Game localization, Indonesia game market

In the past two decades, the international gaming market has been under radical development. With the spur of technological development, Internet coverage, and a steep rise in the total number of devices usable for playing games, this industry has grown into one of the largest entertainment businesses worldwide. The global gaming industry is expected to reach values of over $200 billion by 2023, along with millions of active players worldwide.

Considering more than 270 million persons in the country, there is an increase in internet and mobile penetration that is making Indonesia ever more attractive to gaming companies. The country presents one of the largest markets for mobile games, and the number of gamers within the country has been growing drastically from year to year. It is therefore reported that active gamers in Indonesia crossed the benchmark of 100 million people using mobile devices, PCs, and consoles.

Demographics and Market Trends in Indonesia

Indonesia has the fourth-largest population in the world, with over 270 million people. In this country, diversified demography exhibits a population wherein half of it has an age of less than 30 years. This young generation is well-connected to technology and tends to adapt itself to digital innovation, including gaming. Moreover, rapid urbanization has shifted large numbers of people to major towns, hence easily accessing the internet and digital devices. The combination of a large population and young demographic creates a high-potential market for the gaming industry.

Recently, the development of the internet in Indonesia has increased rapidly. Consequently, the latest estimates have as much as 70% of the population connected to the internet, most of which is accessed through mobile devices. Indonesians have woven smartphone use rather well into their daily lives. With ever-improving devices and better telecommunications infrastructure, more and more people will log on to the digital world. These factors make Indonesia one of the largest mobile gaming markets in the world. Most gamers in Indonesia usually have their prime choice as mobile games due to the fact that it is easy to gain access and a wide variety on mobile platforms.

Growth in the number of game users in Indonesia also showcases the upbeat trend of the industry. With this, over 100 million people are active gamers in Indonesia at the moment, on both mobile, PCs, and consoles. While mobile games dominate the market in terms of the largest number of users, PC and console games will grow equally fast. Indonesian gamers have diverse tastes, from battle royale games like PUBG and Free Fire to MOBA games such as Mobile Legends and RPGs. This exemplifies the large, diversified market potential for different types of games.

This also finds support from a large, growing community of gamers within the Indonesian gaming market. Online and offline gaming tournaments and competitions are found in plenty, hosting thousands of participants and viewers. Clearly, what this depicts is high levels of enthusiasm toward gaming and huge potential to be monetized through a number of business models such as in-app purchases, advertisement, and sponsorship.

Popular Game Genres in Indonesia

The Indonesian gaming market has been very lively and diversified; most of the gamers enjoy playing games using mobile devices, PCs, and consoles. Through the years, several genres have gained favor among Indonesian gamers. Understanding popular game genres in Indonesia is crucial for companies looking to promote their products locally.

One of the most popular genres in Indonesia is battle royale. PUBG Mobile, Free Fire, and Call of Duty: Mobile have achieved a huge following and remained strong for quite a while. Royale battle games attract so many players due to the fact that they often provide heavy action and competition, plus some special features like multiplayer and tournament modes. The genre is further supported by an active community and frequent local competitions, which boost enthusiasm and a sense of community among players.

The genre is very well known in Indonesia, with one of the most played games being Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. This game offers an exciting and strategic gaming experience, requiring strong teamwork and skills. Furthermore, many eSports tournaments, conducted both at the local and international levels, add attraction among young minds who dream of playing professionally.

In the Indonesian gaming environment, there is also a special place for role-playing games. Games such as Genshin Impact and Ragnarok M: Eternal Love open extensive, adventurous worlds that players can explore, fight, or complete a variety of missions in. The ability to play out deep narratives with complicated character development draws gamers to the genre. Other social features of this kind of game, especially the possibility of communicating with and collaborating on a task with other players, lead to their success in the Indonesian gaming market.

The successes of these genres of games in Indonesia have proved the significance of game localization in player acquisition and retention. Localization can adapt it to local preferences by language, culture, and content, enhancing the gaming experience and engaging players. A lot of international gaming companies localized their games for the Indonesian market and increased their player base and revenue multi-fold.

Effective Strategies for Game Localization

Market research and consumer behavior analysis are essential steps in localizing games for the Indonesian market. Knowing who your target audience is, along with their preferences and current market trends, will define which elements in the game need adjustment. It means market research incorporates data collection about demographics of players, favorite game genres, most-used devices, and gaming habits.

