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Steam has been blocked in Vietnam

Draugoth

Draugoth

Gold Member
Vietnamese gamers may have been restricted access to Steam. This is reported by the SteamDB service, which drew attention to mass complaints from users from Vietnam.

Screenshot of Reddit post on r/Steam (Image via esports.gg)

Screenshot of Reddit post on r/Steam (Image via esports.gg)​

According to various posts online, Steam appears to have been banned in Vietnam as of May 7. Vietnamese users on Steam forums, Reddit, and other social media platforms state that their internet service provider (ISPs) are completely blocking access to the platform.

There is currently no official explanation from ISPs or the government for Steam's ban. However, people believe this may due to a large amount of the platform's content not adhering to local regulations.
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cormack12

cormack12

Gold Member
76a6db74-9cf4-4cf7-9bb8-07008730fe0a_text.gif
 
ReyBrujo

ReyBrujo

Member
alphachino said:
this is what ya see when trying to access store page in Vietnam...

changing DNS brings it back:
Click to expand...

So that doesn't seem like Vietnam blocked it but a DNS hiccups (unless every DNS in the country blocked it somehow). A country banning an IP means ISP won't deliver the pages, not even after fiddling with DNS.
 
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Midn1ght

Midn1ght

Member
Joramun said:
I think Facebook is as well.
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It's not. It used to be in the early days but the block was easily bypassed by changing your ip address. It has been accessible for many years now.

The reason is probably because Valve doesn't have a local office over there which breaks local regulation on top of you know... paying zero taxes. I lived 11 years in HCMC and used Steam for most of my gaming time there so I feel for gamers in Viet Nam (Though I have no doubt they'll find some easy way to bypass the block).

But hey, at some point if you're selling stuff in a country, you better follow the rules and pay some fucking taxes.

Killjoy-NL said:
Nvm, boycott Vietnam.
Click to expand...
finger-myth.gif
 
Krathoon

Krathoon

Member
Wow. Way to control your people, Vietnam. Don't let them have any form of escapism.

It is all about control.
 
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Spukc

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
Frustrated Clint Eastwood GIF


In Nam we used to stack fucks like you and use em like sandbags
 
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A

alphachino

Member
ReyBrujo said:
So that doesn't seem like Vietnam blocked it but a DNS hiccups (unless every DNS in the country blocked it somehow). A country banning an IP means ISP won't deliver the pages, not even after fiddling with DNS.
Click to expand...
I read that when Facebook got banned for a few weeks in 2016, it was only on the local DNS level and a DNS changed would bypass it... so their bans are not really seriously enforced it seems. My wife is Vietnamese, it's definitely an official block at the government level.
 
Thick Thighs Save Lives

Thick Thighs Save Lives

Gold Member
StereoVsn said:
Well, that sucks. Hopefully changing DNS to non Vietnamese providers helps. Of course if Vietnam goes full on Great Firewall that won’t last 😔.
Click to expand...
Yeah, apparently manually changing the DNS seems to be working for now.



There's more stuff surrounding this tbh that's not mentioned in the OP, but I'm too lazy to dig deeper so I'll just link this reddit comment instead. :messenger_grinning_sweat:


StereoVsn said:
I am going to buy and negatively review Helldivers 2 just for this!
Click to expand...
4A22B0B605B058C489C8F3B5685B2E49856AAADE
 
MrRibeye

MrRibeye

Member
Calm down, it won't take long for Valve to negotiate with Vietnam to bring it back. They're acting fast in such cases.
 
A

alphachino

Member
Sentenza said:
So, why is this happening exactly?
New weird internet law or something?
Click to expand...
Valve aren't paying the VAT and haven't registered in the country to operate and don't have a local office which is required to do business there. I don't see this issue getting resolved there any time soon, as although Vietnam represents over 1.5% of their customer base in terms of raw population numbers, the region only brings in about .3% of overall revenues. Apparently.
 
Scotty W

Scotty W

Member
Sentenza said:
So, why is this happening exactly?
New weird internet law or something?
Click to expand...
Vietnam is communist, but Vietnam is also Vietnam.

They didn’t really plan much when they first got the internet. Then they had 60 million people on Facebook before deciding they needed to pay attention.

Things just kind of happen in Vietnam. Everything is weird new laws.
 
ArtHands

ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
Sentenza said:
So, why is this happening exactly?
New weird internet law or something?
Click to expand...


Steam is too popular.
SkepticalYouth
OP•1d ago



https://vietnamnet.vn/nen-tang-steam-phat-hanh-game-khong-phep-vao-viet-nam-2271136.html
Steam is already on shaky legal ground in Vietnam, due to the company not having a local office here. Which means lost tax revenue and no content policing in accordance with local regulation. To make things worse, the platform is getting popular, causing domestic publishers anxiety. I've already figured that one day, the platform would be blocked in Vietnam. I just didn't think that it would happen this quickly, and suddenly.
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Topher

Topher

Gold Member
Sentenza said:
So, why is this happening exactly?
New weird internet law or something?
Click to expand...

Article in Eurogamer says local Vietnamese developers cannot compete with other devs worldwide that do not have to subject their games to government scrutiny. lol

Steam has been banned in Vietnam.

As first reported by Game Developer and spotted by our sister site, GamesIndustry.biz, it's unclear exactly why the PC platform has been banned, but GI.biz proposes it may be due to "Valve's business operations".

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.

At the time of writing, there's been no formal word from Vietnamese authorities or Steam about the "ban", but according to players, all Vietnamese internet providers have "decisively blocked access" to both the Steam launcher and Steam's website, and unhappy players have taken to the Steam Forum to share their dismay.

"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.

"So they wanted to brand him and Steam as illegal platforms. Now they have just gone ahead and blocked the platform in Vietnam, forcing users to tinker a bit with their DNS to bypass."
Click to expand...

www.eurogamer.net

Steam is now banned in Vietnam

Steam has been banned in Vietnam.As first reported by Game Developer and spotted by our sister site, GamesIndustry.biz,…
www.eurogamer.net www.eurogamer.net
 
Slothbeing1209

Slothbeing1209

Member
newtypepilot said:
local vietnam devs? like who?
Click to expand...
Local publisher, not dev, they can't dev anything. Vtc game. If you scroll through their website, they even brags that Steam is their partner lmao.
iftFtKi.jpeg


Everyone is bombing their Facebook fan page. They have to closed the comment section and delete hundreds hate comments.
 
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StereoVsn

StereoVsn

Member
Topher said:
Article in Eurogamer says local Vietnamese developers cannot compete with other devs worldwide that do not have to subject their games to government scrutiny. lol



www.eurogamer.net

Steam is now banned in Vietnam

Steam has been banned in Vietnam.As first reported by Game Developer and spotted by our sister site, GamesIndustry.biz,…
www.eurogamer.net www.eurogamer.net
Click to expand...
Yeah, it’s total BS. One would think Devs would see opportunity to address global market vs just Vietnam instead.

IMO, Communist Party wants to have more control like usual.
 
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