Video gaming inIndonesia is a growing sector, holding the 16th largest market in the world and about half of theSoutheast Asian market in 2017. Over 40 million people in the country are active gamers, withmobile gaming being the dominant sector in terms of revenue. The development of video games in the country began with imported consoles and arcade centres, prior to developments of online gameplay inPC games and increasing prevalence of theinternet cafés. Mobile games only began gaining importance as smartphones were introduced.
The Indonesian video game industry contributed about US$1.1 billion to thenational economy in 2015, despite only earning a small fraction of the local gaming revenues.Video game piracy is also prevalent across the country, making up the majority of installed games.
Development of video games in Indonesia began in the mid-1980s through imported video game consoles such as theSNES,Sega Mega Drive/Genesis,PlayStation andXbox. Arcade centres also appeared, including major chainsTimezone which started in Indonesia at 1995 and Amazone which was established in 2001. Local entertainment chains such as Funworld which was established in 1983, have also began introducing Arcade machines and games as a part of their brand expansion. According to a designer fromNamco Bandai, 1,000 of the 1,500 arcade machines distributed inAsia Pacific operated in Indonesia.[1]
Later on, by the late 1990s and early 2000sPC games such asStarCraft,Counter-Strike,Lineage II andWorld of Warcraft and its modDefense of the Ancients caught on alongside their online features.[1] While most of the games were imported, there were several locally developed games such asNusantara Online (a MMO which featured precolonialIndonesian history).[2] There were also several localised games, such asAudition Online which was localised asAyoDance when it was launched for Indonesia in 2007.[3] This contributed to a major boom ininternet cafés (known locally aswarnet, a portmanteau ofwarung internet), which had 2,500 locations across the country in 2002 and 5,000 by 2007.[1]
Due to the size of the Indonesian market, several games were localised specifically for the nation's audience. Examples include South Korean onlinefirst-person shooterSpecial Force which featured levels inJakarta with theMonumen Nasional as a background,Point Blank andLost Saga both of which featured several aspects ofIndonesian Culture into their respective content andHarvest Moon which features an official specializedIndonesian translation.[1] Matahari Studios, which closed down in 2010, is often credited as being the first local video game developer in the country, although it more often took outsourcing work from major studios instead of developing its own games.[4][5]
More recently, growth in the number ofsmartphone users have fuelled growth in mobile online games, aided by the lower development costs associated for local developers. This change also allowed extension of the playerbase beyond typical youth gamers to a more casual demographic, with the game platforms includingFacebook in addition to the application stores ofiOS andAndroid.[1]
The2018 Asian Games, held in Indonesia, included ademonstration event for Esports.[6]
According to gaming researcher Newzoo, in 2017 there were an estimated 43.7 million active gamers in Indonesia, spending a total of US$879.7 million for an average annual spending of US$20.13 per person.[8] This made Indonesia the largest gaming market inSoutheast Asia and 16th largest globally, just behindTaiwan and ahead ofIndia.[9] According to Euromonitor, the industry revenues had grown from IDR 1.812 trillion in 2011 to IDR 11.395 trillion by 2016, for agrowth of 44.4% annually. Another research fromUnity Technologies found that Indonesia's video game market was the fastest–growing inSoutheast Asia.[10] Of the 2016 sales, about 98% was through internet retailing in form of software. Sales of video game hardware, including consoles and accessories, amounted to just around IDR 200 billion annually between 2011 and 2016.[7]
Approximately 56% ofPC game players in Indonesia are males, with the 21–35 age group making up the largest demographic.[11] According to Euromonitor,Sony consoles are the most popular with a 60.6% market share followed byMicrosoft andNintendo.[7] Mobile games make up the majority of the revenues, with a 52% revenue share in 2015.[12]
Video Games Indonesia (VGI), founded in 2002, was the oldest gaming community in Indonesia prior to its shutdown in 2016.[1][13]
A 2013 study estimated the prevalence ofvideo game addiction among Indonesian school students at over 10 per cent, although its authors admitted that improvements to the study's methodology were required to draw a proper conclusion.[14]
Despite declining in recent years due to the spread of smartphones and better quality mobile internet,internet cafés are still prevalent in large cities and small towns alike with some providing higher–end computers forcompetitive gaming.[15][14] Popular online PC Games in Indonesia tend to befree to play games, such asPoint Blank,Counter Strike,Lost Saga,Grand chase,Audition Online,Elsword,Dragon Nest,Atlantica Online,Ragnarok Online,PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds,Apex Legends,Valorant andDota 2. Some of these games are managed and localised by local publishing companies. Most notably Gemscool, one of the largest online PC-gaming service provider and publisher in Indonesia prior to the company's shut down in 2021.[16]
Console gaming gained prevalence in Indonesia in the late 1980s and the 1990s, following the introductions video game consoles such as theSNES and theSega Genesis, The first e-sports tournament held in the country was aSuper Mario Bros. competition, held inSurabaya in 1989, around these times, Console rental centers began to pop up throughout the country.[17] Sony'sPlayStation 2 entered and dominated the Indonesian market in the early 2000s, with video games such asWinning Eleven,Harvest Moon,SmackDown,Downhill Domination,Resident Evil 4,God Of War,Rumble Racing,The Warriors,Dynasty Warriors 5,Sengoku Basara,Def Jam: Fight for NY,God Hand,Tekken 5,Guitar Hero,Black,Need For Speed, andGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas gaining a huge cult following among the Indonesian youth.[18][19] Sony would continue to dominate the Indonesian console market in the following years with the release ofPlayStation 3 andPlayStation 4 both of which are also popularly available among console rental centers within the country.
