Steam user base in China grows past 30 million - report

Steam has surpassed 30 million users in China, one of the biggest emergent markets for video games.

Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad revealed on Twitter that Steam now has more than 30 million users in China. This is the international version of Steam, too, not the China-only client Valve is working on with Perfect World.

Ahmad reckons the increased availability of localised games, regional pricing and more friendly payment methods on Steam are all responsible for this growth. There's also the fact that the international version currently available sells certain games that are blocked or banned in China.

This is great news for local game developers, as there's now a viable market for them in China. Steam today sells games developed primarily for Chinese audiences, offering no languages other than Simplified Chinese, for instance. Games like The Scroll of Taiwu, and Chinese Parents are both indie titles that found success on the platform.

Steam's Trojan Horse in China has been Dota 2, but it's grown well past that now.

It's great to see it flourishing, but it remains to be seen whether the Chinese version of Steam will find similar success when it releases. That version will likely be heavily censored, which could turn away some of the audience.