Turkey Wants to Impose Severe Restrictions on Steam

The Turkish government seems seriously intent on bringing video game distribution under strict control. Gaming platforms that reach a certain threshold of daily access, particularly digital stores like Steam and Epic Games Store, would be forced to comply with a series of impositions: in case of refusal, their available bandwidth in Turkey would be reduced by up to 90%, effectively rendering them unusable.

Turkish Impositions on Digital Stores

An article from Turkiye Today focuses on the impositions that would be introduced by the new law, which is currently still under discussion. Gaming platforms would be forced to open offices on Turkish soil, with local representatives; this would undoubtedly be a significant (and unjustified) expense, but it is not the worst of the foreseen obligations.

The new rule would also require all games sold on the platform to have an official age rating recognized in Turkey, such as PEGI or ESRB. The problem is that on Steam alone, over half of video games lack one: certification requires a significant expense, which large companies in the sector can afford, but for small independent developers, it becomes a problem.

However, the worst is yet to come: the Turkish information and communication technologies authority (BTK) would receive control over published games, being able to decide on content modifications or removal from the platform. But not only that, because the BTK could even demand that the platform provide users' personal and log data, based on unspecified security reasons.

Will Steam & Co. Leave Turkey?

If the law were to become part of Turkish law, its consequences are easy to predict. We doubt that digital stores like Steam would accept such oppressive impositions: the only plausible outcome would be the withdrawal of the interested parties from the Turkish market. For Valve & Co., this would be a relatively limited loss; the real victims of this measure would be Turkish gamers.