Moving to China in a Month, Will I still be able to access and play my library?

[ɴᴀᴏᴍᴀꜱᴀ]

So I'll be moving from Italy to China in a month, and of course I'll be bringin over my laptop and I'm wondering wether will I still be able to play the games already in my library or not. I've found some very old thread about it but they seems confused in the different answers and I'd like to have some more recent experience feedback if anyone has been in the same situation. Keep in mind that I don't mind not being able to buy new games as I have a lot of backlog already and I dont even think I'll have enough time to play through all of them, but of course it would be a plus being able to. Thanks to anyone who may give me an insight

[Ogami]

There should be no problem accessing the games you already own in your library and download/play them.
Your account should stay locked to Italy anyway so you can also shop just as normal.
Only if you switch to the Chinese Steam Store by using a payment method registered in China could you run into some restrictions.
Also, as far as i know the Steam Community feature is blocked in China so most likely you wont be able to make posts in the forums while there.
But i dont know if that is a general block with Chinese Internet providers or just if you use the special China version of the Steam client.

But as i said, just let your store be set to Italy and you can just use everything as always.

[wuddih]

you should be able to play ... using certain functions of Steam however will be blocked. f.e. this here.

[ɴᴀᴏᴍᴀꜱᴀ]

Nice, thank you both

[ㄥoㄥıʞɐꞱ]

you should use a VPN anyway, specially in china ^^

[ɴᴀᴏᴍᴀꜱᴀ]

Originally posted by Taki7o7:

you should use a VPN anyway, specially in china ^^

I thought about that and I’ll be certainly using it on my phone, but I am also afraid the vpn could create issues with my account? Like I read of banned accounts for using vpns, is that really a thing ?

[ㄥoㄥıʞɐꞱ]

Originally posted by ɴᴀᴏᴍᴀꜱᴀ:

Originally posted by Taki7o7:

you should use a VPN anyway, specially in china ^^

I thought about that and I’ll be certainly using it on my phone, but I am also afraid the vpn could create issues with my account? Like I read of banned accounts for using vpns, is that really a thing ?

This sounds not true. There is no way to 100% assign an IP to a VPN provider, i mean you can never be sure if IP XY is actually a VPN, 2nd there is no reason to punish privacy-management. Also most ISPs only use semi-permanent IPs, meaning they will change from time to time. Also some even assign a new IP every day. There may be some security measures for multiple suspicious things like new ip, new machine, want to pay 1000€ with steam wallet, you may need to get manually cleaned your account from steam support (i never experienced this, just heard about it several times).

But using a VPN should be pretty secure ^^

[ɴᴀᴏᴍᴀꜱᴀ]

Originally posted by Taki7o7:

Originally posted by ɴᴀᴏᴍᴀꜱᴀ:

I thought about that and I’ll be certainly using it on my phone, but I am also afraid the vpn could create issues with my account? Like I read of banned accounts for using vpns, is that really a thing ?

This sounds not true. There is no way to 100% assign an IP to a VPN provider, i mean you can never be sure if IP XY is actually a VPN, 2nd there is no reason to punish privacy-management. Also most ISPs only use semi-permanent IPs, meaning they will change from time to time. Also some even assign a new IP every day. There may be some security measures for multiple suspicious things like new ip, new machine, want to pay 1000€ with steam wallet, you may need to get manually cleaned your account from steam support (i never experienced this, just heard about it several times).

But using a VPN should be pretty secure ^^

I see, thank you for your suggestions! ^^

[ペンギン]

Originally posted by ɴᴀᴏᴍᴀꜱᴀ:

Originally posted by Taki7o7:

you should use a VPN anyway, specially in china ^^

I thought about that and I’ll be certainly using it on my phone, but I am also afraid the vpn could create issues with my account? Like I read of banned accounts for using vpns, is that really a thing ?

Even Valve is using VPN and big companies here like Square or Capcom.

Must always see the context... besides, Valve cannot and must not go against fundamental rights and data protection is one part of it.

Some additional info about Steam China can be found on Steamdb[steamdb.info]. Else there are platforms like WeGame游戏商店[www.wegame.com.cn], but not really recommended

[Ettanin]

Using a VPN violates the Steam Subscriber Agreement and can, if used to circumvent regional restrictions, lead to account suspension.
https://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/

You agree that you will not use IP proxying or other methods to disguise the place of your residence, whether to circumvent geographical restrictions on game content, to purchase at pricing not applicable to your geography, or for any other purpose. If you do this, Valve may terminate your access to your Account.

[wuddih]

vpn services within china can and may circumvent chinas firewall. those are ok to use for Steam as your country of residence does not change.
just do not use vpns to circumvent restrictions on Steam itself or to buy games cheaper.

f.e. there are games that will not be available for purchase in china .. do not change your store country to f.e. hong kong or taiwan with a vpn to circumvent that restriction.

and if you are a visible foreigner aka you are not looking asian in the slightest, stay low key, adapt and comply, do not litter, be teatime british polite, not bloody british polite. and when you have learned the language a bit, you should be fine after that to be more open.

[ɴᴀᴏᴍᴀꜱᴀ]

So as far as I ve I should have no problem accessing and using my library and buying games as long as I don’t change my account region (IT) and I have no interest in doing that tbh. But what if a VPN is installed even tho I’m not using it for steam, that shouldn’t be a problem, right ?

[ɴᴀᴏᴍᴀꜱᴀ]

Originally posted by wuddih:

vpn services within china can and may circumvent chinas firewall. those are ok to use for Steam as your country of residence does not change.
just do not use vpns to circumvent restrictions on Steam itself or to buy games cheaper.

f.e. there are games that will not be available for purchase in china .. do not change your store country to f.e. hong kong or taiwan with a vpn to circumvent that restriction.

and if you are a visible foreigner aka you are not looking asian in the slightest, stay low key, adapt and comply, do not litter, be teatime british polite, not bloody british polite. and when you have learned the language a bit, you should be fine after that to be more open.

Im confused about the last part, is that a suggestion about steam or for life there in general ahaha

[wuddih]

Originally posted by ɴᴀᴏᴍᴀꜱᴀ:

Originally posted by wuddih:

vpn services within china can and may circumvent chinas firewall. those are ok to use for Steam as your country of residence does not change.
just do not use vpns to circumvent restrictions on Steam itself or to buy games cheaper.

f.e. there are games that will not be available for purchase in china .. do not change your store country to f.e. hong kong or taiwan with a vpn to circumvent that restriction.

and if you are a visible foreigner aka you are not looking asian in the slightest, stay low key, adapt and comply, do not litter, be teatime british polite, not bloody british polite. and when you have learned the language a bit, you should be fine after that to be more open.

Im confused about the last part, is that a suggestion about steam or for life there in general ahaha

life in general. dunno where you come from but it is never wrong to be prepared.

[ɴᴀᴏᴍᴀꜱᴀ]

Originally posted by wuddih:

Originally posted by ɴᴀᴏᴍᴀꜱᴀ:

Im confused about the last part, is that a suggestion about steam or for life there in general ahaha

life in general. dunno where you come from but it is never wrong to be prepared.

Oh right, I see. Of course, thank you !

[n3om4nCZ]

Originally posted by ɴᴀᴏᴍᴀꜱᴀ:

Originally posted by Taki7o7:

you should use a VPN anyway, specially in china ^^

I thought about that and I’ll be certainly using it on my phone, but I am also afraid the vpn could create issues with my account? Like I read of banned accounts for using vpns, is that really a thing ?

I'm using VPN and still ok - no ban, no blocked payment, no problem with download etc.

Only FB blocked my account once because of VPN but it's FB .