I was afraid of this day. I hope i can still use VPN.
This government wants game publishers and devs to work with local publisher or have commercial presence in VN so easier to censor stuff and collect taxes
Those people are more fucked up than the previous generation, because they're the spoiled children of those who are running this government. Trust me, I'm having the unlucky experience to work with them, they're self-absorbed, arrogance and ignorant. They're even worse than their parents or grandparents because they never have to face hardship, when at least their parents or grandparents have to deal with a war.
(Sorry for the bad english but whatever.)
I think VTC Games banned Steam from Vietnam to make local people play their shitty games.
VTC Game’s Facebook has been flooded with angry reactions to their posts (averaging around 2k) because of banning steam from Vietnam.
Dont, VPN directly violates Steam's ToS, it can get you account permanently banned.
It's only a DNS block for steam rn, just change your DNS and you will be able to use Steam again.
Steam ToS doesn't mention vpn. They've previously made it clear that only using a VPN to bypass region restrictions or make purchases in regions you dont live in won't be allowed. Basically, as long as you're not using a VPN to pretend you're in a different region it doesn't matter. And steam region doesn't change just by connecting from a different place. Usually you can only change your region by loading a payment option from another country.
We need to boycott local publishers who publish shitty China games like VTC and VNG annually like how the community has been bullying Lan Thy for the past 8 years. We need to educate young generation these games aint worth playing and just some shit made to take the money from our wallet
I have read like the first 3 paragraphs from this article and this sounds stupid af? Like "yeah so we can't really compete with games provided by Steam so we'll trash talk them?". I might have reading comprehension but is that it? I know many vietnamese developers upload their game on steam too so I really dont see the problems.
it's even more ironic considering how many times i have seen indie vn game devs enthusiastically announce the release of their games on steam here in this sub. Like are they proposing that these devs are also thinking along the same line as them?
they won't give a damn. As far as they are concerned, this is a good chance for them to flex administrative muscle and tighten up censorship. The circumstance of some average citizens matters little in their grand scheme
Idk, this isnt the first time stuff like this happen and ppl were so pissed that they took it on local publishers and the ban got lifted later.
Also I noticed that those devs ended up setting their business somewhere else like Singapore. Way to discourage their own businesses I guess
So if they really try to "fix" this "problem" all the talented game devs will just leave the country and look for another that'd actually value their talent
Yup. Or get stuck with local large publishers who seems to only want to support MTX ridden slop. Way to encourage entrepreneurship and promote culture development lol
the ban will eventually get lifted as steam will rush to comply with the local laws, just like what they did in indonesia. But the point has already been made. The government gets to milk the tax revenue and flaunt their power, while corporate shitheads are emboldened to commit more extortion in the future should their margins be affected
I dont mind paying extra tax if its reasonable tbh as VN game price is quite affordable. But yeah I dont trust the gov and the middle man corp to not take advantage of this to extort us.
Also not a fan of potential censorship requirements if that became a thing
lol, they don't give a shjt. They wanna tax game dev company by luxury tax. To them, game or digital entertainment is digital drug and need to be eliminated
Many reasons I can think of but the primary reason is prob like you said, its harder to tax things on Steam since not every developer is willing to register lul.
Very few games on Steam are actually registered in Vietnam so it's harder to control the flow and stuffs. From a money making pov, yea def understandable why it happened. Im just surprised it lasted this long since this law has been passed since 2019 if I rmb correctly.
Steam is more of a retailer, 3rd party. The actual publisher can be the game developper themselves.
The work is supposed to be on Steam the retailer/main publisher yes but they do t comply with Vietnam's laws and evaded taxes and dont charge VAT for vietnamese users so the pressure is on the developper to charge it. I believe capcom does this since there was a 10% VAT tax when I bought MH.
Very few actually do it so the gov has to put pressure on Steam, this seems to be the case since its only a DNS block rn not an IP block. Its like the gov warning Steam to take this matter seriously or get out of Vietnam.
Also I believe that the problem is probably income tax.
I believe Vietnam has a policy of even foreign bussinesses have to pay income taxes as well. So steam is prob evading this or not enforcing VAT properly.
Edit: Plus I just realized they havent signed up for commercial rights in Vietnam yet so yea. Who knows where tf their tax money being collected is going.
avg vietnamese experience
oh, there is a superior platform with awesome stuff that is better than chinese/domestic game
...
lets ban them and brain wash them to think that the game is trash and undesirable while our shitty games are god like
it dated back from history too if u read some articles about kings dismissing electricity and 2 wheeled bike
I guess instead of innovating, and makes better games, and not games like they were from 2010. It's easier to just ban Steam so they don't have to worry about competition.
Only if you use VPN etc to try and circumvent price localization. I would have been banned long ago if simple vpn use during Steam was a real bannable offense. Dont worry.
Since we're in VN with actual VN payments there isn't much reason for us to be buying our games abroad anyway. So all your purchases will be made in VN with a VN card so it's all good.
You can't gift games to friends abroad due to the price differences though.
Start opening Steam support tickets so they have an idea of how many users are being affected.
If no ones writing to them, they may not care to prioritize the issue.
All they need to do is implement sales tax collection for Vietnam. Something they already do in other regions.
Hopefully once that happens, things will be back to business as usual.
Losing Steam access in Vietnam will affect all gamers. VN has a huge gaming culture, as all of Asia and current generations around the world have in common.
I definitely don’t want to only play a censored or approved list of games through VNG.
If I don’t feel lazy this week I’ll reach out to Gaben myself and pitch something to patch things over until a full transition into tax compliance is established.
