Sometimes the host will send it through steam, sometimes through email, etc. You need to wait seven days, and if you don't see anything, just contact the host about it!
From the FAQ:
"If I win a gift, when can I expect to receive it?
Giveaway creators are allowed one week to send the gift after the giveaway has ended. Depending on the type of gift and the giveaway creator, you might receive the gift to the e-mail address you have listed on the account page, a key might be added beside the gift you won, or the giveaway creator might have sent you a friend request on Steam to make the exchange. Please remain patient, and do not contact the giveaway creator during this time. If the gift is not received after one week, you can mark the gift as not received, and attempt to contact the giveaway creator on Steam to follow-up."
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So now I received the key, but the game appears to be region locked (it wasn't listed as such in the giveaway page). I'm getting the error: "Sorry, but the following items are not available for purchase in this country. Your purchase has been cancelled."
Any advise?
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Contact the giveaway creator. if the giveaway was not listed as region-lock, then (s)he is obligated to get you a ROW version.
Although if the creator is from CIS territory, it will be quite impossible. Both for them to purchase and also for you to get anything out of them even if they could purchase.
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The giveaway creator is offline, but I left a message via Steam chat. Hopefully there's a good way to resolve this situation...
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"Sorry, but the following items are not available for purchase in this country. Your purchase has been cancelled."
It's not region lock.. The game is banned or just simply not available in your country..
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I don't think the game is banned because I can access its page on Steam and add it to my cart. Must be something else...
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Hi. I'm the creator of giveaway and key is not reigional locked. I had 4 keys and 1 of them activated in russia, 2 in europe and 4 is Yirg's one.
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Thanks for responding here man, I appreciate it.
Any troubleshooting advise from anyone?
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I'd try contacting Steam Support, myself.
Dear Steam Support:
I tried to gift my friend in Israel this copy of this game, but he is not able to add it to his library. It gives the following error message.
(error message)
We are unable to determine why. Would you please tell us why this particular key is not working for him despite the game being purchasable in his country?
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DypuD, I now tried to activate this key from two different countries (Israel and Bulgaria), and the result is the same. I'm getting the error "Sorry, but the following items are not available for purchase in this country. Your purchase has been cancelled."
Please see the suggestion below from Khalaq.
Thanks!
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It seems like there are more people with the same problem you had. The problem is that devs create different versions of the game, and then only enable them in some regions. The key is not locked, but my guess is that the version of the game you got might be, I dont't know. It seems to happen somewhat often with steam (google it), and always the solution was with the developer. You could send a message to steam, but their customer support is utter crap, so I wouldn't even bother, you will probably get a reply about family share... Your best bet is to contact Piranha Bytes, go on their forum, and also send them an email, I think they can solve that.
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Ok I just send an email to Piranha Bytes and also contact to steam support. And now just wait for their reply.
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This is the reply for my email to Piranha Bytes.
"You can try to activate the key for him with his Account. After the key has been activated in the country the game originated from, the game should also work in Israel (no guarantee though, since we never tested this before). Otherwise contact Steam, perhaps they can help."
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Thanks, but not sure how that would work. Surely that can't expect that I give someone else my steam password?
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He mentioned you, as his friend. It means he is someone you know well and personally. But since these store region things came in I don't think that it'd work.
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I don't know him well. I won a giveaway, that's all.
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You can use proxy changer for example. So you dont really need to give you password to anyone.
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Unfortunately I can't risk using a proxy, because I may lose my Steam account. Quote from the SSA:
"You agree that you will not use IP proxying or other methods to disguise the place of your residence, whether to circumvent geographical restrictions on game content, to purchase at pricing not applicable to your geography, or for any other purpose. If you do this, we may terminate your access to your Account."
http://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/
Any update from Steam support?
Thanks!
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So what is the best practice on this site for when a giveaway winner can't activate a key? I tried in two countries (my home country and another one I traveled to), but to no avail. I will not use a VPN as I don't want to risk losing my Steam account.
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Well, DpyuD could ask at the store, he bought the keys from, to supply a key that will work in Israel. Given the mostly shallow knowledge any gamestore support has nowadays, I fear he will not succeed with this.
So there are these two options:
- You mark the giveaway as not received and this is that. You cannot use the key. so key would be pretty much wasted.
or - DpyuD can ask support for a reroll - to which you would have to agree - and hopes someone else will win, who can activate the key.
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I see two good options:
- (Normal Method) The key can be activated in another country, so the creator re-rolls a new winner. You lose out, but sometimes, life isn't fair. P
- (Khalaq's Method) The giveaway creator is generous and credits you with the money you need to purchase the game in your own country (Steam Wallet or otherwise).
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All's well that ends well. The giveaway creator resolved the situation by gifting me another item. I'm satisfied with this solution and unchecked the "not received" option so that he can request a new winner.
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I received the key, but the game appears to be region locked (it wasn't listed as such in the giveaway page). I'm getting the error: "Sorry, but the following items are not available for purchase in this country. Your purchase has been cancelled."
Original post: I see a table with the columns Giveaway|Key|Received|Not Received ...I would expect to see the activation key under, well, Key. But all I see is a "-" (minus sign). Do I need to do anything to make it appear?
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