy from Russia on GOG in US dollar currency instead Ruble. Price in USD also regional.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I never claimed that i will buy that, i just asked about people experiences and knowledge. So you don't need to overjudge people like that...

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Table "Irony".
SMILE ^_^

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I think my previous comment on a similar topic applies here too: https://www.steamgifts.com/go/comment/kbK7DIG.

4 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Closed 4 years ago by Threepw00d.