14 DAY TRIAL // Steam is launching in China, but it’s going to be under a different name and abide by the rules, which are pretty restrictive when it comes to western companies and content.
Any company would be glad to breach the China market, but the overall experience of companies that actually make it is not great. The reason is apparent, and it has to do with the fact that the Chinese government is cautious in who they let in.
There’s another side of the coin, and that’s the problems faced by western companies back at home. For example, Google wanted to launch a modified search engine in China that would give the government control over what’s made available to its users. The community reacted, along with Google’s employees. The company was forced to back off.
Steam, but not quite
According to a report from Technode, the new company is going to be called Zhengqi Pingtai, which is a rough translation for the Steam Platform. It also works as a buffer for the ire of the players that won’t be happy to know Valve is conforming to the rules set by the Chinese government.
A Chinese dedicated Steam platform will make sure that all the games are scrutinized before publishing, which in turn will avoid any restrictions. It’s not the ideal situation, but it’s just might be the only way.
The new service is provided with the help of a Chinese company called Perfect World, and up to 40 games are going to be available when Zhengqi Pingtai launches, with titles such as Dota Underlords and Dota 2. There are no games in that collection that’s only aimed at the Chinese market, at least for now.
The most exciting part is that Zhengqi Pingtai aims to operate almost independently of Steam, but how that’s going to be achieved remains to be seen. It’s also unclear whether cross-play is going to be allowed, and there’s no indication of the launch date.