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Valve's Steam Network Is Down [UPDATE]

Store, communities, and game servers currently unavailable.

201 Comments

Update: Steam appears to be back online as of 11 AM PT. We'll continue to monitor the situation in case any other issues arise.

Original Story: Valve's steam service is currently down, with the store, friends lists, and game servers unavailable. The downtime coincides with the start of the annual Winter sale, during which a range of games are heavily discounted.

Naturally, interest in discounts results in considerable network activity on Steam. Following the launch of the sale on December 22 the store was running a bit slow, so it is thought that the traffic could also be the cause of Steam going completely offline.

However, popular gaming network services such as Steam, Xbox Live, and PlayStation Network have previously been the target of DDoS attacks during the Holiday period. Valve has not officially addressed the cause of the issues or said when the service will return.

Along with the sales, Valve has also officially kicked off The Steam Awards. Nominations for this began last month, and now users can vote for a winner in a different category each day. Voting earns you trading cards. The winners of The Steam Awards will be announced on December 31.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

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greebe55

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what does everyone intend to buy this sale?

when its working of course

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Isariamkia

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Edited By Isariamkia

@greebe55: I already bought some games, Abzu and Event[0] which I already tried and are both really nice.
I bought beholder, orwell, quantum break, reflections, shadow tactics, soma, this is the police, final station, yu-gi-oh and everspace.

I still have a lot of game to buy but I will wait summer sales, right now I have enough games to deal with :|

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mogan

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mogan  Moderator

@greebe55: Probably Dishonored 2.

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Evil_Hayato

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@greebe55: I bought Doom, Fallout 4(finally), and Abzu on day one and just got doom and f4 downloaded the night before this happened thankfully. Probably wont buy anything else but still debating on getting the new season for Street Fighter V.. gotta get my akuma on.

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deactivated-5887c3545bd6c

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@greebe55:wanted jc3 xl for 20 bucks

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wtf_666

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Hohoho Merry Christmas to the "massa race".

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mogan

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mogan  Moderator

@wtf_666: Well, last year it was Live. Next year it'll probably be PSN (if it doesn't take itself down). Everybody gets a turn.

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DarthRevenX

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@Mogan: next year everything get's hit, year after that it'll be PSN again, year after that PSN & XBL at the same time then a year or 2 off and Steam goes down again......cyclic man, everything'll repeat in a cycle.......

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Kcxiv

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@wtf_666: they coming for consoles too. do research, its not only the massa race.

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nomadski69

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I picked a bad day to give up sniffing glue.

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Kanonym

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@nomadski69: That's why the saying goes "never quit" or "no guts no glory" haha

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DarthRevenX

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@nomadski69: i picked a bad day to quit drinking.......[kay, sniffing glue is worse for you] nice Airplane reference LMAO

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meedokicky

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I was going to buy, well, thinking about buying Shadow Warrior 2... Maybe it is a sign I should wait and clear more of my backlog first XD

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se7en1989

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Edited By se7en1989

Maybe Valve should start worrying about how poor of a program Steam has become rather then worrying about how high they can get away with raising prices on games that are 10 years old....the Winter sale sucks ass anyways..

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mogan

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Edited By mogan  Moderator

@se7en1989: Steam does not set the prices on their platform, they only get a cut of each sale. The rights holders set the prices of their own games. If you want a better price, shop around. Steam has created a lot of competition for itself, and it's rarely the cheapest option anymore.

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ASneakyPoptart

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Edited By ASneakyPoptart

@se7en1989: I wish I had the same level of confidence as you do to talk about stuff that I know nothing about.

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ASneakyPoptart

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@sellingthings: It probably does, but I wouldn't know since I game 99% of the time on my PC. Good try though.

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se7en1989

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@asneakypoptart: cool story kid

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Rolento25

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@se7en1989: You talk like Value sets the prices...

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ASneakyPoptart

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@sellingthings: Yeah, except they don't. Valve offers a recommended price while it's up to the publisher/developer. https://www.quora.com/Who-sets-the-price-for-games-on-Steam

Seems like YOU don't know what you're talking about. What a surprise.

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cornbredx

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Good job instigating rumors. That's real journalism.

As credible as ever Tamoor.

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Zazabar

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Edited By Zazabar

@cornbredx: The entire platform is down, not just the store. You can't log on to Steam whatsoever. He isn't saying it's an attack, just merely pointing out that these types of things have happened in the past and it could be likely. I don't think it's an attack, but that's always a possibility.

Besides, if we're going to be talking about horrible Gamespot Journalists, that Eddie Machauk(whatever his last name is) guy is in the top tier and no one comes close.

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IanNottinghamX

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Edited By IanNottinghamX

@Zazabar: Listen. Don't defend piss poor coverage on something. Especially when this has been all weve been getting on this site lately. And Yes that Eddie Mach guy sucks.

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Zazabar

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Edited By Zazabar

@IanNottinghamX: I'll agree that the quality of news articles in recent months/years have been awful, but I'm not seeing anything wrong with this one. The headline of the article isn't misleading or clickbait and the actual article is backed up with facts. Mentioning that this could possibly be a result of a DDoS is a bit of an opinion and shouldn't be expressed in the article. I can see what you mean by that. Yet, I feel like the way he did it wasn't meant to be interpreted that way.

I also haven't read a lot of his articles in the past, so I could be wrongfully defending the guy.

Then again, I'm left with a feeling of confusion and sadness as I can't access my Steam account online. :(

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IanNottinghamX

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Edited By IanNottinghamX

@Zazabar: How is this a good article when it doesnt even address the problem or any of the information pertaining to when the issue will be fixed or anything. He just rambles and talks complete nonsense. WTF and I mean what in the actual **** does the discounts and the idea of ddos attacks have to do with why steam is down atm? I mean was any research done at all on the facts? 99.9% probability not. Amateur hour at its finest....sheesh

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mogan

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mogan  Moderator

Well, at least people can take a break from ranting about how the Total War: Warhammer DLC didn't get a discount. : p

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voreo

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They forgot to feed their hamsters

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ftskamins

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Edited By ftskamins

I just couldn't believe it...Tried connecting at least 6 times before google it....time to fire up the PS4

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imzdemodex

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sounds like an attack. I hope these stupid people do not breach the steam database or our account details and stuff. I swear this has to be the longest down time I've experienced on steam... like ever

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Mugg1n10

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i knew it! been trying to login for the last hour and a half.

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skipper847

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I would play out side but its dark and blowing a gale.

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iandizion713

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@skipper847: Id play outside, but winter is coming.

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Zazabar

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@iandizion713: Dog, Winter has already arrived.

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m4a5

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m4a5  Online

Good thing I bought stuff last night lol

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Evil_Hayato

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@m4a5: triple same!

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LoganGTA5

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@m4a5: Same

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hyksiu

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Oh my gooood!

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iandizion713

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Edited By iandizion713

Stop lying, you cant bring down a god. O nevermind, god brought himself down.

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pyro1245

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@iandizion713: Gods are just people with better tech

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pyro1245

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@sellingthings: Okay then gods are not real

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