Steam and Dota no longer blocked in Indonesia. Here’s what happened

Update: Sure enough it did not take long for Valve to take action and come to an agreement with Kominfo. It appears as of August 2, Steam is no longer blocked in Indonesia and is once again accessible.

On Friday, July 29th, 11:59 PM, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology of the Republic of Indonesia (Kominfo) blocked several major digital and gaming platforms including Steam, Epic Games, Paypal, and more. Indonesian residents had a rude awakening the day after, realizing that they were no longer able to play their favorite games, such as Dota, amongst many others.

According to a local news outlet (translated), the reason for the block is caused by the companies' failure to comply with Kominfo's new legislation which states that all online platforms and services must register for a permit to operate in the country.

Here is the list of companies that are currently or may potentially be affected:

Kominfo added that they had issued several warning letters to these companies and that the final deadline was set on July 29th. Fortunately, this is by no means a permanent block. If the digital platforms above complete their permit registration, their services should be back online. However, no one can tell how long that might take.

Indonesian Dota players, lovers and the general public obviously did not take this shocking news well. Luckily, esports.gg have compiled some tips from the greater Dota community to offer you ease of mind.

(Note: Bypassing government restrictions on websites, games, software, and other online services may be illegal in your country. The following methods are listed for entertainment purposes only. Esports.gg takes no responsibility or liability for any penalties rendered by following the below instructions. All steps are taken at your own risk.)

1) Use a VPN - Effectiveness: High | Cost: Varies

A virtual private network (VPN) allows you to bypass restrictions and access sites that would normally be unavailable in your region by masking your IP address to make you untraceable in the internet. ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Private Internet Access are some of the most well-known VPNs. They are, however, paid subscription services. You may opt for free options as well but they usually come with limitations such as timed trials or data caps.

2) Changing your DNS settings - Effectiveness: Debatable | Cost: None

Tweaking your internet domain name system (DNS) settings is another method to bypass the block. However, this is slightly more complex than using a VPN and is not a sure-fire solution. There are also different versions to this method, but here is one that you can try.

1) Right-click the Internet icon in the system tray
2) Click Open Network & Internet settings
3) Click Change Adapter Options
4) Right click internet adapter select properties
5) Fill in IPV4 and IPV6 as shown in the picture (click the images on tweet)

3) Move to a different SEA country. Effectiveness: 100% | Cost: Ridiculous

This should be your last resort and may sound like a meme solution, but moving to a different South East Asian country is an option. TI11 is happening soon in Singapore anyway, so why not move there?

4) Accept your fate and give up Dota. Effectiveness: Zen | Benefit: Sanity

Yes. You can also choose to give up Dota. Like previously mentioned, the block is not permanent. This would be a good time to get back all the sanity you lost grinding ranked matches and playing with the world's most toxic individuals. And at SEA no less! Get out there! You deserve this break.

The blocking of Dota and other critical digital platforms by the Indonesian government is certainly bad news, but it does not spell the end of the world. Be patient! Most of the companies that were targeted by Kominfo complied. Eventually, Steam will follow suit as well.

When the block is finally lifted, we will definitely update you here at Esports.gg. Until then, keep on keeping on!