Steam SELLING OUT to CENSORSHIP in CHINA!!!

Steam China will be called “Zhengqi Pingtai”, which is translated to “Steam Platform”. The platform will be entirely independent of Steam and will be Shanghai-based. It will be “tailored for Chinese users” and have “high-speed servers and high-quality operations teams”. The platform will have close to 40 games released in its first batch of titles. Titles include Dota 2 and Dota Underlords. The 40 games are available on regular Steam. No prize for guessing why Steam China exists; the Chinese government and regulators need a platform specifically for a country that they can keep tabs on.
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#steam
#steamchina

[cerichson]

This is good for the people of China. Steam will bring new games to the people of China. Of course, they will need to conform to the local laws of the country. Being censored isn't the fault of Valve but the people within the country.

[Hammrdookie]

The frightening thing is it's not limited to China other countries or cultures are doing this as well, just with different methods. Some are doing it to gaming and others are doing it to speech. Just look at what has happened on college campus's in regards to speakers of a different opinion. Look at how some celebrities have to hold their opinion to avoid having their career ended. This is truly the beginning of 1984 if people as a whole are not careful.

[Hyde-Jahf]

Might get flamed for this one, but hey, ok. We currently have a game that reads our webcams full time (obviously when enabled, except when there's a bug that enables it) ... and that info goes to ... Amazon.

FOIP is very cool. But I can see why it freaked people out recently. Sometimes we miss the surveillance opportunity under our noses.

As far as the Chinese and being surprised they aren't going against their government, we had a family stay when we ran an AirBnB a couple of years ago. We did dinner together one night. The mother definitely knew people here might think this, but as far as she was concerned their cities were cleaner (I asked, not Beijing, and she admitted the air was bad but we were having those bad PNW fires so the air here was shit, too) and the government had always provided for her. Health Care came up. I was playing Switzerland because I hate table politics. But the moral is, people live with authoritarian governments if they're comfortable. Her kids were uncomfortable, but quiet about it like me. There's at least another generation before China revolts if it ever does in our lifetime was my takeaway.

[MeoithTheSecond]

Alot of the same guys who like to harp on about epic give steam a free pass on that matter.

[Killian.Hardegen]

What´s a company supposed to do? If the competitors go there, they need to go there as well to not get slammed. If they go there, they sell out values big time. If they don´t, they get bought or broke. So it´s perfectly right to give them shit for doing so, but also it won´t make any difference in their actions. I could buy a game directly from the publisher, but they too censor their games to get them released on the red market. It´s a pretty tricky situation. At least steam created a brand for this crap to not damage "Steam" as much.

[joseluispcr]

thi is not capitalism, this is comunism and capitalists bendig to it to survive. great video. deserve more subscribers

[ArcaneFuror]

I honestly see nothing wrong here, at least on steam's part

1. The vpn workaround isn't legal over there, so those who do it are doing it at a risk to themselves in some form of rashion.
2. Valve is a business, and of course they're going to want to expand their potential audience. They have to play ball with china, but they're starting to get legal access over there.
3. Its a separate version, everyone outside of china aren't going to notice a difference.

[DubSubStation]

Honestly just really tired of everything China

[juicebowl]

China has filial piety for their government. Culture in China is not individualistic, freedoms like expression are sacrificed for the greater good of the collectivist.

[juliencote]

I switched to China Steam storr years ago to benefit from the lower prices (I live there) and now I'm worried about what will happen with my games when I switch back to Canadian store or if I'll be able to. Also will I be able to transfer games from the future Steam China I may purchase on it eventually.

[LordTiberius]

What do you mean "the Chinese aren't revolting?"

[Sanguine_Entertainment]

Its odd that people are acting like this sort of thing is new. The alternative is to not give China steam at all (most likely). Some people have chosen this path -- like South Park for example -- But South Park is a product that loses most if not all of it's value when censored. Steam is not - retains some value even if censored or it loses some games.

Pokemon has been selling out for US censorship for a long time. As have several other Japanese companies and franchises. DBZ, etc. The ones that didn't -- we simply didn't get at all in the US - at least not before internet use was wide-spread and gamers and anime fans grew to adulthood anyways.

When a market is valuable, and seeks to censor content (like the US or China) - then concessions will be made. I wouldn't expect anything else.

Besides - the actual net effect of this could be less Chinese hackers aimhacking and screaming "China Numba 1" in steam games lol. Or if they do, we don't have to settle for just reporting them in game for the devs to do nothing -- we can report them directly to the Chinese government. (Lol, jk obviously).

[ItsShane]

You say: "I don't understand how chinese people can stand their government" I say: I don't understand how Iranian women can stand their Ayatolla government.