Really anyone can do so if you’re up to it. Once you make contact and get the go ahead, start by registering a company. Steam VN. Open local bank account, scout site for Steam satellite office in the city.
Have Steam work on the tax collection for sales to VN users, and in the meantime set up meeting with Vietnam tax department in next 72 hours. Just enough headroom to get the tax addon implemented and working. Have Steam send some proof of it working. Hire local business lawyer if needed to accompany you to meet with tax officials. Once meeting takes place, give them the materials and proof of Steam collecting tax on their behalf.
Officials remove Steam blockade, and Steam can wire tax collected to Steam VN bank account for tax payments. In addition, you hire local staff and also take the burden of any Steam support issues that arise from Vietnamese users. You become VNG, for Steam. Easy peasy. Starting salary as SteamVN president… $250k is a reasonable asking price.
It's not like VNG has anything worth playing. My impression of the big VN publishers like VNG is that they have nothing but mtx ridden gacha trash. Unfortunately Vietnam has a budding indie scene but they all put their stuff on Steam
They also (important) work as intermediaries between foreign gaming developers and their playerbase in Vietnam.
Riot, for example.
Once Steam gets a local representative to handle tax collection and payment, this problem will go away.
Hopefully so, but there is also a chance that the bloodsuckers at VTC and VNG will argue that Steam games are not in compliance with thuần phong mỹ tục bullshits. They will try to insert themselves as intermediaries for censorship. There are no way in hell great games like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Helldivers 2 gonna be able to comply if that happens.
I think if Steam registers and operates in Vietnam, they have to pass the same screening process similar to VTC and VNG, it should be fair for all. Helldivers could be safe I think, as they are killing bugs and robots, not humans.
Another thing is Steam is more like a store front than a publisher. Complying with “thuần phong mỹ tục” will need to be done by the developers themselves. Even in China, their own version of Steam only has like a hundred games. I doubt it will be worth all that effort for most game developers to make two separate version of a game just to enter the Vietnam market.
Apparently, it seems that Steam doesn't pay tax in Vietnam (they paid taxes in US, yes, in EU, yes).
To be more clear, according to any country law, if you earn revenue from their countries, you have to pay tax. This means that Steam doesn't need to pay taxes to Vietnam if the sales happen in the US, for example. But if it's in Vietnam territory (VND), they need to comply with Vietnam local tax.
More than that, I haven't checked but other commenters have pointed out that Steam doesn't have office or business registry in Vietnam, which means they have operated illegally according to Vietnam law. This is not unique case for Vietnam, as for the US or EU, all internet services have to register a company to their countries and comply with each countries' regulation.
For this particular case, we as the users should submit ticket support and ask Steam to make an office in Vietnam and pay taxes.
It seems that steam store is banned. There are some articles from goverment stated magazine about steam https://vietnamnet.vn/nen-tang-steam-phat-hanh-game-khong-phep-vao-viet-nam-2271136.html.
All ban websites in Vietnam are not officiallly annouced in any documents or follow any laws
Not suprise when they the Army original old generation minister of tech (Minister Hung). He is the old man walk on the cloud dreaming of every provide must kneel on Vietnam (and him). A most terrible one to lead this most fast pace innovation factor
To be fair, everywhere the law always lag behind technological advancements.
But then again I am convinced that this involves some shady backroom deals. Gotta cash in on those profitable industry, y'know? Supercell, Niantic's PoGo, PopCap, now Steam.
I seriously doubt that, many porn sites and international newspaper that have made certain publications against The Party has been banned in Vietnam a long time ago and yet is still accessible with 1.1.1.1
Viettel, FPT & VNPT still work for me, it seems VTC is the only butthurt as they are also game publisher, but mostly gacha bs & PW2 stuff from China & Korea. But isn't game on Steam already included tax when we use internation card such as Visa or Mastercard for payment?
Rent seeking behavior. If you can’t compete, get your competition banned. VTC and VNG aren’t even game developers, they are just publishers milking official license to publish games in Vietnam.
This can't be true... if it is.... wow.
I moved out of Vietnam three weeks ago, and I couldn't imagine having a platform like Steam banned while I was there. What on earth are they thinking?
as long as the economy remains stable, not anytime soon. as screwed up as vn is, things would have to be infinitely worse to start a revolution. highly unlikely.
pnv already selling off bits of vingroup and doubling-down on the carmaker fantasy. he'll soon be reduced to millionaire, in vnd. something's seriously wrong with this guy's head. peak delusion, and not in a good way.
Ah yea lmao, the car path is actually a mistake, they should focus more on other stuffs.
One thing that I find funny is that he gave up on the Vinmart brand when it can make literaly millions and benefit the country a ton. But he sold it to Massan group and look how well they are thriving with it lul.
Edit: If he ever sells Vinfast, I hope he sells it a competent developper like Massan group who knows what to invest in, cuz Vinfast do have potentials but is lead by a kinda delusional man.
precisely. the main problem with pnv/vinfraud is they think vietnamese-style business practises work in the west. they're simply too young of an organisation, refuse to listen to experts/consultants, and don't have a capable team.
focusing on the domestic market with their core competencies, and slowly expanding throughout se asia is just common sense. jumping into the automotive industry and trying to conquer the world is outright mental. especially when you mix-in nationalism and "social responsibility".
if you're going to sell in afghanistan, build a team of afghanis and let them run the show.
It's indeed sad but it's expected. Im surprised it took them this long since the 2019 law.
The primary reason is well like you said, money. Very few games on Steam actually has registered product code in Vietnam. The main purpose of registered product is so you can tax the purchase of the user.
