Can I Use My Steam Account in Another Country?

The short answer is yes, you can use your Steam account in other countries by changing your store region settings. However, there are important factors to consider before traveling or moving abroad with your Steam account.

As an avid Steam user myself, I‘ve dealt with these hurdles firsthand. In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll cover everything you need to know, from changing regions with a VPN to dealing with potential account bans.

Changing Your Steam Region Successfully

Your Steam account‘s country is set automatically based on your IP address when you create it. This controls things like:

• Currency
• Payment methods
• Game/item pricing
• Availability of region restricted games

If you move or travel to a different country, your IP changes. This can cause issues accessing the Steam store, purchasing games/items, and more.

To get around these problems, you need to change your Steam store country via your account settings:

The most reliable way to swap countries is by using a VPN service. A VPN allows you to mask your real IP address and choose a server location from almost anywhere in the world.

Step-by-Step Guide

Follow these steps to successfully change regions:

1. Sign up for a premium VPN like ExpressVPN or NordVPN
2. Install VPN software and connect to a server based in your desired country
3. Launch Steam client and update store country in account settings

For example, if you‘ve moved from the USA to Germany, you would connect to a German VPN server before accessing your Steam account.

According to surveys, roughly 14% of Steam players use VPNs regularly when gaming. The top reasons are unlocking geo-restricted games/content, improving security, and reducing lag.

As long as you have an active VPN connection to your new region, Steam will think you‘re accessing it locally rather than from abroad. This prevents blockades to the store, currency errors when making purchases, and other problems.

Just keep in mind, Steam enforces a limit of one region change every 3 months. You can‘t repeatedly swap countries day-to-day or week-to-week.

Seamlessly Gaming Abroad

A common question is – can I play Steam games overseas after changing my account region?

The answer is yes — with a few caveats. As long as you initiate the game using the local VPN server you selected, online functionality works normally. You‘ll be able to access multiplayer servers and other online components located in your new country.

For example, if you route your Steam traffic through a French VPN server, you can play Counter Strike on European servers with decent ping.

However, connecting back to US servers gives you worse ping since the added geographical distance increases lag and latency. For serious competitors playing games like DOTA 2 or Apex Legends, high ping puts them at a disadvantage in matches.

The other factor is whether the games you purchased have any regional restrictions implemented by developers. But the vast majority of popular titles work flawlessly abroad as long as you play them while connected to local VPN servers.

Just be warned — using VPNs to bypass region locks imposed by game publishers is technically against Steam‘s terms of service.

Potential Issues When Changing Regions

While utilizing a VPN to alter your Steam access location enables basic functionality abroad, there are some headaches to watch out for:

1. Payment Methods Must Match the Country

When you switch your Steam account region, associated payment methods must be valid for the new country.

For example, if you change to Argentina, your US PayPal or credit card will likely fail at checkout. You would need an Argentine payment provider to transact successfully.

The same is true vice versa. An Argentina-issued card won‘t work after switching back to the United States location.

2. Pricing Fluctuations Based on Currency Rates

Another thing to keep in mind — game and item pricing updates automatically in the new region. These costs are tied to USD, Euro, Pesos etc depending on your location:

As shown above, currencies have different exchange rates compared to USD. Games/items cost more or less depending on the country you pick.

While it can be tempting to switch to regions with weaker economies to score deals — like Russia, Argentina, or Turkey — this strategy has risks (see next section).

3. Your Account Could Get Banned

If Steam detects you‘re exploiting region pricing disparities deliberately with a VPN, account termination is possible under the terms of service.

Some red flags that can trigger bans:

• Frequently changing regions, especially to low-cost countries
• Using VPNs inconsistently across different geographic locations
• Mass gift purchases intended for resale at higher prices

Essentially if your behavior seems to abuse regional pricing for profit rather than legitimate personal use — Steam can drop the banhammer.

4. Regional Restrictions on Gifted Copies

My last word of warning around region switching — gifted games and in-game items from the Steam store are permanently locked to the region they were purchased in.

So if a friend from the US gifts you a game, activation keys only work in the US region. Even if you later change to Germany using the VPN method, that game stays restricted unless played via US servers.

The same goes if you purchase gifts for friends still residing in another country. Recipients need a VPN connected locally to redeem and play them.

What Happens if Your Account Gets Banned?

If Steam suspends your account for TOS violations like manipulating regions, the consequences are:

• Loss of access to Steam services
• Forfeiture of account balance & wallet funds
• Inability to play purchased games and use items
• Bans can range from temporary to permanent

According to Steam statistics, over 7 million accounts faced bans of varying severity in 2022 alone. So while not an extremely common occurrence, it does happen regularly.

The good news is – only the offending account is impacted. Your broader access to the Steam platform or new accounts remains unaffected by singular account bans.

Safely Using Your Steam Account Anywhere

Changing regions to play purchased games or buy new ones internationally CAN work successfully…if done properly using the following best practices:

✔️ Use a premium VPN service with reliable connections abroad (I recommend NordVPN)

✔️ Only swap countries once every few months, avoiding rapid changes

✔️ Ensure payment methods for the new store region are configured

✔️ Run downloads/games via nearby VPN servers to reduce lag

✔️ Avoid exploiting major price differences across low-cost countries

While inconvenient geo-restrictions are still commonplace, Steam‘s entire catalog of games can be accessible anywhere if you understand the nuances around account regions.