Chinese gamers and developers to access Steam's selection of games via platform

Steam, the world's top game distribution platform, will establish an official Chinese platform to allow Chinese gamers and developers access Steam's selection of games and entertainment, Shanghai Daily learned on Tuesday.

Valve Corp, the US-based developer of Steam, will launch Steam China soon by partnering with Shenzhen-listed Perfect World, according to a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. But the statement didn't reveal details like release timetable and the companies' stakeholdings.

Steam is one of the world's largest digital distribution platforms on PCs which allows players to purchase, download, discuss, upload, and share games and game-related content. Steam offers over 20,000 games created by game developers to millions of players worldwide, including over 3,000 virtual reality titles and independent games. At present, Chinese players have to access its services in overseas servers.

Through Steam China, Perfect World will introduce more games to China "providing quality content and improving the experience for both gamers and developers", said Robert Xiao, CEO of Perfect World.

In 2021, China's game market revenue is set to grow to US$26.2 billion from US$15.4 billion in 2016. It will surpass South Korea to become the world's No. 2 game market by revenue behind the United States, said PWC in a recent report.

Valve, founded in 1996, has game titles including Half-Life, Portal, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and DOTA 2. In China, Perfect Word is the distributor of DOTA 2.