In the middle of Valve’s very popular Winter Sale, Steam servers crashed, and the reasons are still unknown.
Many are the gamers who eagerly headed into Steam’s online store, expecting to get a bargain on their favorite games. However, many users are currently disappointed as the Valve Steam’s network crashed in the middle of the event.
People could not buy their favorite games, even access to different features of the app or their Friend list. The Steam Winter Sales is one of the most popular events of the seasons, and the problem affected millions of enthusiastic users.
Traffic overload or DDoS attack?
According to some reports, like the one from Game Rant, one of the most likely reasons for the network to go down is the heavy traffic the platform is undergoing with the launch of the Winter Sale that officially started yesterday.
If that is true, it would not be the first time Steam servers crash under heavy traffic. Rumors are saying the company was the victim of a massive DDoS attack like the ones that have targetted Xbox One Live and the PlayStation Network in the past.
Valve already solved the problem, and the servers are already back online. However, the company has not emitted an official statement on the issue the service presented earlier today.
Valve pays millions of dollars for shady Refund Policy
Valve Corporation, the American game developer and distributor, is currently going through some legal processes due to its policy of refunds in the period 2011- 2015. A problem which got the company a fine of $2.1 million ruled by an Australian court of law.
The Court ordered the penalty because Valve did not properly advertise its Refund Policy. The legal body concluded the company made the the return process too confusing so the average user could not know when they could ask for a reimbursement.
The ruling will have some effects on Valve and some possible side effects on the whole online community as more people could start suing. The company is being forced to pay the penalty within the next 30 days, and it will make Valve change its refund policy not to incur in the fault again.