Is Steam getting banned in India? Community speculations arise as Steam Community and Market become unavailable for some

Steam might get banned in India as users in the eastern state of West Bengal found the Steam Community and Community Market blocked since last night. It is worth noting that the ban has only been implemented by a couple of ISPs in the state, with many Alliance Broadband users reporting the unavailability of Steam features. However, many have countered that Alliance ended up implementing the block earlier than others as part of the new gaming laws enacted in the country.

As CD drives became outdated, Steam became the major video games distributor. Interestingly, it is the largest distributor in India because it is the only client that partnered with local authorities to accept Indian debit and credit cards and introduce localized pricing.

It is worth noting that India won't be the first country to block Steam — previously, Indonesia implemented a full ban on all features of the desktop client. However, it has been reinstated in the country following Valve's registration with the government.

The block will significantly shake up the PC gaming community in the developing nation. Over the last few years, the number of gamers has increased significantly, thanks to the availability of cheap internet and localized pricing of PC components.

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Huge unrest in the Indian PC gaming community after some ISPs started implementing the ban on Steam Community

The PC gaming community in India significantly shook up after Steam Community and Community Markets were blocked in the country. It is worth noting that Alliance Broadband is one of the major internet service providers in West Bengal. Gamers using other providers like Hathway, Jio, and Airtel Fiber have reported that the features are still working.

As shared by Twitter user @indianshrekt, users on Alliance are getting an error page from the ISP upon trying to access the Steam Community and Community Market features. The page reads, "As per government directive, the site has been blocked."

It is worth noting that the country's union IT minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar announced on Wednesday that the "three types of games" will be banned in the country. Many new gaming laws have been enacted in the country outlining all games and apps that will be banned under this law.

This has led to multiple users resenting the decision of the Indian government. Twitter user @therealClouDx said the Steam client might be "the next victim of India's ban hammer." It is worth noting that the Indian government has banned multiple video games and smartphone apps by citing Chinese espionage and national integrity.

Other Twitter users have described Alliance's move as too early and that the ISP has had a "track record" of implementing government bans sooner than others. The Steam Community and Community Market features like in-game items and skins are now banned by Channel 3 Cable Internet (Maharashtra), GTPL (Gujarat), Alliance (West Bengal – though it is currently unblocked), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh), and TATA Fiber (Maharashtra)

Commenting on the popularity of Alliance Broadband in West Bengal, other users said that they offer unparalleled service and there's no cap on the total data limit. It is worth noting that other Indian ISPs like Airtel Fiber have a monthly cap of 3000 GB.

Overall, other Steam features like the games section and the client continue to be operational and will likely be so for the foreseeable future. The ban will only be implemented on Steam Community features like posts, reviews, cards, the Community Market, and more.