The headline number
A game listed at $19.99 in the US doesn't sell for a currency-converted equivalent everywhere else. Steam supports pricing across 37 currencies and 4 region groups, and developers set the price in each one individually. Leave a currency unpriced and the game becomes unavailable to players who shop in it, not just discounted, unavailable entirely.
In practice, the regions with the largest gap to the US price are Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, and India. Valve's suggested prices in these markets commonly run 70-85% below the US figure once local purchasing power is factored in, not the 20-30% a raw currency conversion would suggest. That gap is the whole point of regional pricing: it exists because the same $19.99 represents a wildly different share of disposable income depending on where the player lives.
How Steam actually generates a suggested price
Steam's own documentation lays out three ways a regional price can be derived from a developer's USD base price. Exchange rate conversion takes the raw currency conversion and nothing else. This is the simplest method and also the least accurate, since it ignores that $20 buys very different amounts of local goods and services in different economies.
Purchasing power conversion adjusts for what a given amount of local currency can actually buy in that market, using public purchasing-power data rather than the exchange rate alone. Multi-variable conversion goes a step further, factoring in local purchasing power, the expected price of comparable entertainment goods in that market, and the exchange rate together. This is the method behind most of Steam's suggested prices today, and it's why the suggested price in a lower-income market can sit far below what currency conversion alone would produce.
Developers aren't required to accept any of these. Steam's guidance is explicit that pricing decisions belong entirely to the developer, the suggested numbers are a starting point, not a rule.
Why the gap is so large in some markets
The size of the discount in a given region isn't arbitrary, it tracks how far local purchasing power sits below the US baseline, and it can move over time as an economy changes. Turkey and Argentina are the clearest examples: both moved to standardized USD-referenced pricing in 2023 after years of currency volatility made their old flat regional prices unstable, and both still carry among the deepest discounts on the platform because local purchasing power, not just the exchange rate, remains far below the US level.
This is also why regional pricing needs periodic revisiting rather than a one-time setup. A region's suggested price shifts with inflation, currency devaluation, and changes in the local cost of comparable entertainment. A price that was well-calibrated at launch can drift out of line within a year in a market with significant currency movement.
How to apply this to your launch
Set a price in every supported currency before launch, not just the regions with the largest player base. A missing currency doesn't default to a discount, it removes the game from that market's store entirely.
Start from Steam's suggested conversion rather than a flat percentage-off rule of thumb. The multi-variable method already accounts for local purchasing power and comparable-goods pricing, both of which are hard to estimate accurately from outside the market.
Revisit regional prices periodically, particularly in markets with currency volatility. Steam's own guidance recommends checking comparable games' pricing and reviews in a target market directly, since local player expectations of value can shift faster than any fixed conversion table.
Factor the platform's own cut into every regional price too: the headline figure a player pays is not what reaches the studio. For how the revenue share works before regional adjustments, see how much Steam takes from each sale.
Sources: Steam's official developer documentation on regional pricing (partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/pricing). Published Steam pricing benchmark analysis, 2026.