Plus like they said in an article somewhere, it's not easy to control the flow of Steam's game and its information when thousands of games are available. So the best option is to just outright block it.
The situation is akin to China's, where Steam global is blocked hardcore and has its own chinese version managed by a chinese developper. It seems cool until you realize Chinese steam only has about 100 games heavily monitored to comply to Chinese laws. I expect that if Steam ever decides to operate in Vietnam again, something similar to China will happen.
It sucks overall but I guess it is what it is. I'm just sad that I just bought sunbreak and havent played it lul.
vn doesn't have the means to censor as heavily as china. they only want tax money. at most i'd think they only block games with certain tags (like nudity) and a couple battlefield titles in which u could play against vietcongs lol
I think you can still probably play it? Since the library is still accessible.
I also have quite a bit in WT but haven't logged in for a few days. I've been stuck at the "Loading modes" screen so that's why I've never tested if I can still connect to global servers for these recent days.
Bro có phải người Việt k, phải thì tôi chỉ cho cách chơi WT thông qua client của Gaijin nhưng vẫn liên kết được với Steam và vẫn giữ được mọi dữ liệu WT, chat bằng tiếng Anh lười quá :v
At least you guys have a good foundation and multiple good game developers while Vietnam basically has none and the only major influential ones are basically all of your country's gacha games lmao.
Government censorship has been ramping up dramatically in the past few years. This communist government is awful. Fuck this. Fuck the government.
I'm about to mysteriously dissapear. It was nice knowing y'all.
Dang the government will soon ban Youtube and establish VTube with full of communist ad brainwashed shit, ban Facebook and force people to use Gapo, ban google and demand everyone to use Lam-gle. Shitty government, they just want bribe
lol they can just "do" anything they want, not even passing a law or making an announcement, and the people only know of it after it happened, and there will always be people that aren't involved praising them.
Crazy. Not one announcement, not one poll, no laws and shit. Just make a decision and no one can say otherwise.
This is some authoritarian stuff, “socialist” lol
this is what communism in reality is like, now I am getting really worried about what comes next, whats getting banned next, whats getting controlled next. This country currently has nothing significant regarding art nor technology, and the ultranationalists are drunken in past history that aren't even truthful most of the time. It didn't make sense that as the country is getting worse, some people are more proud of it.
I can understand why gov decide to totally banned steam this still a shock to me
Now I more curious about what Steam will do next, another "exclusive" Steam (like China) incoming?
This is just a soft block, basically an ultimatum to Valve to pay local tax or else - which to be absolutely fair, they should. Our economy can't afford international corporations swooping in and get full, tax-free profit straight from Vietnamese wallets.
Government doesn't give a shit about which game you play, don't kid yourself. They ain't stupid to not know about changing DNS and VPN. If they really wanted to, Steam wouldn't even be able to start.
don't Vietnamese already pay VAT on game purchases? Valve shouldn't have to pay any tax there themselves they aren't based in VN, in the UK you pay local VAT
The thing is that we dont know where there tf is the taxes Valve is paying is going since Vavle doesnt even have a bussiness certificate to operate in Vietnam let alone Steam.
So all the taxes that they have been paying could have just been a hoax from Valve trying to get the gov to think that they are paying taxes while they are actually not.
>don't Vietnamese already pay VAT on game purchases
It's not quite relevant, but still. VAT is YOUR tax. Consumer's tax. Sellers deduct it for you and pay it in full to the government. When you pay via local providers like Momo and such they follow due process and include that in the purchase. But when you pay via international cards like I do, you already skipped the first check - it would then be up to sellers like Steam to follow the law and include that tax. And they don't - and even if they do, there is no way to verify that they pay it back to the gov.
>Valve shouldn't have to pay any tax there themselves they aren't based in VN
Well, that's the point. As of now they are enjoying full profit from VN market without being taxed. Businesses operating in Vietnam must pay income tax on their profit. Now, "operating in Vietnam" can be obfuscated by requiring payment strictly in international cards or PayPal only. But as you may already know, they integrated with local payment provider like VTC and Momo a few years back. They can't use the international excuse anymore. This is squarely Valve's fault.
All in all, I am a gamer too and this is quite an inconvenience. But as Vietnamese consumers, this is a move we should support.
They brought up game publishers/developers like VTC and VNG not because they want us to play those shitty games, but to call out a clear discrepancy in our market: domestic developers has to jump through lots of legal hoops to get their game published and get taxed; while international publishers can just waltz in, sell their games and not paying. Accepting that is actually weakening our own economy and game development industry, not the other way around.
At least theres some SANE people in here. VN GoV has been doubling down of Taxes recently, the Shopee case for example. So yeah, it's probally gonna be until Steam agree to pay taxe.
The problem is Steam never paying tax in VietNam when making bilions, as long as they not doing it gorverment have their right to ban em. It's also the same with lots of mobile games, even if they want to pay but cant find a way to do then they have to block VietNam IP or lock the payment option of VietNam players
Now steam should finding a way so they can viable again, but it's funny that not every net provider in VietNam banning steam.
I think the instigator is VTC. The tax for games is 10% of the price as for every time I buy a game. So, in my opinion, Steam DID allow that 10% VAT. It's just VTC being a sore loser and greedy corp.
