The mastermind behind a game

The term ‘Bocil Epep’ is no longer foreign even though we are not game enthusiasts. The term is synonymous with children who enjoy Free Fire game. They are so fanatical that they are willing to spend hundreds of thousands of rupiahs to buy the in-game items. Not long ago, the public was shocked with the case of a parent in North Sumatra who scolded a cashier because their child spent Rp800,000 for a game.

The high enthusiasm for this Garena-developed breakthrough game allowed Free Fire to surpass the popularity of PUBG as a mobile battle royale game in the US. On top of that, Garena booked Rp22.5 trillion income throughout the fourth quarter of 2020. Garena even managed to drive the income of Sea Limited, which is also the parent company of Shopee, by twofold in the same period.

The success of Free Fire begs the question: what makes the game so popular that the players are willing to spend so much money?

The popularity of a game comes from none other than the people behind the screen. Game designer, illustrator and programmer are the three major forces who build a game. Game designers play an important role in developing a game. They are responsible for combining concepts created by the illustrators and programmers into a playable game.

Game designers are also responsible for arranging the game from start to finish, from the storyline, challenges and rules to rewards and other aspects that make people want to keep playing the game.

A game will be considered good if it manages to survive for a long time. Nick Yee (2017) explained that there are three things that influence a person’s interest in playing a game, namely the existence of a reward system, the desire to socialise and the existence of control facilities.

Minecraft, for example, has been popular for years even until today. The reason is that this game is designed to be an all-encompassing game. The combination of the survival concept, making buildings, crafting and battling allows this game to survive for 10 years and counting.

Another game, FIFA, is the inspiration for numerous similar games. FIFA was launched in late '80s and managed to maintain its popularity until now, having been translated into 18 languages and is available in 51 countries.

For some people, playing a game is a hobby, while for others, it is some sort of a safe escape from reality. One of TFR's sources said they usually spend six hours a day playing online games. Another source spends more than 10 hours, even willing to spend a huge amount of money to buy new games.

Lead Game Designer at Coralis Studio, Febndy Kwik, explained that there are three aspects that allow a game to survive for a long time, i.e. animation, how to play and storyline. He said that animation will decide whether or not someone will play the game.

How to play the game also determines the interest and play time. “There are many good games, but if the way to play it tends to be the same as other games or even boring, the player will probably only play for only a short while,” he said in an interview with TFR.

Kwik added that an interesting storyline will keep players' interest alive and can even give birth to derivative works, such as books, movies and merchandise. “When a game has reached the third stage, it is likely that it will survive for a long time,” he explained.

Resident Evil and Tomb Raider are the example of games that are adapted into a movie and even gained a good rating. All of these started from the hard work of the game designers and other team members who have successfully brought the game to life.

Today, the game industry in Indonesia has become more solid and even rising in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to data issued by the Global Consumer Survey, the Indonesian game industry sees 10.8% income growth annually and is projected to be valued at $2.14 billion by 2025.

However, the game industry in Indonesia is still facing many obstacles, such as negative stigma and players' reluctance to pay. Kwik further explained that many parents do not support their children's wish to major in game technology in university; he himself experienced such a thing. Aside from that, the number of universities offering this major is still low. To this date, there are only 10 universities in Indonesia that have this major.

Indonesian Game Industry Ecosystem Map 2020 issued by the Ministry of Communications and Informatics together with the Indonesian Game Association (AGI) and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) found that 66.7% of respondents had experienced a failure in developing a game. Of this percentage, 35.29% addressed the lack of funds as the main reason. For small-scale developers, funding is the main issue, while for large-scale developers, the main problem is investment.

Kwik addressed another challenge, namely Indonesian consumers' reluctance to pay. This results in game developers needing a large amount of capital to operate a game with the free-to-play concept to attract consumers.

In addition, several game developers in Indonesia do not have a legal entity, hence hampering them from obtaining incentives from the government.

The research also found that 65% of respondents used their own money to develop a game, while 10.8% obtained funding from angel investors and 4.8% from venture capital. “Maybe there needs to be support in the form of promotion or campaign to invite consumers to play games produced by local companies which could be a little more expensive, but helps the development of the industry,” Kwik said.

There are several games made by Indonesian companies that have gained international popularity, such as DreadOut which is developed by a Bandung-based developer, Digital Happiness. The game was adapted into a movie of the same title directed by Kimo Stamboel.