Tech Desk 
Sep 03, 2024
The largest PC gaming platform, Steam, has reached a historic milestone lately. For the first time, there are more users playing games using the Simplified Chinese than the English language.
The shift has probably come due to the popularity of recently released Chinese games like Black Myth: Wukong.
Steam was a bit more complicated in China because of its strict gaming regulations, which, in turn, banned Steam in 2021. Chinese gamers now have the opportunity to use Steam China, which is referred to as the limited version, or use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access the international version.
Why surge in Simplified Chinese?
This could attest to how great an effect Black Myth: Wukong from Chinese developers may have in the gaming world, as it must have contributed to the rise in Simplified Chinese usage.
Having sold more than 10 million copies within its three-day release and having hit it big in China.
Steam usage statistics
- 35.03% use Simplified Chinese
- 31.17% use English
- 8.49% use Russian
- 3.86% use Spanish (Spain)
- 3.43% are using Portuguese (Brazil)
This trend may prove to be a harbinger of increased importance for the Chinese language in the Steam platform and have far-reaching consequences for the gaming industry.
Read more: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom unlocks Hero Mode feature
In this context, support for the Chinese could become an important factor for game developers in attracting the masses from China.
Chinese games like Black Myth: Wukong and Journey to the West drew huge attention from all over the world.
This may remain a continuous trend since more and more Chinese games are likely to get global attention shortly.
