Video game platform Steam has been blocked by the government in Vietnam, Le Quang Tu Do, Director of the Authority of Broadcasting,Television and Electronic Information has confirmed. This was because the ‘developer failed to cooperate with authorities’, he told VN Express.
For context, there has been some speculation over the last few weeks that Steam in Vietnam may have been blocked at the request of local game developers to protect the local industry. Whereas these comments from Le do not necessarily rule that out, he does claim that attempts were made to contact the company but received no response–ergo, this might just be a shot across the bow to get Steam’s attention.
That said, for Steam to be compliant with Vietnam’s video game regulations it will take a lot of work. For one it needs a local office and a local representative, not to mention reviews and licensing of many of its games of which it claims over 100,000. There are a lot of games that are set in the Vietnam War too, which could also be problematic. Needless to say, Steam has its work cut out for it getting back online in Vietnam.
See also: Video Games in Vietnam: Cheat Sheet 2024