The game streaming and marketplace platform, Steam, has finally had an official native release in China, in a big week for the country’s gaming market.
Steam Officially Arrives in China
Chinese gamers have had access to the international version of Steam for some time, now. However, what has been lacking is a native Chinese model.
That has now changed, as Steam has officially launched the platform in the country. Rather than having to access Steam via its global client, Chinese gamers now have their own version.
This will be well-received news. Yes, China may have had access to the international Steam client, but this could have been subject to a ban at any given moment, thanks to stringent censorship laws in China. As a result, Steam was in a precarious position.
Why Has China Only Just Got Steam?
Valve has been promising Chinese gamers their own version of Steam for several years now. It has taken three years to come to fruition, finally. So, what took it so long?
Well, as you may or may not be aware, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is the governing body in China, rigorously vets all international media and any foreign data that enters the country.
This doesn’t just mean current affairs or politics. It extends to everything, from movies, to books, and video games.
It is for this reason that it took Steam so long to arrive in China. Games need to receive approval from the Chinese government before developers can release them in China. This includes games on Steam.
What Games Does China’s Steam Feature?
As mentioned, the Chinese version of the popular platform has a limited range of games because of the censorship you just read about.
As it stands, the marketplace currently has about 50 titles listed, marking 10 of those as “coming soon”, presumably while the government vets them.
Currently, Chinese Steam users can enjoy popular titles such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. This is consistently Steam’s most popular title, as confirmed when Steam broke its own concurrent user record on February 8th, 2021.
Great News for China’s Gaming Community
Steam’s arrival in China will undoubtedly be music to the ears of Chinese gamers. Now, China has a stable platform upon which to play its favorite Steam titles, without the threat of censorship taking away its enjoyment.
Steam offers all of its users a great way to play games, as well as a safe environment to buy games. It is excellent that the Chinese government has allowed Valve to launch its platform into the country.