On the West Coast of the United States, reports of an outage began to surface around 9:50 a.m. Pacific Time, peaking at approximately 3,000 reports by 10:30 a.m. Users quickly took to social media and various forums to express their frustrations as they encountered difficulties accessing the Steam platform.
Steam Store “offline”
According to an unofficial Steam Status page, the Steam Store was marked as offline, although other services appeared to be functioning normally. This discrepancy left many users puzzled as they attempted to navigate the platform.
Steam Charts page not working properly
Meanwhile, the Steam Charts page, which typically provides insights into popular games and the number of active users, was also experiencing issues. Despite these technical difficulties, reports indicated that over 32 million users were online at the time.
Steam Summer Sale
The annual Steam Summer Sale was in full swing, running through July 10, and offering significant discounts on numerous titles. For instance, the Crash Bandicoot trilogy was available for a staggering 90% off, priced at just .99. However, the influx of gamers eager to take advantage of these deals appeared to be overwhelming the servers.
Down Detector
As the situation unfolded, Down Detector reported over 4,400 outage reports, with users commenting on issues affecting both the browser and app versions of Steam. Many found themselves unable to purchase games or even access their wishlists.
Cart won’t load
In an attempt to test the store’s functionality, one user tried to add the game Gris to their cart, only to find the system unresponsive. The familiar spinning logo indicated a problem, and soon after, an error message appeared, signaling a deeper issue with the platform.
Wishlists won’t load either
Reports soon emerged that wishlists were also failing to load. Users attempting to access their lists via both the browser and mobile app encountered similar problems, further compounding the frustration among gamers.
Not uncommon
Such outages during major sales events are not unprecedented for Steam. Historical patterns show that server overloads often occur when gamers rush to grab discounted titles. A similar incident took place during the winter sale in December, but that outage was resolved in under an hour. This summer’s issues, however, seemed to persist longer than usual.
Two hours and it’s still climbing
As the outage continued, reports on Down Detector climbed to nearly 5,000, with no immediate signs of resolution. Users remained unable to access their carts and wishlists, leading to growing impatience within the gaming community.
Steam seems to be working again
After a couple of hours, users began to notice improvements. Access to wishlists and carts was restored, allowing some to complete their purchases. The situation appeared to be stabilizing as Valve’s servers caught up with the demand.
Down Detector reports take a nosedive
With the Steam platform seemingly back online, reports on Down Detector plummeted to around 1,200, down from a peak of over 5,000. Users shared their success stories on social media, indicating that they could once again browse and purchase games.
The end
As the dust settled, users reported a return to normalcy, with many taking advantage of the ongoing summer sale. Down Detector’s report count continued to decline, indicating that the outage had largely been resolved, allowing gamers to enjoy their shopping experience once more.