The Chinese government appears to be blocking Twitch in most of mainland China according to Abacus News (via GamesIndustry.biz). The app has also been removed from the Chinese regional App Store. This follows an earlier censorship of Facebook, Google, YouTube (fully blocked) and Steam (partial block) and comes on the heels of a freeze in the approval process for new games. Recent regulations have been making it increasingly difficult for the gaming industry outside of China.
Twitch’s disappearance has caused quite a bit of an uproar online in China. A Chinese netizen said the shutdown is a crackdown on free speech: “All things that don’t jive with Xi Jinping Thoughts will be blocked.”
Many are saying online that this supposed crackdown is a sign of the government further tightening its grip on gaming. Some said the banning of Twitch does not bode well for Valve’s digital game store Steam, which is one of the few major Western websites still partially accessible in China
Others say that the Twitch ban was due to "trash talking" between fans viewing the recent Asian Games.
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