trusteft: Guys, do Steam Gifts of games work over different regions?
As others have said, it's complicated. But...
1 - If the game is available in both regions, gifting should be possible.
2 - If different versions of a game are available in both regions, the recipient should get the version of the game available in the country of the purchaser (i.e. a person in Germany being gifted a game by someone in the US should get the US version and not the cut German version.)
3 - If the game is available in the purchaser's region but not yet released in the recipient's region (and will be released), the person receiving the gift will not be able to use it until after the game is released in their region -- the game will simply show as "not yet released" or "preload complete" depending on the specific circumstances for the game.
4 - If the game is available in the purchaser's region but not released in the recipient's region (and won't be released) and is not yet available in all regions in which it is being released, the person receiving the gift will not be able to use it until after the game has been released in all applicable regions. (I.e., When Dragon Age: Origins was released in the US, but not yet in the UK, people in Japan could not use gifted versions from the US. Once released in the UK -- the last region to see the game unlocked -- people in Japan could unlock their US gift versions. The game is not sold over Steam in Japan.)
5 - If the game uses Steam Works and is not released in the recipient's country, and the publisher is using Steam Work's IP blocking feature to prevent installation and/or activation in the recipient's region, they will not be able to use the game until after they have activated it using a non-blocked IP address. (I.e., the only way to install and activate Modern Warfare 2 in Japan is to do so using a VPN with a non-Japanese IP address -- once activated, the game can be played with a Japanese IP address).
6 - If games are being gifted from any of the following regions, Russia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and other regions where prices are exceptionally low, there is a good chance that the game is totally region locked (i.e., it will only be playable in those regions). In such cases, always confirm (as best you can) with support as while this limit certainly applies to retail copies (that require Steam activation), it may also apply to gifts made directly through Steam.
And that, as far as I can remember, is the current state of gifting over Steam.
