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Valve has never been one to allow gamers to break the rules, with them even going as far as showing VAC bans publicly for those caught cheating in Steam games. But recently they have been cracking down on players that have been bypassing regional restrictions by utilising VPNs, and reseller sites. Following the Helldivers 2 PSN controversy that has led to the game being restricted in 180 countries, many gamers took to these methods to still be able to play and access the game, which has led to many being banned.
So far, 20,000 gamers have been banned, although it has largely been contained to players in Russia and Belarus. Both countries were restricted from accessing Sony games in February 2024, with the countries also being banned from purchasing games on PlayStation consoles back in 2022 following the Russia and Ukraine war. But, some gamers have felt like they’re being treated unfairly and have looked for ways to still play titles such as Helldivers 2, which has become Sony’s biggest launch ever following it’s release in February.
Players in these countries have taken to using VPNs to change their location to be able to access Steam in other parts of the world where the restrictions aren’t in place. Some players also do this to try and secure cheaper copies of games from countries such as Argentina where titles are often up to 60% cheaper due to the strength of the local currency. Valve has smartened up to this practice and has made it difficult to do and many users are banned once it is discovered.
This now looks like those using VPNs to access games such as Helldivers 2 in restricted countries are being banned. So far it has been largely contained to Russia and Belarus but there has been reports from players in other countries. Players in these countries activating global Steam keys to circumvent the restriction are also being banned too.
If you activated a global Steam key in a non-restricted country there should be no reason to worry about your account being banned. But if you are one that has been banned, or you activated a Steam key prior to your country being restricted, you can contact Steam support to either try and restore your account or prevent it from being banned.
For those that are still able to play the game, the Helldivers 2 story is reaching it’s most crucial moment as players are tasked with destroying an entire planet to try and stop the Terminid Super Colony. Unfortunately for Super Earth, this is going to lead to a catastrophic event that will bring about the arrival of The Illuminate.
