Valve Breaks Silence, Apologises for Irregularities in IGRS Ratings on Steam

Valve has finally spoken out regarding the issue with the Indonesia Game Rating System (IGRS) age classification on the Steam platform, following widespread attention from Indonesian gamers. The Steam parent company acknowledged a bug that caused age restriction labels to be inaccurate and misdirected, and issued an apology. Valve explained that the problem occurring from 2 to 5 April was triggered by technical difficulties and miscommunication. As a result, the age ratings displayed on game pages were temporarily incomplete and inconsistent. “We have removed those (labels) to minimise the potential for further confusion. We apologise for any confusion that may have been caused by this error,” Valve stated on its official page, as quoted by KompasTekno on Wednesday (8/4/2026). Several gamers initially discovered discrepancies between the age labels and the game content displayed on the Steam storefront. Games containing sexual content and extreme violence were erroneously labelled “3+” (safe for toddlers). On the other hand, popular award-winning games were unilaterally blocked and labelled as unfit for distribution. In response to the chaos, Kemkomdigi also issued a warning and emphasised that the ratings that appeared on Steam were not official government classifications. In the same statement, Valve also reaffirmed its commitment to complying with local regulations in Indonesia. Valve claimed to have engaged in intensive communication with Kemkomdigi for more than two years. “The system we are building aims to use information provided by developers about their games to generate age ratings based on IGRS regulations,” Valve stated. The ultimate goal is to provide clear information to consumers about the content and minimum age group for each game. Nevertheless, Valve indicated that gamers and developers will likely need to be patient. The company, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, acknowledged that the path to full error-free implementation will take time. “There are still several steps to be taken before we are ready to fully generate and display IGRS-approved age ratings to customers in Indonesia,” Valve concluded.