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THE Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy encourages creative economy players to optimize the potential of Indonesia’s gaming industry in the midst of a pandemic.
According to the Director of the Creative Industries, Film, Television and Animation Ministry of Tourism, Syaifullah said the gaming industry experienced a significant development in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast to other parekraf industries that were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data released by the Indonesian Game Association (AGI), the growth of game developers in Indonesia rose by 10-20% amid a pandemic due to the surge in use of digital platforms among the public.
“The gaming industry in Indonesia has great potential to develop and compete in the international market. In 2017, application and game developers contributed 1.93% to the gross domestic product of Indonesia’s creative economy sector or IDR19,115.1 billion. This sector can also absorb 44,733 workers in the application and game developer sub-sectors in the same year,” he said.
However, Syaifullah explained that the gaming industry is not merely without problems. Piracy, cyber security, and equitable access to telecommunications are still obstacles facing this industry.
At the same time, the Indonesian Game Association (AGI) together with LIPI and the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology are conducting national research to find out the latest conditions of the Indonesian Game Industry Ecosystem, because the availability of accurate data is an important point for the government in formulating policies right for the development of the national gaming ecosystem.
Various support is still being done so that the gaming industry in Indonesia is more developed. Currently, the government is pursuing various strategic initiatives to support the gaming industry to skyrocket from year to year and make local games the host of the national gaming industry.
One way is to present an incentive scheme. In addition, various game events were also held, for example the President of the Esports Cup in February 2020 and the ‘GELORA 2020’ (Indonesian Local Creation Game) initiative which was being carried out and received rave reviews from the public.
“We have witnessed a lot of original local game developer talents and concepts coming from various regions in Indonesia. In addition to getting government support, we have also seen several large companies begin to seriously work on the game sector by sponsoring several eSports teams in Indonesia. This is a good synergy so that the game industry ecosystem is more mature,” he concluded.
On the same occasion, the President of Indonesia Esports Premier League (IESPL), Giring Ganesha, added that eSports can also be a promising profession for young people who are very familiar with technological developments. [traveltext.id]
