Did China Block Steam? What We Know
In late December 2021, alarm spread through the gaming community: China appeared to have blocked the global version of Steam. Reports confirmed that domains like store.steampowered.com were inaccessible in mainland China, while Steam China—the localized, government-approved version—remained available(The Verge, GINX TV, Wikipedia).
Unlike its global counterpart with over 110,000 titles, Steam China offers only a limited library—roughly 98 to 103 approved games—and lacks essential features like the Workshop, Community Market, forums, and social activity feeds(GINX TV, Bounding Into Comics, Reddit, Wikipedia). What began as perhaps a technical glitch or targeted DNS interference has since morphed into broader speculation of a soft ban—a controlled restriction rather than a total shutdown(The Gamer, Game World Observer, CyberPost).
Yet, the situation remains murky. Some reports indicate that the global Steam store is still reachable at times, suggesting inconsistent blocks or ongoing throttling by China’s Great Firewall(CyberPost, Game World Observer, Wikipedia). In effect, many players view the global store as operating in a legal gray area—accessible through intermittent means but under constant threat(CyberPost, The Gamer).
For Chinese gamers, the future is uncertain. Will Valve and Perfect World’s Steam China expand its offerings? Or will the global version ultimately be driven out entirely by regulation? Only time will tell.
