The winner didn't reject the gift though - the Steam gift can't get through to the winner (because of the region price difference but I had no idea in the latter scenario due to not knowing that the winner had used a VPN to skirt my region restrictions).
Wouldn't that still be on me to deliver the gift?
Edit: just to clarify - "the Steam gift can't get through to the winner" = "I can't send the winner the gift because Steam blocks the gift"
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Let's say you use a "VPN" to illegally play a game that has expressions that are prohibited in a certain country.
It will violate Steam's terms.
It will also violate the law of a certain country.
It means that there is no possibility of good results for both parties when the word VPN comes out.
Region Restrictions on Steam - Managing Your Library - Knowledge Base - Steam Support
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=1266-QFZC-2141
Can I use a proxy, VPN or disguise my location to redeem a region restricted Steam Gift?
No, using a proxy or VPN to disguise your location is strictly against the Steam Terms of Service and may result in restrictions on your Steam account. If you attempt to redeem a region restricted game and your location is inconsistent with your past Steam activity, a warning will appear as shown below:
Ask the winner to provide a screenshot of the message display when the area is limited.
The same game will then be given to the winner as a free gift.
If inconvenient, agree to accidentally remove the GA.
If you do not agree, please confirm "Did not receive".
(In rare cases, there are malicious people who transfer the winning prize to a third party, so it is necessary to keep a record on the support ticket.)
In any case, I think it's a good idea to talk to support.
(Recommend sending a Message & screenshot from the winner.)
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I'm a bit vague about this but I assume Steam specifically mentions what's causing a gift to not go through - i.e. region restriction. So this means that SG support will accept a screenshot of that Steam notice as valid reason to force a reroll regardless of what the winner says?
Edit: Ryzhehvost answered this part perfectly. Please ignore my follow-up question.
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Not sure if it's easy enough to claim that you're from a country you're not on Steam
Yes, you can put whatever you want in profile, it's not connected to real region in any way.
if the winner didn't admit to using a VPN to enter my region restricted GA and I had no idea the winner actually did that, but when I tried to send the Steam gift, it fails, and that the winner refused my request for a reroll, will I be able to forcefully request for a reroll or will I have to take a "Not Received" hit just because the winner circumvented my GA's region restrictions and I had no idea it happened?
Well, faq says:
If you setup the giveaway with the appropriate region restrictions, and the winner was outside of those regions due to inaccurate information they provided, then you can request a new winner for the giveaway
So I guess you can request a "forced" reroll. You will probably need a screenshot showing that sending of gift failed, but that's it.
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i'm shocked sg support didn't ban that account for using a vpn to bypass region restrictions... nah, not really (same happened to me with a user that entered like 4 different regions in 2 years, and the guy is still leeching nonstop). 😂😂😂
i don't know what would happen if the winner denies they used a vpn, but the easiest solution would be to take a not received and move on. blacklist that user, and if you feel like it, make another giveaway.
things are more complicated with keys because you won't know if the winner used the key you sent, but that's another issue that needs to be discussed with support.
anyway, don't worry about calling out. as far as i know there's no more rule that prevents it. 🤷
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Yeah, it's likely hard to prove that someone used VPN unless they admitted to it outright or when a Steam gift fails to go through and the reason is the region price difference. I guess support is worried they might ban the wrong people and cause an uproar :P
And yes, I'm very thankful that it wasn't a key or it would have gone to waste. When the winner started to insist I send him/her the key to try, a big red alarm just went off in my head.
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I'll try to keep the story as vague as possible to prevent accidentally calling out the person involved.
Okay so here's the scenario... I created a region-restricted GA and the GA ended without a hitch. Since the gift is a Steam gift, I had to add the winner as a friend on Steam before sending him/her the game. That's when I noticed something odd.
As evident on the Steam profile of the winner, specifically the country, I've noticed that the person isn't from any of the countries I've allowed to enter the GA. I also double checked my GA just in case I messed up the region restrictions - I didn't. Not sure if it's easy enough to claim that you're from a country you're not on Steam, but I had to double check.
The winner accepted my friend invite and I asked the person whether or not they are from the country that their Steam profile said they were. The winner admitted to being from the country as stated on their Steam profile.
After a few "to and fro" where the winner kept asking me to "just send him/her the Steam key to try (and see if it activates)" to which I reply, "it's a Steam gift, so I can't do that", I proceeded to ask him/her how they manage to enter my region-restricted GA. The person then admitted to using a VPN.
Thankfully, the winner finally agreed to a reroll and I was able to get a new winner who's actually from my region.
Now, the game in the GA isn't a triple A game and I had absolutely no idea why someone would go the lengths that they did to enter it, but it left me wondering - if the winner didn't admit to using a VPN to enter my region restricted GA and I had no idea the winner actually did that, but when I tried to send the Steam gift, it fails, and that the winner refused my request for a reroll, will I be able to forcefully request for a reroll or will I have to take a "Not Received" hit just because the winner circumvented my GA's region restrictions and I had no idea it happened?
This question has been bugging me for months now and I thought it might be good to ask for some clarification. It might also shed a light on the extent some people would go to just to win GAs.
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