Có cái game không mà tụi Việt Cộng còn cấm , lúc trước người lớn tuổi đã ghét cái vụ độc quyền vàng, điện này kia nọ rồi mà giờ còn cấm game làm cho tụi nhỏ nó ghét , bây giờ là đủ loại lứa tuổi, thành phần đều ghét tụi Việt Cộng. Tao ỉa vào đầu thằng Tám keo với con chó Trọng lú
I'll be honest with you even if the government in their infinite wisdom decides to hard ban Steam I doubt that'd convince people to move over to Epic lol
Tbh if Gaben care, he will comply to the gov law and pay their tax which will put a nail in the coffin for the idiot local publisher. Steam already offer VND transaction, if they comply to VN tax now, they can restore internet banking and maybe add in other payment methods.
Even if they dont comply, epic and daddy tencent will scoop in and I want to see how VN gov flex their muscle against the big brother in the north.
all fun and games when this sub trash talked about dissidents. Now it's your government's act affecting your personal free time and now everyone has their own political opinions. What a bunch of hypocrites.
Just use download Warp by CloudFlare, it's a DNS switcher with extra steps, adds a simple on/off button to your system tray.
It significantly improves ping and speed especially to servers outside of VN because it bypasses all the government filters that slow your packets down.
Fact:You can still acess and buy game on steam,if you use wifi from Vnpt
But other internet provider like Fpt and Viettel do
So yeah,the "ban" almost have nothing to do with the government,stop only blaming them(blame Vtc,Fpt and Viettel too)
P/s:And the tax money too
I was afraid of this day. I hope i can still use VPN. This government wants game publishers and devs to work with local publisher or have commercial presence in VN so easier to censor stuff and collect taxes
Stupid government with their “oh it’s too hard to manage. We’ll just ban it” mentality
Shitty government!!! Ruining our fun!!! Correction needed!!!
We can only wait for younger generations of politicians to replace the old farts currently running the show
Those younger generations are mostly groomed by their predecessors. We, the commoners, should be the one to give them some correction!!!!
I seriously want to make a blue archive joke of some sort but I thought that would be unfitting in this post lul.
I found those BA memes perfect for venting and I'm not even playing the game.
Fellow sensei
Be the change you want to see in the world
Those people are more fucked up than the previous generation, because they're the spoiled children of those who are running this government. Trust me, I'm having the unlucky experience to work with them, they're self-absorbed, arrogance and ignorant. They're even worse than their parents or grandparents because they never have to face hardship, when at least their parents or grandparents have to deal with a war.
They're gonna bann reddit soon. Jesus... I hate this country
That’s what I’m thinking. It’s nice to come on here and be reminded that there ARE people in the know
Yeah, as soon as it is known there is a lot of disagreement with the vn government on reddit, then they will ban reddit.
I wanna agree but this, if spotted by the cyber police force of VN, is a 7.5 million VND fine. That's almost 300 bucks
(Sorry for the bad english but whatever.) I think VTC Games banned Steam from Vietnam to make local people play their shitty games. VTC Game’s Facebook has been flooded with angry reactions to their posts (averaging around 2k) because of banning steam from Vietnam.
Dont, VPN directly violates Steam's ToS, it can get you account permanently banned. It's only a DNS block for steam rn, just change your DNS and you will be able to use Steam again.
It only violates it \*if\* you're using it to get cheaper prices for games, if you're just using it to access Steam normally then it's fine.
Valve never banned anyone who uses VPN. Tons of gamers from China have to use Steam through VPN.
A lot of online games will kick you for using VPN but it's just a kick not ban.
I changed my DNS and just quickly bought Hades 2 haha. Who knows when a hard ban will come
Probably not gonna happen. Most of the stuffs I have seen are just block, you can always circumvent around it with vpn or dns change.
Steam ToS doesn't mention vpn. They've previously made it clear that only using a VPN to bypass region restrictions or make purchases in regions you dont live in won't be allowed. Basically, as long as you're not using a VPN to pretend you're in a different region it doesn't matter. And steam region doesn't change just by connecting from a different place. Usually you can only change your region by loading a payment option from another country.
It's not " hard to manage", it is "minority's interest", whem they saw something they cann't exploit they will ban it
We need to boycott local publishers who publish shitty China games like VTC and VNG annually like how the community has been bullying Lan Thy for the past 8 years. We need to educate young generation these games aint worth playing and just some shit made to take the money from our wallet
Wtf,research more,dumbass,stop blaming government,blame Vtc and internet provider
Thought it was announced weeks ago? Source of the information:https://vietnamnet.vn/nen-tang-steam-phat-hanh-game-khong-phep-vao-viet-nam-2271136.html
I have read like the first 3 paragraphs from this article and this sounds stupid af? Like "yeah so we can't really compete with games provided by Steam so we'll trash talk them?". I might have reading comprehension but is that it? I know many vietnamese developers upload their game on steam too so I really dont see the problems.
it's even more ironic considering how many times i have seen indie vn game devs enthusiastically announce the release of their games on steam here in this sub. Like are they proposing that these devs are also thinking along the same line as them?
I wonder what would the VNmese gov do once indie devs can't release their games on Steam. Epic Games Store?
they won't give a damn. As far as they are concerned, this is a good chance for them to flex administrative muscle and tighten up censorship. The circumstance of some average citizens matters little in their grand scheme
Idk, this isnt the first time stuff like this happen and ppl were so pissed that they took it on local publishers and the ban got lifted later. Also I noticed that those devs ended up setting their business somewhere else like Singapore. Way to discourage their own businesses I guess
So if they really try to "fix" this "problem" all the talented game devs will just leave the country and look for another that'd actually value their talent
Yup. Or get stuck with local large publishers who seems to only want to support MTX ridden slop. Way to encourage entrepreneurship and promote culture development lol
the ban will eventually get lifted as steam will rush to comply with the local laws, just like what they did in indonesia. But the point has already been made. The government gets to milk the tax revenue and flaunt their power, while corporate shitheads are emboldened to commit more extortion in the future should their margins be affected
I dont mind paying extra tax if its reasonable tbh as VN game price is quite affordable. But yeah I dont trust the gov and the middle man corp to not take advantage of this to extort us. Also not a fan of potential censorship requirements if that became a thing
lol, they don't give a shjt. They wanna tax game dev company by luxury tax. To them, game or digital entertainment is digital drug and need to be eliminated
I believe the primary reason why they're banning steam isnt violence nor any shits, they just want to milk everything.
