Player in China are saying they are inaccessible Steam and all community pages of the platform. In February, the Chinese version of Steam launched with a much smaller game list than the international store. This site is still active, but Steam Globalwhich offers more titles, was blacklisted in China just in time for Christmas Day.
The above move, although surprising, is consistent with the Chinese government’s action policy on video games over the past 12 months. Fortnite has been shut down in China since November 15. Children are limited to three hours of gaming time a week, and cryptocurrency has also been prohibited in a country of 1.4 billion people. To be allowed to develop, new games need to be free of certain anti-Chinese elements, including the presence of “sissy men”. Two months after the restriction was imposed, not a single new game has been approved.
Dota 2 and CS: GO, two of the most popular games in China, are currently available on the Chinese version of Steam and are not too affected by the above restrictions. However, many other games, especially those from smaller developers, rely on the Chinese market’s huge customer base to stay afloat. For example, Monster Hunter World, a quite hot game, receives more reviews in Chinese than English on Steam Global.
Steam being blacklisted means that the online game distribution platform is not only temporarily shut down, but also intentionally banned. Many users have confirmed this incident on Twitter, ResetEra and Reddit.
