Simplified Chinese is now the most used language on Steam

Simplified Chinese was the most popular language on Steam in December, according to the popular online game store’s latest monthly survey. The result, first spotted by PC Gamer, shows that people using simplified Chinese characters made up nearly 38% of those surveyed. The characters are most widely used in mainland China, as opposed to traditional Chinese characters more widely used in other areas like Hong Kong and Taiwan. Steam differentiates between the two in its languages section, with traditional Chinese being used by just 0.85% of people surveyed.

This is the first time simplified Chinese has trumped English as the most-used language since Steam announced fixes to its survey methodology in May 2018. Before the repair, the platform overcounted Steam usage in cyber cafes in Asia, resulting in a surge in the use of simplified Chinese. We reached out to Valve to confirm the accuracy of the latest survey but haven’t received a response.

The international version of Steam is popular in China because it operates in a legal gray area, allowing Chinese gamers to play uncensored games that aren’t officially available in the country. The platform accepts major Chinese payment options WeChat Pay and Alipay, and it recently ran sales for Singles’ Day.