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Although it has a thriving development community, Indonesia continues to struggle with the high cost of games.
The Asian country is home to more than 80 developers, with the vast majority concentrating on mobile and browser titles.
These include Agate Studio, which earlier this year was voted the most desirable workplace in Indonesia in a survey held by development hub Dicoding, with 11 per cent of respondees wishing to work at the outlet.
While local business has seen success, foreign games firms have struggled to breakinto the region.
Japanese publisher Square Enix was forced to close its Indonesian Smileworks studio after just 18 months of operation, citing poor results as the driver behind the close.
The publisher added that it would adopt a new strategy for the country, seeking partnerships with local games businesses.
Similarly, in 2012, UK-based Antix Labs launched its Player digital games distribution service in Indonesia. However, as of 2015, the company as a whole had been dissolved.
According to the International Monetary Fund’s 2014 statistics, Indonesia has the 118th-biggest GDP in the world with a per capita value of $3,534, putting it in the bottom 40 per cent of countries.
Due to the high cost of video games, the region has continued to struggle with piracy.
As recently as 2012, Xbox 360 games were sold for as little as Rp.20,000 (92p), with the latest 2014 Video Games in Indonesia report from market analyst Euromonitor stating that piracy is still a significant factor hampering the growth and success of video games” and observing that both local retailers and consumers are happy to continue supporting pirated games.
Population: 255,461,700
Capital City: Jakarta
Currency: Rupiah
GDP (Per Capita): $3,534
KEY RETAILERS
DraKuli, GS Shop, GameShop, PSE Gameshop
TOP DEVELOPERS
Agate Studios, Elventales Games, Toge Productions, Altermyth, Jotter Productions
TOP DISTRIBUTORS
IAH Games, Maxsoft
PUBLISHERS IN THE REGION
Square Enix, Boomzap Entertainment, Qeon Interactive, IAH Games, Gemscool, Lyto, Megaxus
