Vietnam bans Valve's monopolistic game platform Steam
Vietnam bans Valve's monopolistic game platform Steam
Steam has been banned in Vietnam.As first reported by Game Developer and spotted by our sister site, GamesIndustry.biz,…
However, as reported in Vietnam.net, it's possible Steam has been taken down in Vietnam after local game developers complained about the scope and size of Steam's vast portfolio of games, claiming Vietnamese devs cannot compete with Steam's releases given they are subject to government approval and thousands of international games on Steam are not.
Citing it as "an injustice to domestic publishers", Vietnamese studios reportedly say that local game development "will die" if Steam is able to keep releasing games without the same government scrutiny as domestic games.
Based Vietnam protecting its domestic games industry from American capitalists. :)
TLDR: the online game monopolies of Vietnam complains that they can't extort the market share our Lord and Savior Gabe Newell rightfully earned," said one unhappy Steam user.
Steam users are so fucking insufferable. They hate all capitalist game companies except this one which they will eagerly lick the boot of.
Maybe I'm just ignorant to Steam's potentially anti-competitive business practices(?), but to me it just seems like there's a lack of credible competition. I don't know the situation in Vietnam specifically, but Steam's arguably main competitor Epic Games Store still has to use every tactic at its disposal to try and win even a tiny slice of market share. Like exclusivity contracts (which are definitely anti-competitive and anti-consumer), and literally handing out games for free. Yet, people still choose to use Steam instead. Not arguing that Steam treats developers great or anything, but I don't really think they go out of their way to shut competing platforms out of the market. Would love to be corrected on this if I'm way off base, though.
This article makes it seem like more of a protectionist move than an anti-monopoly move, which I'm in favor of when China does it so why wouldn't I support Vietnam doing it
It sucks for Vietnamese gamers who will now be forced to use a VPN and change their computer's locale to play foreign titles, but if in ten or twenty years there's Vietnamese game devs who wouldn't have been able to exist otherwise it'll be worth it.
That's true, I kinda missed that part in the article. I agree that if it's simply a matter of forcing Steam to comply with Vietnam's regulations just like its competitors, then there's nothing wrong with that. Perhaps that is why there's been no official statement on either side, and hopefully they're in the process of working it out.
Hopefully this will help prevent the good people of Vietnam from catching the gamer mind virus.
A common reason cited by g*mers for only using Steam is that they "want to have all their games in one place". They will literally never switch to anything else, no matter how good it is, if the majority of their "owned" games can only be accessed through Steam.
A common reason cited by g*mers for only using Steam is that they "want to have all their games in one place".
I really don't think that sentiment is all that common. People like to use Steam because it's a good service, and always innovating new ways to be a good service. There's no reason for family sharing to exist, or for it to have recently been overhauled in such a way that it's even smoother and more pleasant to use. They just did it because it makes a better consumer experience. There's no reason for Proton to exist, or for Valve to push into linux gaming at all. Linux was such an insignificant, tiny market. But Valve is making it a significant market single-handedly and that's fucking awesome.
Of course Valve, just like any other company in a capitalist society, only wants money. But Valve, unlike most companies in a capitalist society, is guided by the principle that people will fork over their money if the service is good. And they're goddamn right.
If Epic made a good service, or if Ubisoft made a good service, or if EA made a good service, or if Rockstar made a good service, or if Blizzard made a good service, or if anyone else made a good service, they'd have no problems getting people to use their service and Steam. The problem is that any time somebody other than Valve makes a game store, the only selling point for it is "you can't play this game if you don't download our store." Nobody ever tries actually making something good.
That's just a service issue, though. Steam can import CD keys from games that were bought outside of their ecosystem, I don't know why a competing service couldn't do the same with purchased Steam games (other than contracts with publishers etc.). I've at some point used most of the game stores that exist and I'll be honest they all kinda suck. They don't even give me the impression that they're trying to be serious competition.
These companies don't want to just sell games to you. They want you to interact with their apps and live in their ecosystem and I have zero interest to learn to use a shittier Steam where I have no games
If they just sold you no-frills installers like GOG does (with an optional Steam-like ecosystem I never use) I wouldn't mind, but of course they don't want to do that
I've also heard people defending steam because Proton works well
I argue that is the case as well. Personally, I've been so dissatisfied with every alternative I have no desire to use a different service.
Steam also appears to be the only service that tends to do right by the customer so there is no push to seek an alternative.
Every indie game developer wishes gamers would use itch.io instead.
The only times I've ever seen
itch.iocome up is when it's being spammed on platforms like Discord to spread malware. I tend to avoid it personally, as that does not really inspire confidence.
Mixed feelings bc this is going to cut people off from playing a lot of games with folks in other parts of the world, which to me is one of the main draws of online gaming. But fuck steam 100%.
