Kemkomdigi: IGRS Label Appeared on Steam Due to Internal Miscommunication

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Kemkomdigi) has stated that the Indonesia Game Rating System (IGRS) rating label temporarily appeared on Steam due to internal miscommunication at the game distribution platform provider. “So, this morning they (Steam) sent an email apologising for the miscommunication,” said Director of Digital Ecosystem Development at Kemkomdigi, Sonny Hendra Sudaryana, when met at the Kemkomdigi office in Central Jakarta on Monday. “There was one step they skipped. They should have sent the game classification report to us, and only then would we give the green light for them to upload the trial,” he added. He stated that the official game classifications are displayed on the IGRS website. The age classification labels previously shown on Steam, according to him, were the result of self-assessment by the platform provider and had not been verified by the government. Sonny explained that Steam is currently trialling the implementation of IGRS ratings on its platform. Steam should have reported its self-assessment results to Kemkomdigi, but due to the internal miscommunication at the platform, it directly displayed the IGRS ratings without going through the government verification process. Steam has now removed the IGRS rating labels from games circulating on its platform and reverted to displaying international rating labels. “In other countries, their models are already mature, so they can go straight ahead. But in ours, there is indeed a rating logic that needs to be synchronised,” he said. He mentioned that there is no memorandum of understanding between Kemkomdigi and Steam, nor any API system integration regarding the implementation of the game classification system on that platform. The display of IGRS labels on games circulating on the Steam platform had sparked widespread discussion on social media platforms. On social media, Steam users noted discrepancies in rating labels for several games, which could potentially cause confusion among players and parents. For example, games with adult content received a 3+ rating, while more child-friendly games were labelled 18+.