Indonesia is part of that economic reality, alive and kicking, albeit not as big a player as the United States or Japan. the video game industry here is relatively young. it first took off after 1999.
we dont hear much about it in country is because most games are developed for export to Australia, the United States and others parts of Southeast Asia.
we dont have massive companies like Electronic Arts and CAPCOM, but we do have a few ell-developed video game companies, like Matahari Studios, Pesona Edukasi and some smaller game development studios.
speakers who presented at a seminar or Indonesia's video game industry at Binus International University in Jakarta on September 24, mentioned about 12 well-established game studio in Indonesia, but only around half of them are focusing on the local market. Game studios differ a bit from game companies: They are usually smaller, less structured and with less financing.
another reason the industry seem to have a small footprint is that most of the games created are simple to develop, like mobile games and casual web games. The rampant piracy of console games has deterred most studios from investing in developing console games.
the video game mareket is a wide market with multiple segments. Usually one studio focuses on one market segment. Each focuses on specific developments for that segment's audience.
the most popular genre today is the massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) genre such as Ragnarok Online. Revenue from this segment is generated through subscription fees. Games of this genre are usually large and complex, bigger than most local game studios can dare to make.
one promising MMOG game is Inspirit Arena from AlterMyth game studio. the developers completed a closed beta testing stage, but failed to launch becauseno publishers willing to finance them.
another popular segment is casual web-based games. these games are usually small and played over the internet. they earn revenue from the advertisements on the same web page. Games in Facebook and Popcap are well-known examples.
from studios in this country, Balloon Express by Menara Games and Motorama by IPlayIIDay studio have been popular. Cubis Gold 2 by Matahari Studio was a top-ranked casual game when it peaked in popularity.
the mobile games segment is quite popular. These minigames played on mobile phones are downloaded from the content provider. studios in this segment earn revenue each time a game is downloaded. Notable examples are Ekspedisi Madewa by Max Studio adn Zombie Buster by Condetsoft.
the arcade games segment has been around quite a while and is surprisingly profitable. for each coin inserted in teh game, or for each swipe of the card like the ones in Timezone, the game studi earns a percentage. Matahari Studio has done well in this segment. They have created some notable games, like Dino Duel Maters and Super Strike bowling game, and have sold other games outside the country.
the next segment is the niche market segment. these games are not as common as console and web-based games, and they vary depending on the specific market need . Samuel Interactive specially created games to train employees in a virtual company! Other genres include edugames and advergames.
most edugames do not have high development costs and interest is trong. these games educated as well as entertain the consumer. Pesona Edukasi is a prominent company in this segment and has exported many examples.
advergames are quite common once you notice them. these games advertise while entertaining the users. rather than appearing on the same page with ads, like internet games, advergames promote products within the games. they are usually found in night markets (like the past Pekan Raya Jakarta fair), exhibitions and promotional events. Logika Interaktif is a newer studio that has been quite successful in this segment.
the last segment in Indonesia's game development industry is out-sourcing. studios often accept out-source tasks from large foreign game companies. these studios usually gain from the contract agreement and licenses. out-sourced materials range from concept design, 3D modelling and partial coding to principal game developer.
Bullit Sesariza, cofounder of Logika Interaktif, said the industry still offers opportunities for newcomers. "Just start with an idea and choose the segment you want to work in," he said. no need for big budgets, big teams or high quality games to be successful or profitable, he added. making them fun to play is the ticket.
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