Indonesia Cuts Off Access to Steam, Epic Games Store and Other Online Stores [UPDATED]

Update (Steam unlocked):

Valve registered with Kementerian Komunikasi dan Informatika. As a result, Steam users in Indonesia have regained access to the service.

Origin and Epic Games Store remain blocked for now. No word yet on whether the companies responsible for them have plans to register.

Source: analyst Daniel Ahmad on Twitter.

Original news:

Indonesian authorities have blocked access to a number of foreign online services in their country, including many gaming stores.

1. Indonesian players lost access to Steam, Epic Games Store, Origin and PayPal, among others.
2. This is the result of a new law that requires Internet companies to register with Kominfo (Kementerian Komunikasi dan Informatika, or the Indonesian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology).
3. More than 8,000 Indonesian companies and only 282 foreign companies have registered. Access to the services of those that have not complied has been blocked.
4. Users get around these blockades by changing their own DNS or using VPN services.
5. The blockades are not permanent and will be lifted if the affected companies pay a fine and register.
6. One reason why some companies have chosen not to register may be that under this law they will have to provide Indonesian authorities with access to player data. On top of that, big concerns are raised by Article 13 of the law, according to which video game developers and publishers will be able to be sued if they "violate public order," and the criteria for that are nowhere specified.

Source: Twitter account of Daniel Ahmad, an analyst specializing in the Asian market.

This is a significant development for the gaming industry, as according to estimates there were 111 million gamers in Indonesia last year, counting only those who spend at least $16 a year on the hobby.

The local market is growing rapidly and is dominated by foreign developers. In 2020, the industry's revenue generated in Indonesia was $1.74 billion. Of this amount, 1.38 billion came from mobile games, 242 million from PC games, and console games generated $112 million.

Not surprisingly, many companies registered with Kominfo. Google and game developers and publishers of, e.g. Ragnarok Online, Valorant, PUBG Mobile or Roblox, have decided to make such a move.

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