The rapid development of the creative industry in the game sector in the world, including in Indonesia, has experienced a positive trend in recent years and continues to grow. According to data from Sensor Tower in the first quarter of 2021, Indonesia occupies the third position, after India and Brazil, from previously in the first quarter of 2020 as many as 628 million downloads rose to 790 million downloads, an increase of 26% as the country with the most game downloads on App Store and Google Play. The game industry has brought a new industry that has become a world phenomenon and is rising in Indonesia, namely the esports industry.

"Esports is the winner of this pandemic, because in the midst of a pandemic and economic challenges, esports is one that shows a positive upward trend with a total growth of 4.47%, the second highest after the television and radio sub-sectors. Now esports are developing in terms of both the audience, players and development, it can be seen from the global esports market which earned 1.6 trillion dollars in 2020, and most importantly, Indonesia has 60 million esports players or gamers who show healthy growth. Esports is one of the exhibition branches at PON XX Papua and is able to support local games that can join the competition with PUBG MOBILE,” said Sandiaga Uno, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy/Head of the Tourism and Creative Economy Agency.

The same thing was conveyed by Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, Director General of Informatics Applications, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, who said, "Kominfo as part of the Indonesian government welcomes the presence of not only esports, but also all games and the entire digital ecosystem as part of the Indonesian economic growth. This is a new phenomenon and is related to a new business that is starting to be loved by many people, which if you look at the number of existing games, it also continues to increase. In essence, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics continues to support, especially developers from Indonesia, whose capabilities must also be improved.”

The development of esports is one of the presidential promises listed in the national priority program in 2021. In the previous year, the government has also established esports as a sport, by officially including esports as one of the sports to be contested in the international arena such as the 2018 Asian Games, SEA Games 2019 and on the national stage, namely the PON XX Papua which just ended last month. In addition, several government tournaments have also emerged, such as the Menpora Esports Cup and the Esports President Cup, which are currently underway.

On that occasion, Ridwan Kamil, the Governor of West Java, participated in the voting regarding this industrial phenomenon, according to him, "Activities in developing concepts and strategies for a new phenomenon, namely esports, will be made into something that is competitive, accomplished and with the spirit of spormanship, so that it will produce a spirit that there are values ​​in esports that can be role models in our daily lives. This digital phenomenon is extraordinary, not only finding the economy and education but also sports and hobbies, even nearly 1.1 billion dollars in 2019 has become a source of income for the esports industry in Indonesia. This indicates that the esports market share is very large, especially in 2045, the majority of our nation is a generation under 40 years old, and they are the largest esport consumers."

One of the most popular games in Indonesia today, PUBG MOBILE is one of the parties that has contributed greatly to the development of the esports ecosystem in Indonesia. During its 3 years of existence in Indonesia, PUBG Mobile has invested and regularly held tiered competitions in Indonesia, which means it has opened up various new job opportunities in the creative industry. Not only for pro players, but also for new jobs such as shoutcasters and esports match analysts, and the Event Organizer industry has experienced a very significant advantage. 

In addition, PUBG MOBILE's concern for young people and the gaming community in the country is manifested in a sustainable esports ecosystem road map that successfully bridges young people so that they can step up to become professional esports athletes. PUBG MOBILE has established programs that support Indonesian esports talent with tournaments ranging from community level, amateur to professional, from community and amateur levels there are PUBG Mobile Jawara Community, PUBG MOBILE Campus Championship, PUBG MOBILE Community Cup, on a national scale there is PUBG MOBILE Club Open, PUBG MOBILE Indonesia National Championship, PUBG MOBILE Pro League Indonesia, on a regional scale there is PUBG MOBILE Pro League South East Asia, to the world's biggest event, PUBG MOBILE Global Championship.

“Since PUBG MOBILE entered Indonesia in 2018, we have not only brought games but a sustainable esports ecosystem that can create a new industry in Indonesia. With the ecosystem that we have designed, we can create new jobs in the creative field that will help the Indonesian economy," said Aswin Antonie, Country Manager for Tencent Games Indonesia.

However, in the midst of the extraordinary development of the esports world, there is still a negative stigma. To reduce it, it takes quite a long time and must be supported by all parties, both game developers, government, media and various other stakeholders. This stigma arises because until now there are still many people who do not understand why esports can be included as a sport. This has often been explained by the Kominfo on various occasions, that esports is sports, not just gaming, because it has 3 basic elements, namely competitive elements, sportsmanship elements, and achievement elements.

Responding to this, Semuel Pangerapan said, “Because games and esports are new industries, many parents don't know the current developments and think games are just time-consuming and misguided. That's why socialization is needed for the community. and the industry also needs to prove that it is contributing to its digital economy. Regarding PUBG MOBILE, Kominfo has brought it to MUI and we have explained that this is an esport and I myself accompanied it at that time. So actually there is no gambling in esports, because every game can be gambled on but it is an individual, so with law being enforced games shouldn’t be banned.”

Furthermore, Aswin Atonie said, “Playing games is very different from the world of esports, if you only play games, it will definitely become a negative stigma from parents. However, esports is different, because esports is an industry where every hour spent by pro players is very valuable, not only honing skills, but also analyzing mistakes, shortcomings and future strategies by involving various parties such as coaches and analysts.”

Indonesia has 44.2 million esports athletes. This number is believed to grow by 37 percent compared to other countries in Southeast Asia. The distribution is quite even from Sabang to Merauke. In addition, the formed communities do not only play games together, but also carry out productive social actions for their respective regions.

Stay tuned to Dunia Games for more articles about anime and games. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram. 

You can also purchase game vouchers for Mobile Legends, Free Fire, Call of Duty Mobile, and many more with interesting deals only on Dunia Games

Also Read >> PUBG Mobile Jawara Community (PMJC) Holds Jawara Cup Tournament!

main image: DuniaGames