after being blocked (opens in new tab) Steam is now back online in Indonesia after failing to register with the proper authorities. Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad took to his Twitter to report Steam’s return, but said the Epic Games Store and Origin were still blocked, with no indication of when it would return.
Indonesian authorities have empowered themselves to force platforms to disclose user data or remove content that “disrupts public order”, and through the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, have signed new regulations on companies until July 20 this year. allowed to Also known as Kominfo. Some did, and many others didn’t, including Valve, Epic, Origin, PayPal, Yahoo, Ubisoft, and others. Therefore they were blocked.
The good news is that Valve is now Kominfo registered and Steam is officially unblocked and accessible in Indonesia. However, Epic Games Store/Services and EA’s Origin remain blocked, and there is no official confirmation as to whether they plan to register yet.August 2, 2022
When Ahmad reported that Valve had filled out the necessary paperwork and access to Steam had been returned, everyone expected that Steam’s loss could be the result of a principled stance against overregulation. things are gone.comeback confirmed Engadget (opens in new tab), PayPal and Yahoo are also reported to be back online.another Reuters (opens in new tab) Facebook’s parent company Meta has reportedly signed the new regulation, along with Google, Spotify, Netflix and TikTok.
It definitely wouldn’t be nice if the government decided they could arbitrarily force the removal of content they deemed illegal, but the main backlash in Indonesia came not from new regulations, but from the loss of access to video games. It seems to have happened. In fact, Kominfo actually apologized to gamers (Google Translation (opens in new tab)), also stating that “the rules still need to be enforced.” In other words, Steam is back, but it also apparently has new rules that online businesses must follow.
We reached out to Epic Games, Electronic Arts, and Ubisoft to ask about their own efforts to restore service in Indonesia. I will update if I get a reply.
