Isn't part of the reason for region-locking because people in western ("more well off" countries circumventing their own regional pricing in order to get the cheaper version in another country, that was specifically cheaper to match the currency valuation for the people that live there?
Seems to me that region locking is a result of two things:
- loss of revenue from users that circumvent their own regional pricing to benefit from other countries lower prices - cutting into the profits of said company.
- wanting to prevent such circumvention, but also keep the increased sales and user base from the countries that can only afford to buy their games at a cheaper price that is more suitable to the state of that country's currency.
The reason why region-locking is a bigger thing in digital products is because circumvention of local prices is so much more prevalent and ridiculously easy to do. Due to this, it's a net lose for everyone with region locking; harder to get reduced pricing if you are in a higher priced country, and a locked game or ridiculously priced or no release of a game if you happen to be in a lower valued currency territory.
Basically, you can't expect gaming to be region free when you undermine the ability for them to sell to other countries. Either they sell to other countries and some how no one is compelled to circumvent pricing, or they region-lock everything, or they don't sell games to those poorer economies.
