Steam, the platform developed by Valve, has become a mainstay with PC gamers over the years and will likely remain the number one online destination to purchase PC games until the sun burns out. With over 60 million customers daily and over 50,000 games for sale, you can expect things to go wrong occasionally.
Is Steam Down?
For those trying to get on the Steam website, through the client, or through the site itself, many are being hit with error code “118” or a plethora of other error codes. For some, it simply won’t load at all.
If your issues aren’t happening on a Tuesday, users could be experiencing error codes and loading issues during heavy traffic times.
However, if it is a Tuesday, Steam usually performs weekly maintenance on Tuesday afternoons, around the time of 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM PT. Though the schedule is not always exact, this is the normal time when users will start seeing connection errors.
Rest assured, Steam maintenance is normally a short process, and the servers shouldn’t remain down for very long. Average times are usually 15-30 minutes at maximum.
If you’re getting error code 118, this usually means that the wanted response is not happening due to the inability to connect to the server. This could mean the server is offline or the user is not connected. Since so many have this issue, it’s fair to say that the server on their side is struggling. The likely cause is simple congestion, as Steam will set records for how many customers it deals with in one day.
How to Check Steam Server Status
One of the best ways to check the status of the Steam platform is by using steamstat.us. The site will provide all manner of information about Steam and the various games that it runs. You can also use DownDetector if nothing is posted there. DownDetector is a third-party site that lets users report outages as soon as they happen.
