Indonesia lifts Fortnite developer Epic Games' ban

Note: Since the publication of this article, Epic Games has registered with Kominfo and is no longer blocked in Indonesia. Indonesian players have full access to the game without the use of a VPN or other workaround now.

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Indonesia is one of the largest gaming markets in Asia, with a market of over $1 billion and Fortnite is a big part of that. However, the game was unavailable in the country for days after being deemed unlawful, which isn't the case anymore,

Fortnite is big in all parts of the world as the gameplay and features it offers are not unique or emphasized for any particular type of audience. Anyone can play the game, which is what's helped it become so popular.

The ban resulted in a pretty big loss of players from Indonesia through no fault of the game or the players. No one in Indonesia could play Fortnite, Here's why.

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Fortnite banned in Indonesia: What caused the ban?

The reason why Fortnite was banned in Indonesia is because the developers, Epic Games, did not comply with new rules in the country. With their implementation, all companies were asked to provide data on their users by July 29. If that didn't happen, they would be outlawed in Indonesia.

Several notable companies were initially hit with the unlawful label, including:

• Meta
• Amazon
• PayPal
• Yahoo
• Google
• Epic Games
• Steam
• FIFA

Since then, many companies did comply with the new rules after being banned. Steam and Yahoo were among those who reversed course, Epic Games followed in shortly and have since been unblocked in the country.

Chapter 3 Season 3 is no longer playable (Image via Epic Games)

Those companies changing their minds occurred only a few days after the bans were handed down, which means Epic Games has had a long time to reverse course and get their game back online in Indonesia.

According to a report from The Verge:

"Epic Games and the EA-owned Origin still remain banned in the country, which makes games like Fortnite and FIFA unplayable. The ban has sparked backlash among Indonesian users, who have made the #BlockirKominfo (block Kominfo) a trending hashtag on Twitter. Some users have resorted to using a VPN (virtual private network) to play games from banned services."

PayPal had yet to comply, too, though they've been temporarily unbanned so users can move money out as needed. They intend on providing the data so that it will be usable again, as Epic Games did the same after initially being banned.

Evidently, the Indonesian government reached out to all banned companies since the ban to try and urge them to comply and get their products available again.

Given how large the Indonesian gaming market is, Epic Games eventually did reverse course and comply, thus opening the market back up for Fortnite players.

Epic is known for standing by its principles, though. They're typically not one to back down. In the Apple fiasco, Epic refused to back down to what Apple was trying to do with the game on the App Store.

It ultimately cost them the ability to even have the game on iOS devices, but they haven't backed down and don't intend to. They said they will put Fortnite back on the App Store when Apple respects their wishes.

Ultimately, Epic chose to comply with new Indonesian practices to get the game back online there.