Cover-Credits:
Gamers from all across Indonesia were not able to enjoy their weekend sessions of games like Dota 2 and CS:GO, after the country’s government blocked the games along with the entirety of entities like Steam, Epic Games and more. In Indonesia, these companies have been blocked from entering the country because they have not registered with Kominfo, the country’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.
Niko Partners reported that Kominfo put into place new regulations requiring companies (both foreign and local) operating in Indonesia to register themselves with the Ministry by July 29 or face "a formal warning, a monetary fine, and access termination."
For Steam, a lack of registration has removed its gaming services (which include Dota 2 and CS:GO) from Indonesia. However, Valve is working towards fixing this problem as soon as possible according to a report from Indonesian media outlet IDX Channel.
Dota 2 developer Valve is working with the Indonesian government
While many Indonesian gamers are circumventing the ban by changing their DNS servers or using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service, Valve has reportedly reached out to the government to fix this issue directly.
Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, a senior official at Indonesia's Communications Ministry, apologized to gamers for the disruption in services but stated that the government was left with no choice since these entities had not met registration rules.
The official defended these measures as protection for Indonesian internet users and its digital ecosystem, asking entities like Valve and Epic Games to meet the registration requirements and respect the existing rules quickly, so that users would not feel the impact of the ban for a long time.
He also added that Valve has been in communication with Kominfo since yesterday and was working towards restoring its gaming services including Steam, Dota 2 and CS:GO.
After it imposed the block, Kominfo has been the target of memes and criticism from gamers for blocking Steam, Dota 2 and CS:GO. On Twitter, the hashtag #BlokirKominfo (Block Kominfo) was topping the trending charts with many users ridiculing the government’s decision to block Steam on a weekend.
Games from Riot Games (including Valorant, League of Legends, Wild Rift), Krafton (PUBG Mobile, New State), and other studios who have registered with Kominfo before the deadline continued to operate smoothly.