Console rental centers across Indonesia tend to use PlayStation consoles, hence the termRental PS. Just like itsWarnet counterparts, Console rental centers have been declining in recent years due to the prevalence of Smartphones and better mobile internet, despite this, Console rental centers are still prevalent in larger cities and smaller towns.[20]
Unique to the country's console gaming scene,Modded console games, typicallyGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas are commonly found throughout the country's game market.[21]
In recent times, Mobile games are particularly popular in Indonesia, following growing internet penetration as well as the introduction of Smartphones. Strategy mobile games such asClash of Clans andGame of War: Fire Age were among the most popular titles in 2014.[22] There is also a significant competitive scene, with eSports tournaments for mobile games such asVainglory being held inJakarta. other mobile game titles with a large player base in Indonesia areMoblie Legends,PUBG Mobile,Free Fire Battlegrounds,Clash Royale andCall of Duty: Mobile.[23]
TheCreative Economy Agency (Indonesian:Badan Ekonomi Kreatif or Bekraf), formed in 2015, is the government body responsible for aiding in and managing the development of the gaming industry as part of its task to develop Indonesia'screative industries.[24] It also holds an annual trade show known as Game Prime since 2016, which targets developers from Indonesia and theASEAN.[25] The Indonesian Game Association (Indonesian:Asosiasi Game Indonesia), formed in 2013, acts as the industry's trade association.[26]
The video games industry in Indonesia comprised 1.77% of the national creative economy (IDR 15.08 trillion) in 2015 according toStatistics Indonesia, with only 20% of developers being part of an association.[27] It sustained at least 2,200 jobs in 2017.[28] However, it contributed only 1.8% to the domestic market according to Anton Soeharyo, chief executive of local developer TouchTen.[29] Director-general of informatics application Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan from theMinistry of Communication and Informatics gave a different figure, at 10 per cent market share in 2016.[30]
Local game developers are targeted to hold 50 per cent of the national market by 2020. In January 2016, chairman of the Indonesian Game Association Andy Suryanto estimated that there were around 1,000 active local game developers in the country.[31] On the other hand,Unity Technologies gave a figure of about 400 developers producing over 1,000 games.[30] Most of the new titles created are targeted towards the PC or the mobile market, with only a single game released for thePlayStation 4 in recent times and none for the other major consoles.[32]Lyto, which publishes foreign MMOs such asRagnarok Online andCrossfire, was the largest local developer in terms of revenue according to Euromonitor.[7][33]
Due to various factors, most new Indonesian video game studios do not stay in business for longer than five years.[34] There have been several local mobile game hits, includingincremental gameTahu Bulat in 2017.[30] TheMinistry of Trade has budgeted US$2.1 million in 2015 to prepare a roadmap and support the gaming industry.[35]
Some of the more notable games developed in Indonesia include:
Notable Development companies include:
Additionally French Video Game companyGameloft also maintains a studio in Yogyakarta.
Notable Publishing companies include:
Additionally South Korean Video Game corporationGravity and Chinese Video game companyMoonton also maintains a corporate office in Jakarta.
Indonesia has its own game rating system, theIndonesia Game Rating System which was launched by theMinistry of Communication and Informatics in 2016.[36] It categorises video games into the following classifications:
Video game piracy is common in Indonesia as with software piracy in general, withBSA estimating 84% of all software installed in Indonesian companies throughout 2013 being unlicensed.[1][37] Many stores in Indonesia offer illegally downloaded video games burned into DVDs for significantly less than its normal retail price, withWii games being sold for IDR 20,000 (US$2) or less.[21] Due to the nature ofIndonesian copyright laws, video game companies are required to bring the lawsuits against the illegal merchants to court, the cost of which would often outweigh the benefits.[38]
When online-only consoles such as thePlayStation 3 was released in Indonesia, authorised dealers initially controlled the distribution. However, once piracy took up these distributors withdrew from the country, causing a scarcity of authentic video game copies and raising the prices–resulting in further increase in piracy.[1]
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