Additional taxes on digital services, including Steam, have just been rolled out in the Philippines, but not all game prices have gone up yet.
Steam has officially begun charging 12% Value Added Tax (VAT) on games and other digital products in the Philippines this June, a change that local gamers had been anticipating since it was first spotted on Steam’s Tax FAQ under the “To Be Collected in the Future” column.
The rollout follows Republic Act No. 12023, signed into law in October 2024, which mandates a 12% VAT on all digital services consumed within the country, even if provided by non-Filipino companies.
This legislation doesn’t just affect Steam. Other global platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, Google, and Meta are also covered by the law, marking a wider effort to regulate and tax the digital economy.
With implementation starting on 1 June, many players expected a flat 12% increase across Steam’s pricing in the region. But what users actually observed turned out to be a bit more complicated.
Steam shows VAT-inclusive pricing, but overall prices haven't surged
Despite the change in policy, some players reported that prices on Steam haven’t noticeably increased. On Reddit, user SeptoneSirius highlighted the shift, sharing, “I just want to update everyone that whenever you purchase a game from Steam now, a message will indicate that VAT is already included in the price.” In the same thread, they posted a screenshot of Stellar Blade’s price history on SteamDB, showing no increase between the game’s pre-order period and its release, which happened to land on the very first day the VAT took effect.
GosuGamers also took a look at pricing trends on newly released games on SteamDB before and after the VAT rollout. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which released on 23 April, saw its price jump from ₱1,620 to ₱1,800 in May, which was roughly a 10% increase, with no further price increases noted in June.
On the other hand, Doom: The Dark Ages, which launched on 15 May, did not show any price change. Neither did Monster Hunter: Wilds, which has remained at ₱3,490 since its listing on 28 February.
The results suggest that while some publishers have adjusted their pricing slightly, others may be absorbing the 12% VAT instead of passing it directly onto consumers.
Some devs are adjusting, while others are holding back
While prices have remained stable for many titles, not all publishers are taking the same approach. Redditor DOneAboveAll pointed to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as an example of a game that had already raised its price in anticipation of the added tax.
Meanwhile, local game developer jomarcenter-mjm, who has a title currently listed on Steam, offered insight from the development side. “While my games were unaffected, that doesn't mean I can’t raise my game's price from the current 300 pesos to 336 pesos (12% increase),” he wrote. “If I wanted to, that would also be a developer/publisher/studio decision to raise prices.”
He added that Steam itself may play a role in how regional pricing is set: “Steam does also suggest prices for games when you set a price on the dev side, so if a small dev sets $9.99, Steam will create a suggestion list of prices in other regions. This algorithm might also have VAT in their calculation at that point.”
With most titles still sitting at pre-VAT price points, the true effects of the policy may yet be on the horizon. For now, the impact of the new tax appears to depend largely on individual publisher decisions, but that could change as developers reassess pricing models in the coming months.
