It looks like Steam China – the country’s version of the platform which Valve’s Chinese partner, Perfect World, will be helping to bring to its market – is getting ever closer to launch. The CEO of Perfect World has provided an update on how its progress is coming along, and it appears that it’s on its way – and that it’s also going to be a separate platform to the Steam’s international version.
Eurogamer reports that, in a recent presentation in Shanghai by Perfect World, CEO Dr Robert H. Xiao revealed that “the Steam China project is undergoing solidly and smoothly” and that the companies involved are “one more step closer” to getting Steam China off the ground. Plus, as a platform, it will reportedly be separate from Valve’s existing, international version of Steam. According to site Technode, the developer-publisher has said that it will be “almost entirely independent of Steam.”
It looks like the reason behind this could potentially be linked to helping Valve get games to players on the platform in China while conforming to the country’s regulations around videogames, and also not having to make changes to international Steam’s marketplace.
Beyond this, there’s no news of set release dates or details about what the Steam China’s features might be, except for the fact that it’ll offer multiplayer games, “single-player games with abundant storylines”, plus support for VR. However, there are nearly 40 games lined up for the platform’s launch, and these include Dota Underlords and Dota Underlords 2.
Steam China’s official name will be “Zhengqi Pingtai”, which means “Steam Platform”, according to Technode.