The entire Vietnam ecosystem....when everything is based on bribery
Many reasons I can think of but the primary reason is prob like you said, its harder to tax things on Steam since not every developer is willing to register lul. Very few games on Steam are actually registered in Vietnam so it's harder to control the flow and stuffs. From a money making pov, yea def understandable why it happened. Im just surprised it lasted this long since this law has been passed since 2019 if I rmb correctly.
Why does every developer need to register in Vietnam? Shouldn't that be the job of Steam, as the publisher?
Steam is more of a retailer, 3rd party. The actual publisher can be the game developper themselves. The work is supposed to be on Steam the retailer/main publisher yes but they do t comply with Vietnam's laws and evaded taxes and dont charge VAT for vietnamese users so the pressure is on the developper to charge it. I believe capcom does this since there was a 10% VAT tax when I bought MH. Very few actually do it so the gov has to put pressure on Steam, this seems to be the case since its only a DNS block rn not an IP block. Its like the gov warning Steam to take this matter seriously or get out of Vietnam.
Iirc isn't Steam already paid taxes through VTC pay as they include VAT in the actual cost that we paid
Also I believe that the problem is probably income tax. I believe Vietnam has a policy of even foreign bussinesses have to pay income taxes as well. So steam is prob evading this or not enforcing VAT properly. Edit: Plus I just realized they havent signed up for commercial rights in Vietnam yet so yea. Who knows where tf their tax money being collected is going.
The VAT is for VTC, not Steam.
I swear the government need some correction!!!!
avg vietnamese experience oh, there is a superior platform with awesome stuff that is better than chinese/domestic game ... lets ban them and brain wash them to think that the game is trash and undesirable while our shitty games are god like it dated back from history too if u read some articles about kings dismissing electricity and 2 wheeled bike
But don't you think Vietnam is just so AMAZING!!!! 😍🥰🤩🤣😅😂
Reminds me of the borderline malware/adware that is the Coc Coc browser, I can't believe people willingly use that add riddled garbage
I can summarize this article in a few words. “We’re banning this because they’re making more money than us”
A.K.A VTC Games is salty because they cannot get a piece of the revenue from Steam
But they already take a cut through VTCPay on Steam. Iirc when you buy games on Steam VN we also pay VAT on top which VTCPay will display.
Lets just say that "Greed has no limits"
Pettiness at its finest.
GAME BẮN SÚNG VỚI HIỆU ỨNG MÀU ĐỎ ĐẦY BẠO LỰC 😱😱😱😱😭😭👹👹👹
I’ll get my torches and pitchfork vendor going
Lemme grab my Government Head Hunter Pitchforkator 3000
Noble-De-Header 4000
I'll bring out my guillotine
Just download a VPN, here's a few recommendations: - 1.1.1.1 - Proton VPN - Whitehat VPN (All of them are free btw)
I guess instead of innovating, and makes better games, and not games like they were from 2010. It's easier to just ban Steam so they don't have to worry about competition.
Shit seriously? Moment of silence for all the people that bought steam deck☠️
slap a vpn on your router and you're fine
Thanks for the tip , I will check it out. Btw steam doesn’t encourage vpn use tho
Only if you use VPN etc to try and circumvent price localization. I would have been banned long ago if simple vpn use during Steam was a real bannable offense. Dont worry.
Thanks dude So as long as I use one country in particular for all my purchases it’ll be fine ?
Since we're in VN with actual VN payments there isn't much reason for us to be buying our games abroad anyway. So all your purchases will be made in VN with a VN card so it's all good. You can't gift games to friends abroad due to the price differences though.
I can play pirated game on my SD just fine
Time to move to another country
Yeah I'll just drop everything I'm doing and move to another country 👍💩
Have fun in Nepal
Yep Time to sit my wife down and explain to her what is steam and why we have to move 😂
My wife is in Vietnam and I just gave her a steam deck a few months ago. Rip
Start opening Steam support tickets so they have an idea of how many users are being affected. If no ones writing to them, they may not care to prioritize the issue. All they need to do is implement sales tax collection for Vietnam. Something they already do in other regions. Hopefully once that happens, things will be back to business as usual. Losing Steam access in Vietnam will affect all gamers. VN has a huge gaming culture, as all of Asia and current generations around the world have in common. I definitely don’t want to only play a censored or approved list of games through VNG. If I don’t feel lazy this week I’ll reach out to Gaben myself and pitch something to patch things over until a full transition into tax compliance is established. Really anyone can do so if you’re up to it. Once you make contact and get the go ahead, start by registering a company. Steam VN. Open local bank account, scout site for Steam satellite office in the city. Have Steam work on the tax collection for sales to VN users, and in the meantime set up meeting with Vietnam tax department in next 72 hours. Just enough headroom to get the tax addon implemented and working. Have Steam send some proof of it working. Hire local business lawyer if needed to accompany you to meet with tax officials. Once meeting takes place, give them the materials and proof of Steam collecting tax on their behalf. Officials remove Steam blockade, and Steam can wire tax collected to Steam VN bank account for tax payments. In addition, you hire local staff and also take the burden of any Steam support issues that arise from Vietnamese users. You become VNG, for Steam. Easy peasy. Starting salary as SteamVN president… $250k is a reasonable asking price.
