There are 174.1 Million Gamers in Indonesia, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy Drafts Rules for the National Gaming Industry

Gamers illustration or gamers. (Priyam Raj-Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf) is drafting a presidential regulation (perpres) regarding the gaming industry in order to develop the sector.

He said the number of gamers or game players in Indonesia reached 174.1 million people, and the value of the Indonesian gaming industry is currently 25 trillion.

"Currently there is also an inter-ministerial meeting coordinated by the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries," said the Director of Applications, Games, Television, and Radio at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy Iman Santoso at the Project D Kickoff: The Latest Strategic Collaboration of Agate and PQube, in Jakarta, Wednesday, September 13, reported by Antara.

In his presentation, Iman explained that Indonesia is the largest PC game producer in the Southeast Asia region for the Steam platform, with 124 games.

According to him, the presidential decree was made as a step to resolve challenges in the development of the Indonesian games industry, such as lack of funding, lack of human resources, technical problems, as well as to unite the steps of stakeholders.

They, he said, wanted to draft a Presidential Regulation on games as an effort to increase game production in the country.

The presidential decree, said Iman, discusses human resource development, increasing promotion and access to markets, developing the hardware industry, providing infrastructure, opening access to financing and capital, strengthening regulations, and activating Indonesian games in regional and global areas.

In the presidential decree, he said, each ministry was given tasks, such as the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy functioning as supervisor, the Ministry of Education and Culture in terms of human resource development, the Ministry of Industry handling infrastructure, and so on.

"The presidential decree hasn't come out yet, but hopefully it will come out this September-October. But what we see is a bit tough is the target. So in 2024, we have to reach, for example, (printing) up to 3,000 game developers," he said.

He hopes that there will be an increase in the number of game developer talents each year in Indonesia.

"Yes, if it can be 1,000 now, by the end of 2022/2024 it could be 1,500, that's alhamdulillah," he said.

Apart from that, the presidential regulation that is being drafted also targets increasing market control, from initially 0.8 to 1 percent, to around 70 percent.

However, he reminded them that they still have to be realistic in pursuing this target until 2024.

"Maybe it can't reach 70 percent, but at least it can reach 5 percent, that's really good," he said.