Steam Subreddit Protests Reddit’s New API Rules by Posting About Literal Steam

The Steam subreddit is protesting against Reddit’s new API changes by posting about… literal, airy, gassy steam.

The community forum is normally the place Steam Deck owners and other PC gamers visit to get the latest news about everything related to Steam and its parent company Valve. Today, however, PC Gamer reported that the Steam subreddit is filled to the rim with pictures of steam flowing out of everything that produces it. Posts about steam include (but aren’t limited to) steamships, steam tractors, trains, boiling pots, enclosed greenhouses, and barbeque grills.

There are even two Steamed Hams memes from The Simpsons: one featuring the original scene, and the other where Principal Skinner presents a platter of steampunk gear to Superintendent Chalmers.

From June 12-14, the Steam subreddit went dark in solidarity with other subreddits protesting against Reddit’s new API pricing policy, which will kill third-party apps and tools used to customize the site — such as Reddit is Fun, Apollo and Narwhal — and render them permanently inaccessible to users on July 1. Over the weekend, moderators for the subreddit said in a post they received a message from the company threatening to remove them if they do not reopen the community and continue to participate in the protest.

To avoid retaliation, the Steam subreddit and others who participated in the Reddit blackout have completely changed what type of posts are allowed in their respective communities, making the topics somewhat related but not the same. To wit, the Pokemon Go subreddit has posts about Pikachu, John Oliver and Spark.

Cristina Alexander is a freelance writer for IGN. To paraphrase Calvin Harris, she wears her love for Sonic the Hedgehog on her sleeve like a big deal. Follow her on Twitter @SonicPrincess15.