A few days ago, several Steam users reported an outage that produced weird images when booting up. For those who are frustrated with the unexpected issue, there are several reasons why the app is frequently down.

Steam is a digital distribution platform developed by Valve. This platform offers multiplayer gaming, video streaming and social networking services, as well as digital rights management (DRM). Aside from this, Steam also provides the users with installation and updating of several games, as well as community features such as cloud saving, friends list and groups, and in-game voice and chat functionality, per KOI PS4 on Medium 

With that said, it only means that the digital platform plays a vital role to its users.

Why Is Steam Down?

According to Screen Rant, Steam users reported that the service of the app was malfunctioning a few days ago. Apart from down service, a strange image also appeared when the app was booted up. It has since been fixed, though the app developer has not yet released any statements regarding the outage.

For what it's worth, Twitter account Steam Status together with other users also reported that they could not access several features including the store, friends list, as well as its other online functions.

Screen Rant furthered that the apps and their live services interruption happen regularly, but the errors that occurred with the recent Steam outage are unusual. In relation to this, Steam also went down multiple times last year without explanation or heads up.

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3 Possible Reasons For Frequent Steam Outage

For those curious to know why users Steam frequently suffers an outage, Best Gaming Tips shared three reasons explaining why it could be happening.

3. Tuesday Maintenance

Every Tuesday, the server of Steam undergoes scheduled maintenance. On a positive note, this repair usually runs at 7 p.m. EST or 4 p.m. PT, and the update does not take more than 10 minutes to finish.

Moreover, if Steam stopped working on Tuesdays after the scheduled maintenance, users must shut down the program and reboot the used computer. After rebooting, users must wait 10 minutes before relaunching Steam.

2. Sudden Steam Server Problems

If users suspected that Steam might be experiencing an outage, they should check first if other users have complained about the same issue. In case a large of Steam users reported the same, the servers may be down.

Luckily, there are other ways to check if the gaming app has an outage, rather than asking each Steam user. Through Downdetector, users will be able to know if there are any reported outages for the last 24 hours. Aside from the outage period, Downdetector also shows the most reported problems that the users experienced.

As of writing, more than 40 percent of the reported problems are about server connections, 35 percent reported that the website encounters a problem, while 17 percent are gameplay

1. Steam Server Outages During Winter and Summer Sales

During Winter and Summer sales, Steam outages occur frequently than usual. With this, the servers get overwhelmed by a massive number of user requests, such as buying discounted games and in-game items while some give their friends Steam gifts.

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