Steam suffers outage affecting over 1,000 users

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 21 Oct, 15:58 · Archive

Steam users reported widespread issues with the gaming platform on 21 October, with over 1,000 reporting problems on DownDetector.

Steam users reported widespread issues with the gaming platform on 21 October. More than 1,000 users reported problems via DownDetector, with the majority experiencing server connection issues.

Breakdown of the reported problems showed 70% related to server connection difficulties, 12% involved login problems and 10% concerned purchases. The reports began shortly after 3pm that afternoon, with users taking to social media to document the outage.

One user reported seeing error E502 L2 on every page of the Steam store. Some users speculated whether the disruption was connected to PHP vulnerabilities discovered around the same time.

On the same day, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) issued a warning about critical security flaws in PHP (CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619), a general-purpose scripting language used widely for web development. The NCSC urged UK organisations to take immediate action to update their PHP systems and mitigate the security risks.

Whether Steam's outage was directly caused by these PHP vulnerabilities remains unclear from the available reports. The timing of both events on the same day prompted speculation among some users, though no official confirmation linked the two incidents.

How it is being reported

• Is Steam down? Gamers reporting issues with server for popular platformOn DownDetector, more than 1,000 users have said they are facing problems with the gaming platform.Croydon Guardian · 21 Oct, 15:32
• Is Steam down? Gamers reporting issues with server for popular platformOn DownDetector, more than 1,000 users have said they are facing problems with the gaming platform.Wandsworth Guardian · 21 Oct, 15:32
• Is Steam down? Gamers reporting issues with server for popular platformOn DownDetector, more than 1,000 users have said they are facing problems with the gaming platform.News Shopper · 21 Oct, 15:32

In this story: Steam · National Cyber Security Centre · DownDetector

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem