Stores like Steam, Epic Games Store, Origin are currently banned in Indonesia. What’s going on right now?
The Indonesian government made a requirement that digital companies not registered with the government would not be able to operate in the country. Turns out, a lot of the companies weren’t registered with the government.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (Kominfo) has pushed for regulation against private electronic system vendors. According to gaming industry analysis firm Niko Partners, Kominfo has four main goals with regulation.
+ Establish a system of PSEs operating in Indonesia+ Maintain Indonesia’s digital space+ Protect public access on digital platforms+ Create equity between domestic and foreign PSEs, including including tax collection
If a company is selling something over the Internet and making enough money in Indonesia to make it legal to register, it will likely be on the Indonesian listing.
If Valve decides not to subscribe, any Steam Indonesia users will not be able to access purchased games. That seems to go against Kominfo’s third goal, protecting public access on digital platforms. This provision may end up removing such access on any PSE where the gamer is unable to register.
Likewise, Indonesians who use multiple online services for work, such as streamers, must be approved for each subscription service.
As of July 21, more than 8,200 companies have registered, including 207 foreign companies, including Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and other famous apps. In addition, the popular games Mobile Legends and PUBG Mobile in the Indonesian market are also going through the PSE registration process.
However, there are still at least a dozen mainstream digital platforms that have yet to complete registration, such as Amazon, Alibaba, Opera, LinkedIn, Yahoo, and game-related platforms such as Roblox, Steam, Epic Games, Battle.net, Origin, etc. have aroused great interest among Indonesian netizens. Of course, Indonesian officials also stated that these companies that missed the registration deadline in Indonesia can still operate after complying with the regulations.
It is understandable that Indonesia requires Internet companies to register for PSE. For companies that fail to meet the deadline, officials said sanctions will be introduced in phases.