He hoped that more local games would showcase the country's rich culture and natural beauty.
"It would be nice if local game developers could use Indonesia's prioritized tourism destinations as the location of the game, for example, Borobudur or Toba Lake, to stimulate tourism as well as the creative economy side," he said in a written statement received here on Monday.
According to Newzoo data, the income of the gaming industry in Indonesia increased significantly from 2016 to 2019. In 2019, Indonesia earned US$1.08 billion in revenue from the gaming and e-sports industry.
Indonesia is estimated to have 52 million gamers, but most play games developed by foreign developers, despite the availability of a number of local games, the data indicates.
Related news: Industry Ministry seeking to build gaming industry ecosystem
Taking note of this, Minister Uno invited more developers to present local games and involve elements of the five super-priority tourism destinations in their games to help promote Indonesian tourism.
Meanwhile, Deputy for Marketing at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf) Nia Niscaya said her office is supporting local game developers through the 'Buy Local Game' program, which has emerged from a collaboration between the ministry, the Indonesian Game Association (AGI), and four e-commerce platforms in Indonesia --Tokopedia, JD.ID, Shopee, and BukaLapak.
Through the 'Buy Local Games' program, the ministry is offering promos on about 20 local game titles such as Coffee Talk, DreadOut, and World of Celestian Tales to attract more gamers, she informed.
"It is hoped that this program can be utilized as well as possible by the community, and the consumption of local games in Indonesia will increase. This shows that the quality of local game products is not inferior to other countries' game products," she remarked.
Related news: Indonesian govt to assist local developers at 2021 Tokyo Game Show
Translator: Aji Cakti, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