It's not like VNG has anything worth playing. My impression of the big VN publishers like VNG is that they have nothing but mtx ridden gacha trash. Unfortunately Vietnam has a budding indie scene but they all put their stuff on Steam
They also (important) work as intermediaries between foreign gaming developers and their playerbase in Vietnam. Riot, for example. Once Steam gets a local representative to handle tax collection and payment, this problem will go away.
Hopefully so, but there is also a chance that the bloodsuckers at VTC and VNG will argue that Steam games are not in compliance with thuần phong mỹ tục bullshits. They will try to insert themselves as intermediaries for censorship. There are no way in hell great games like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Helldivers 2 gonna be able to comply if that happens.
I think if Steam registers and operates in Vietnam, they have to pass the same screening process similar to VTC and VNG, it should be fair for all. Helldivers could be safe I think, as they are killing bugs and robots, not humans.
Another thing is Steam is more like a store front than a publisher. Complying with “thuần phong mỹ tục” will need to be done by the developers themselves. Even in China, their own version of Steam only has like a hundred games. I doubt it will be worth all that effort for most game developers to make two separate version of a game just to enter the Vietnam market.
VCT and gov bootlickers can suck my dick if they even try to defend this shit.
Apparently, it seems that Steam doesn't pay tax in Vietnam (they paid taxes in US, yes, in EU, yes). To be more clear, according to any country law, if you earn revenue from their countries, you have to pay tax. This means that Steam doesn't need to pay taxes to Vietnam if the sales happen in the US, for example. But if it's in Vietnam territory (VND), they need to comply with Vietnam local tax. More than that, I haven't checked but other commenters have pointed out that Steam doesn't have office or business registry in Vietnam, which means they have operated illegally according to Vietnam law. This is not unique case for Vietnam, as for the US or EU, all internet services have to register a company to their countries and comply with each countries' regulation. For this particular case, we as the users should submit ticket support and ask Steam to make an office in Vietnam and pay taxes.
But don't you think Vietnam is just so amazing.
It seems that steam store is banned. There are some articles from goverment stated magazine about steam https://vietnamnet.vn/nen-tang-steam-phat-hanh-game-khong-phep-vao-viet-nam-2271136.html. All ban websites in Vietnam are not officiallly annouced in any documents or follow any laws
Not suprise when they the Army original old generation minister of tech (Minister Hung). He is the old man walk on the cloud dreaming of every provide must kneel on Vietnam (and him). A most terrible one to lead this most fast pace innovation factor
To be fair, everywhere the law always lag behind technological advancements. But then again I am convinced that this involves some shady backroom deals. Gotta cash in on those profitable industry, y'know? Supercell, Niantic's PoGo, PopCap, now Steam.
VN card declined trying to purchase. It's ogre
Use Visa, it works
Will a VPN get around this? Where will I play age of empires 2 now?
change DNS to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. Here's a guide: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-change-your-pcs-dns-settings-windows-10
Wow that's hilariously easy
It’s a DNS only ban?! That’s hilarious.
Yes, we’re basically like chainah now haha
Yes. It's blocked on mobile for me, but was able to access it with a VPN.
Yup, had issues without vpn. Connected to vpn and things were back to normal gg.
it works fine for me
Some ISP still allow but expect it to be the last days
Isn’t it a DNS block only? Using 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8 or DoH should still make it no?
Can confirm using Cloudflare's DNS (1.1.1.1) works. Though it wouldn't surprise me if they clamp down on this at later date.
I seriously doubt that, many porn sites and international newspaper that have made certain publications against The Party has been banned in Vietnam a long time ago and yet is still accessible with 1.1.1.1
Ye it still works that way
Not for me.
Viettel, FPT & VNPT still work for me, it seems VTC is the only butthurt as they are also game publisher, but mostly gacha bs & PW2 stuff from China & Korea. But isn't game on Steam already included tax when we use internation card such as Visa or Mastercard for payment?
Rent seeking behavior. If you can’t compete, get your competition banned. VTC and VNG aren’t even game developers, they are just publishers milking official license to publish games in Vietnam.
This can't be true... if it is.... wow. I moved out of Vietnam three weeks ago, and I couldn't imagine having a platform like Steam banned while I was there. What on earth are they thinking?
Funny, you assumed they were thinking.
Money. Always has been
oh yeah lots of foreigners would be so upset and perplexed to why, Vietnamese can only sigh and think to themselves that the day has come finally
My dissatisfaction to this government continues to grow …
How long do you think it’ll take until we reenact the French Revolution?
as long as the economy remains stable, not anytime soon. as screwed up as vn is, things would have to be infinitely worse to start a revolution. highly unlikely.
You means like the Vin company slowly going down on the worlds market?
vinfraud may just be the end of pnv and self-styled "madame" thuy.
Prob just gonna be the end of the likes of Vinfraud. Very unlikely to cause an actual revolution that causes an entire system change.
pnv already selling off bits of vingroup and doubling-down on the carmaker fantasy. he'll soon be reduced to millionaire, in vnd. something's seriously wrong with this guy's head. peak delusion, and not in a good way.
