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Steam Community Features Apparently Banned In China
Steam's community features, like forums, guides, chats, badges, groups, etc., have apparently gone dark in China, according to Steam community news site ValveTime.
The store has been left open, but everything else has seemingly been removed from public access in China. Some users on reddit are reporting that the chat and friend list features still work for them, but it is unknown if that is only temporary.
It is unclear why China has decided to ban Steam community features all of a sudden, but it is not particularly unexpected, either. China recently reportedly banned all South Korean-made games as a political statement and tends to exert control over foreign services such as Steam.
[Source: ValveTime]
Our Take
While the store is at least open, the community features have been pretty useful, and it is a shame if anyone is blocked out of using them. I doubt Valve is happy about this, but I am not sure there is anything they can do in this situation.
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