Analysis of consumer behavior can be much more detailed: how players interact with games, what they are looking for in a game, and what keeps them in the game. For example, in Indonesia, gamers may gravitate toward battle royale or MOBA games, and they play more on their mobile devices as opposed to PCs and consoles. Armed with this information, the game developers will be better placed to find out the features that should be adjusted or added in the game to increase its attractiveness among the people of Indonesia.

Consulting local teams and language experts is always the key to success where localization is concerned. A local team familiar with Indonesian culture, language, and customs could act as a rich source of insight on what would work best within the boundaries of that society. They might be able to pinpoint elements in the game that could be better attuned to relevance for the local player. Examples of this would be adjustments in character dialogue, place names, and visual elements of Indonesian Culture.

Talking about consultation, the team from Digitrans-Asia is ready to help with your game localization needs. Digitrans provides services ranging from translation to comprehensive localization services for video games and films. Digitrans is also managed by people who are professional and competent in their fields so they can help your localization process optimally.

Localization of Successful Games in Indonesia

One of the strongest examples for localization games with successful strategies in the Indonesian game market is Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. Since its launch, this MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game has been phenomenal in Indonesia. The success cannot be separated from these localization efforts carried out by its developer, Moonton, in the Mobile Legends game. They have not only translated the game into Indonesian but also adapted many elements in the game so that it becomes more relevant and relatable in the local culture. For example, some characters inside the game are formulated from Indonesian heroes or mythology. This can create familiarity and pride for Indonesian gamers.

PUBG Mobile is one of the most well-known Battle Royale games and has also been very effective with game localization in the Indonesian market. Tencent, the developer of this game, has done many adjustments to attract local players. There are a lot of events and tournaments the company holds specifically for the Indonesian community, as well as collaborative works with influential and well-known players in Indonesia to promote the game. Furthermore, very often, PUBG Mobile runs in-game events about local culture and celebration, such as Indonesian Independence Day. This strategy has captured the players' attention and players' loyalty within Indonesia.

Another example of a game that managed to localize in Indonesia is Ragnarok M: Eternal Love. This is a mobile adaptation of the classic MMORPG Ragnarok Online, already with huge following in Indonesia. Localization included full translation into Indonesian, along with adjustments to features and content to better match local player preferences. Gravity Interactive, the developer of this game, also organizes a lot of community events and cooperates with local celebrities, increasing the engagement of players.

Another very popular RPG game from miHoYo, Genshin Impact, was also successful in terms of localization for the Indonesian market. The game seems to have a worldwide audience; however, miHoYo still feels the need to localize contents for markets such as Indonesia. All dialogues and texts in the game were translated into Indonesian. They also held special events relevant to Indonesian players.

Garena Free Fire is an extremely famous battle royale game across Indonesia, serving as a good example of game localization. Free Fire is not only translated into Indonesian but has several events and contents exclusively targeting Indonesian players. For instance, they frequently organize local tournaments with attractive prizes and collaborate with well-known Indonesian figures in promotions. Other than that, Free Fire had also launched several skins and in-game items inspired by Indonesian culture in an effort to make gaming more personal and interesting to local gamers.

One of the trends that is foreseen to witness incessant growth is the growing popularity of mobile gaming. Mobile games dominated the Indonesian gaming market. With better quality smartphones and faster internet networks, people will begin to play more games on their mobile devices. Mobile games such as Mobile Legends, Free Fire, and PUBG Mobile have shown how these games can attract millions of players in Indonesia.

Moreover, with this growing interest in eSports, the frequency of eSports tournaments and various related events will also increase within the gaming market. Interest in eSports will encourage more players to participate and be part of the eSports community, thus increasing the demand for quality competitive games.

Indonesian Game Market Trend Predictions

Collaborative innovation and effective game localization could unlock the full potential of Indonesia's gaming market. This would require a good level of collaboration among the local teams, linguists, and gamer communities to deeply understand the local preferences and culture, ideally one of the components for the creation of relevant and engaging gaming experiences among players in Indonesia.

One could be a collaboration with local streamers and influencers. Influential people within the gaming community can act as highly effective ambassadors for localized games, engaging the target audience in a relevant and credible way. Joining in on hosting local gaming events/competitions will create more goodwill and glue gamers to the players even tighter.