Valve removes Steam Mod upon request from South Korean Government

Valve removed a Steam mod on military dictatorship after the South Korean government requested its takedown.

Valve has removed a Steam Workshop mod depicting South Korea’s 1980 Gwangju Uprising following a formal request from the South Korean government over concerns of “historical distortion.”

The mod, titled Gwangju Running Man, is a total conversion for Mount & Blade: Warband and depicted the pro-democracy protests as violent riots, framing the military’s response under then-President Chun Doo-hwan as justified. 

According to a translated report from Automaton, the mod effectively glorified the violent crackdown on protesters during a critical moment in South Korea’s push toward democracy.

Initially, South Korea’s Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC) blocked domestic access to the mod. GRAC later contacted Valve to request its global removal, arguing that the content violated laws against historical revisionism and could cause public harm.

Valve complied with the request, removing the mod globally. According to PC Gamer, this instance marks one of the first known cases where Valve has removed user-created content worldwide at the direct request of a foreign government on political grounds.

Previously, Valve has removed controversial titles such as Active Shooter in response to public backlash, but these decisions were not tied to governmental intervention. 

The Gwangju Uprising remains a significant event in South Korea’s history, with the violent suppression of protests leading to hundreds of deaths, and some estimates placing the toll above 2,000.

Valve has not issued a public statement regarding the mod’s removal at the time of writing.