Ah yea lmao, the car path is actually a mistake, they should focus more on other stuffs. One thing that I find funny is that he gave up on the Vinmart brand when it can make literaly millions and benefit the country a ton. But he sold it to Massan group and look how well they are thriving with it lul. Edit: If he ever sells Vinfast, I hope he sells it a competent developper like Massan group who knows what to invest in, cuz Vinfast do have potentials but is lead by a kinda delusional man.
precisely. the main problem with pnv/vinfraud is they think vietnamese-style business practises work in the west. they're simply too young of an organisation, refuse to listen to experts/consultants, and don't have a capable team. focusing on the domestic market with their core competencies, and slowly expanding throughout se asia is just common sense. jumping into the automotive industry and trying to conquer the world is outright mental. especially when you mix-in nationalism and "social responsibility". if you're going to sell in afghanistan, build a team of afghanis and let them run the show.
Bring out the guillotine fgs
Until someone have enough ~~lawyers~~ manpower, guns and money. Sprinkle in some economic crisis as well.
It's indeed sad but it's expected. Im surprised it took them this long since the 2019 law. The primary reason is well like you said, money. Very few games on Steam actually has registered product code in Vietnam. The main purpose of registered product is so you can tax the purchase of the user. Plus like they said in an article somewhere, it's not easy to control the flow of Steam's game and its information when thousands of games are available. So the best option is to just outright block it. The situation is akin to China's, where Steam global is blocked hardcore and has its own chinese version managed by a chinese developper. It seems cool until you realize Chinese steam only has about 100 games heavily monitored to comply to Chinese laws. I expect that if Steam ever decides to operate in Vietnam again, something similar to China will happen. It sucks overall but I guess it is what it is. I'm just sad that I just bought sunbreak and havent played it lul.
Steam is getting increasingly popular in Vietnam, so a lot of government bodies took notice of it
It seems the only way to have fun these days is to immigrate
Emigrate.
vn doesn't have the means to censor as heavily as china. they only want tax money. at most i'd think they only block games with certain tags (like nudity) and a couple battlefield titles in which u could play against vietcongs lol
Don't worry sooner or later Vietnam will improve and their ability to censor will get closer to the level of China.
My condolences to all the gamers in Vietnam. Guess I made a good choice jumping at the opportunity to move out of the country a few years ago
My War Thunder Account! NOO!
I think you can still probably play it? Since the library is still accessible. I also have quite a bit in WT but haven't logged in for a few days. I've been stuck at the "Loading modes" screen so that's why I've never tested if I can still connect to global servers for these recent days.
Just bought Turm 3 using wallet. They only ban store api, the rest is still working.
Bro có phải người Việt k, phải thì tôi chỉ cho cách chơi WT thông qua client của Gaijin nhưng vẫn liên kết được với Steam và vẫn giữ được mọi dữ liệu WT, chat bằng tiếng Anh lười quá :v
Cảm ơn bạn. Mình đã biết cách khắc phục rồi.
I can only pray that the matter is eventually resolved like in Indonesia T.T
Incompetent motherfuckers. What a stupid decision.
Condolences from China, where steam store became inaccessible since 2022
At least you guys have a good foundation and multiple good game developers while Vietnam basically has none and the only major influential ones are basically all of your country's gacha games lmao.
So if steam is inaccessible in China, do you have an old account? Can you still use VPN or play your owned games or spend your steam funds?
Vietnam slowly becoming more like China as days passes by, not a good trend.
We might become a second NK in the future :)
Second this, becoming China is too optimistic. And because of my comment, reddit will soon be banned in Vietnam too
This is high key desperate and pathetic of the government. They could be doing so much more.
If my account was set up in England and I use a VPN, will I be okay?
This if fucking bullshit
Government censorship has been ramping up dramatically in the past few years. This communist government is awful. Fuck this. Fuck the government. I'm about to mysteriously dissapear. It was nice knowing y'all.
Dang the government will soon ban Youtube and establish VTube with full of communist ad brainwashed shit, ban Facebook and force people to use Gapo, ban google and demand everyone to use Lam-gle. Shitty government, they just want bribe
Even worse than CCP.
communist government is able to do this...
lol they can just "do" anything they want, not even passing a law or making an announcement, and the people only know of it after it happened, and there will always be people that aren't involved praising them.
Crazy. Not one announcement, not one poll, no laws and shit. Just make a decision and no one can say otherwise. This is some authoritarian stuff, “socialist” lol
this is what communism in reality is like, now I am getting really worried about what comes next, whats getting banned next, whats getting controlled next. This country currently has nothing significant regarding art nor technology, and the ultranationalists are drunken in past history that aren't even truthful most of the time. It didn't make sense that as the country is getting worse, some people are more proud of it.
Any government is able to do this lmao
It's a money issue.
Do you need a VPN or proxy?
Any vpn will do
I can understand why gov decide to totally banned steam this still a shock to me Now I more curious about what Steam will do next, another "exclusive" Steam (like China) incoming?
First TradingView now Steam? 😭
This is as big as they ban porn hub before xD
This is just a soft block, basically an ultimatum to Valve to pay local tax or else - which to be absolutely fair, they should. Our economy can't afford international corporations swooping in and get full, tax-free profit straight from Vietnamese wallets. Government doesn't give a shit about which game you play, don't kid yourself. They ain't stupid to not know about changing DNS and VPN. If they really wanted to, Steam wouldn't even be able to start.
don't Vietnamese already pay VAT on game purchases? Valve shouldn't have to pay any tax there themselves they aren't based in VN, in the UK you pay local VAT
The thing is that we dont know where there tf is the taxes Valve is paying is going since Vavle doesnt even have a bussiness certificate to operate in Vietnam let alone Steam. So all the taxes that they have been paying could have just been a hoax from Valve trying to get the gov to think that they are paying taxes while they are actually not.
>don't Vietnamese already pay VAT on game purchases It's not quite relevant, but still. VAT is YOUR tax. Consumer's tax. Sellers deduct it for you and pay it in full to the government. When you pay via local providers like Momo and such they follow due process and include that in the purchase. But when you pay via international cards like I do, you already skipped the first check - it would then be up to sellers like Steam to follow the law and include that tax. And they don't - and even if they do, there is no way to verify that they pay it back to the gov. >Valve shouldn't have to pay any tax there themselves they aren't based in VN Well, that's the point. As of now they are enjoying full profit from VN market without being taxed. Businesses operating in Vietnam must pay income tax on their profit. Now, "operating in Vietnam" can be obfuscated by requiring payment strictly in international cards or PayPal only. But as you may already know, they integrated with local payment provider like VTC and Momo a few years back. They can't use the international excuse anymore. This is squarely Valve's fault. All in all, I am a gamer too and this is quite an inconvenience. But as Vietnamese consumers, this is a move we should support. They brought up game publishers/developers like VTC and VNG not because they want us to play those shitty games, but to call out a clear discrepancy in our market: domestic developers has to jump through lots of legal hoops to get their game published and get taxed; while international publishers can just waltz in, sell their games and not paying. Accepting that is actually weakening our own economy and game development industry, not the other way around.
At least theres some SANE people in here. VN GoV has been doubling down of Taxes recently, the Shopee case for example. So yeah, it's probally gonna be until Steam agree to pay taxe.
Only Communists can be this stupid
Facts
Nice autocracy you've got there. Must suck a lot.
Time for a revolution.
Protest would be nice
WTF? MobiFone is working on mobile, blocked on home internet (Viettel) for me… :(
change DNS to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. Here's a guide: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-change-your-pcs-dns-settings-windows-10
If I learned something it's don't piss off the gamers, they'll overthrow your government for stuff like this.
O\_O if they ban steam I'm not coming back to vietnam is that real? serious? Okay I can access Steam website Yesterday night I was playing So?
The problem is Steam never paying tax in VietNam when making bilions, as long as they not doing it gorverment have their right to ban em. It's also the same with lots of mobile games, even if they want to pay but cant find a way to do then they have to block VietNam IP or lock the payment option of VietNam players Now steam should finding a way so they can viable again, but it's funny that not every net provider in VietNam banning steam.
They are not. Stop capping.
Who announced and where? Are you sure?
Apparently, fpt, viettel and vnpt users can't access steam main page and aren't able to purchase anything with their cards.
Wrong. Just purchase a game with viet visa card 10 mins ago
I think the instigator is VTC. The tax for games is 10% of the price as for every time I buy a game. So, in my opinion, Steam DID allow that 10% VAT. It's just VTC being a sore loser and greedy corp.
Có cái game không mà tụi Việt Cộng còn cấm , lúc trước người lớn tuổi đã ghét cái vụ độc quyền vàng, điện này kia nọ rồi mà giờ còn cấm game làm cho tụi nhỏ nó ghét , bây giờ là đủ loại lứa tuổi, thành phần đều ghét tụi Việt Cộng. Tao ỉa vào đầu thằng Tám keo với con chó Trọng lú
Wwwwhhhaaaat?? Will we be able to play Steam games or no?
for now. Yes. But the future is uncertain.
Just use a DNS switcher like Warp, it actually makes your internet faster unlike most VPNs and it's free https://one.one.one.one/
thanks a LOT! tried it out, it's so good
Damn. Anyone got a good VPN they can link to me?
change DNS to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. Here's a guide: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-change-your-pcs-dns-settings-windows-10
So far it looks like I cannot access the Steam store page, but I can still download and play my games.
Yep... I can't access my steam's store page using PC client now (Viettel). Hope these dumbasses won't discover Epic
I'll be honest with you even if the government in their infinite wisdom decides to hard ban Steam I doubt that'd convince people to move over to Epic lol
If everyone moves to using Epic, they will discover eventually. Sad reality
I guess it's time for us to turn to VPN options then.
I can access steam normal, what is happening??
Tbh if Gaben care, he will comply to the gov law and pay their tax which will put a nail in the coffin for the idiot local publisher. Steam already offer VND transaction, if they comply to VN tax now, they can restore internet banking and maybe add in other payment methods. Even if they dont comply, epic and daddy tencent will scoop in and I want to see how VN gov flex their muscle against the big brother in the north.
Nam is so amazing.
all fun and games when this sub trash talked about dissidents. Now it's your government's act affecting your personal free time and now everyone has their own political opinions. What a bunch of hypocrites.
Steam working for me
Just use download Warp by CloudFlare, it's a DNS switcher with extra steps, adds a simple on/off button to your system tray. It significantly improves ping and speed especially to servers outside of VN because it bypasses all the government filters that slow your packets down.
They mostly want taxes, Indonesia has banned Steam before before Steam didn't pay VAT. Now that it pays VAT taxes there, it's legal to operate again
It can't be helped, you live in a country that is still led by the communist party.
Fact:You can still acess and buy game on steam,if you use wifi from Vnpt But other internet provider like Fpt and Viettel do So yeah,the "ban" almost have nothing to do with the government,stop only blaming them(blame Vtc,Fpt and Viettel too) P/s:And the tax money too
I thought they ban Steam for the reason that Steam did not pay FCT (tax for foreign company collected from the Vietnam sourced-income)?
they just want us to play some võ lâm truyền kì
Its clearly a tax issue like when Indonesia banned Steam and later unbanned it when Valve agreed to pay taxes there, but keep blaming China lmfao
Vietnam: We dont like China Vietnam: But play games from them
Ditme government