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Steam is now banned in Vietnam
(www.eurogamer.net)
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this post was submitted on 11 May 2024
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Ooof. What a stupid take.
There are indie studios whose lives have been changed because they focus on the international market.
This small brain thinking will ensure they die.
The local devs were not trying to get steam banned. Hell they wanted steam but wanted to play by the same rules and pointed out how strict their own laws and requirements were.
Vietnam govt said you're right, it's not fair and banned steam to make sure everyone plays by their rules rather than admit the rules were stupid and draconic.
Careful what you wish for - you never know if it'll be granted by a Monkey's Paw
It's not immediately obvious to me that indie developers in Vietnam won't be able to find an international publisher. While I don't approve of the law, it does strike me as potentially having a positive effect on Vietnamese studios.
Given how it can be circumvented by fiddling with DNS according to the article, I doubt it'll really do anything besides stoke negative sentiment towards Vietnamese studios. Besides, you can buy plenty of the games elsewhere, so even if it worked, all you're accomplishing is making it slightly more annoying for gamers to buy what they want, rather than having it in one place.
The problem is, how can the devs focus on the international market when they need to live by the local laws and get approval?