How far are you willing to go to get a good deal? Would you fly halfway across the world for a cheaper price on a video game? No, of course not. Because that would be insane but also because you don’t have to. With access to the internet, the world comes to you. In this case, an indie video game called Let’s Build A Zoo experienced first-hand what a wild ride selling games around the world can be.
The first bit of information you should know is that video games don’t cost the same amount of money around the world. Regional pricing is a way to get a game in the hands of players in as many countries as possible. Argentina, for example, will get games listed for much cheaper than the US. This is where region hopping comes into play. Tech-savvy gamers can search for game prices in different countries to find deals. Let’s Build A Zoo is the equivalent of $1.50 in Argentina, but it’s $19.99 in the US. Gamers from around the world were able to “spoof” their actual locations to make it look like they were based in Argentina long enough to purchase the game for $1.50.
The indie game’s publisher, No More Robots, noticed the weird activity as the game skyrocketed in sales early on. The director, Mike Rose, posted a thank you to “Argentina” on Twitter, crediting the location with “helping [them] with [their] biggest Nintendo Switch launch to date.” He went on to explain what he learned about region hopping from the event.
“It turns out, players can just go on sites like ‘eShop Prices,’ see where new games are dirt cheap and in which regions, and be given exact instructions on how to change region and buy the game for next-to-nothing. We were heavily featured on a bunch of these sites! Oh cool!!!”
Mike Rose, No More Robots
The weird part happened on day two though. Let’s Build A Farm was rapidly climbing up the eShop charts even in the US because it turns out, the US Nintendo eShop charts are for the entirety of North and South America. The sales for Argentina were bringing the game up the charts in the US, prompting more people based in the US to buy it as well. Europe and Australia followed suit after. The little indie game was suddenly at the top of the charts during its launch week, and people were actually paying full price for it.
If you have time, read the whole Twitter thread below. It’s a fascinating story!
Mark Rose ended his tale by calling companies to action on preventing region hopping. Even though it worked out for the company this time, it easily could have been disastrous. Valve has already started the process by asking users to provide a form of payment that is based in the country they are trying to buy from. We’re glad there was a happy ending this time around, but this is a phenomenon worth keeping an eye on.