Steam users are so fucking insufferable. They hate all capitalist game companies except this one which they will eagerly lick the boot of.
I don't like steam but
the correct number of steam-like things is 0 or 1 and we already have steam.It sounds like Steam just needs to subject itself to the same regulatory oversight as domestic developers are bound by. Which seems fair to me.
This story seems to be a bit exaggerated - a Vietnamese game developer I spoke to reported that people still have access to Steam and that the source for this story isn't super well substantiated.
What I've seen says they can still use the library they have bought but can't use the store etc.
I did only hear from one guy when I asked about this, so I'm not sure what the full extent of the situation is, but aforementioned singular Vietnamese developer called the provided explanation a "very wild theory" and that the quote seemed to just be speculation from a random guy, "...and as of today, people can access Steam normally."
expect the Gamer Color Revolution soon
STEAM IS BAD AND THIS IS DUMB
IF STEAM JUST NEEDS TO SUBJECT ITSELF TO REGULATION THEN THIS IS IN FACT BASED.
And with the stroke of a pen, SEA became unable to ever win The International
i fully agree with the banning of steam and the destruction of Valve as an entity, but i think it's worth noting that the limitation placed on domestic devs in this case is imposed by Vietnam. Like, I'm sure the leninists here could very eloquently explain it to me using words like "objectively" and "defense of the revolution" but I don't think it's actually necessary to require government approval for the publication of video games.
Death to Steam, long live GoG!
GoG stays winning don't even need to log in to play my games.
A friend of mine gave me their GOG copy of Baldur’s Gate the other day on a thumb drive and it just works. There was nothing else to it. They are the best store front by far.
Not really the same, but apparently Netflix got busted distributing games.
https://english.thesaigontimes.vn/netflix-told-to-cease-distributing-unauthorized-games-in-vietnam/
"Unauthorized games"
Steams realeses? Of what counter strike and DOTA?
You can develop games just fine. You can sell your games on Steam. Steam is a storefront more than a competing developer. I don't get what the fear is?
Vietnamese devs cannot compete with Steam's releases given they are subject to government approval and thousands of international games on Steam are not.
So games released on Steam are not subject to government censorship and control. It isn't Steam so much as they fear the offerings through steam aren't in their control. Isn't this what the US is doing to TikTok?
**Machine translation of the article.**
Steam is releasing games freely into Vietnam, including violent games, adult games... but without having to ask for permission. This is an injustice to domestic publishers. This requires authorities to take management measures with this cross-border platform, otherwise, domestic game publishers will die," a representative of a game publisher shared.
According to PV VietNamNet's research, Steam is Valve's video game distribution service launched in 2003 as a software application, automatically providing games and expanded to distribute game titles. of third parties from the end of 2005 to present.
Steam offers a variety of features such as technical management, game server connection with Valve Anti-Cheat anti-hacking solution, social networks and Streaming services. Besides, Steam's application also automatically updates games, cloud storage, community features...
Steam is released globally, currently has more than 100,000 games distributed (including paid and free) as well as updating 6,000 - 8,000 games each year. This platform supports up to 24 languages and is easily accessible to all users around the world. According to VGC, 2023 has seen a series of games distributed on Steam, with 14,535 new games, an increase of nearly 2,000 games compared to 2022.
To use Steam is very simple, just download and install Steam Client, then register an account and proceed to buy games or play free games provided by this platform. Steam also has a built-in electronic wallet (Steam wallet) so players can recharge and pay for user needs (buy games, buy items on the market, items...).
As noted, a lot of shooting games are being released on Steam, which still leave the effect (red blood) intact. In Vietnam, games of the same genre must be edited, due to their violent nature, which affects the psychology of players. In addition, on this platform there are also games with adult content with revealing images, sexual intercourse...
In 2021, the Steam Global version was officially "banned" in the Chinese market, replaced by a Steam version specifically for China. The game library on this platform has just over 100 titles, most of which are Chinese games. Players can find some famous games like Dota 2, CSGO... but will not be able to find games rated 18+ which are very popular on Steam.
In addition to lacking about 110,000 game titles compared to the Global version, Steam China is also not allowed to have any community features, does not support Workshop, does not allow selling trading cards on the Community Market, and does not have a forum to Gamers communicate and support each other,...
New games that want to appear on this platform will also be strictly censored. Specifically, games released in China are not allowed to have blood, are not allowed to show images of "skulls and bones" and images that can hurt gamers.
According to sources from the management agency, with no contact point in Vietnam, the authorities are looking for solutions to prevent illegal cross-border services from being provided to Vietnamese users in the future. next time.
a lot of shooting games are being released on Steam, which still leave the effect (red blood) intact. In Vietnam, games of the same genre must be edited, due to their violent nature, which affects the psychology of players. In addition, on this platform there are also games with adult content with revealing images, sexual intercourse...
I didn't know Vietnam was so church lady prudish.