Is Steam Facing a Ban in India? More ISPs Continue to Block Its Services

On 20th June, several internet users from India reported that the Steam Community and Steam Community Market pages were inaccessible. Twitter user Indian Shrekt was one of the first to highlight the issue. The ban was previously thought to be restricted to West Bengal’s Alliance Broadband Pvt. Ltd. who claimed that the Steam pages were banned due to a government order. But more ISPs have started blocking the page and we may be looking at a nationwide ban of Valve’s services in India soon.

ISPs across India are shutting down access to Steam

Government-based telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) recently shut down access to Steam in its entirety while other ISPs have restricted access to the Community and Community Market pages. Here is a list of service providers that have blocked the service according to reports from social media: 

• Channel 3 Cable Internet (Maharashtra) 

• GTPL (Gujarat) 

• Alliance (West Bengal) - Currently Unblocked

• BSNL (Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh) 

• TATA Fiber (Maharashtra) 

Some of these ISPs are providing sporadic service while others have completely banned Steam services. There may be more service providers whose users have not widely reported the issue online.

ISPs have been unable to offer a clear reason for the restricted access according to games journalist and writer Rishi Alwani. If the reports from ISPs about a government are true, there is no public information about it. 

On 14th June, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar revealed to the Indian news media that multiple games will be banned. The government has already prepared a blueprint of rules that will target the following types of games: 

• Games that involve betting 

• Games that can be harmful to users

• Games that have an addiction factor

It is possible that Steam is being targeted as part of the government’s plans to crack down on these types of games. With no official word from the government so far, Steam users across India are left frustrated as many are unable to access Steam’s Community features. If the platform is banned altogether, many will stand to lose access to their games, wallet balance and in-game items officially.