Mobile Premier League Welcomes the Growth and Potential of the Game Industry in Indonesia

Mobile Premier League (MPL), platforms Esports from Bangalore, India in February 2021 and recently announced its latest funding round to raise funds of up to $95 million. This acquisition is not far after in September 2020 they received Series C funding of $90 million -- MDI Ventures also led the investment. While other local investors, Go-Ventures are also participating.

According to the news, the company's valuation has now reached $945 million. Additional capital will still be focused on strengthening the presence and expansion of services; also enhances the value proposition of the platform Esports which is owned. So far, the MPL business is supported in two main markets, namely India (with 60 million users) and Indonesia (4 million users), presenting around 70 games. multi-genre online.

To find out the development of MPL services in Indonesia, we had the opportunity to conduct an exclusive interview with the Vice President & Country Head of Indonesia Mobile Premier League Ridzki Syahputera.

MPL Services in Indonesia

Currently, through MPL site and app, users in Indonesia can enjoy two categories of games, namely: casual games and fantasy sports games. For casual games, there are already around 30 types – curated and rotated every day to make it easier for users. This game has shorter sessions. While in the category fantasy sports, users are invited to conduct analysis in certain sports, targeting sports lovers such as football, basketball, tennis, etc.

"Every game The existing ones prioritize players' abilities rather than luck, so in MPL users really have to practice and hone their skills, "said Ridzki.

While related to the contest, there are several types that can be followed. Starting from tournament, head-to-head battles (one on one with the same skill level), battle arena (similar to one-on-one but with a certain timeframe, the winner is calculated from the number of times they get the champion of the session that follows), and mega contests (tournaments with bigger time and prizes).

“On average MPL provides 1600 contests per day. Our technology is basically able to facilitate tournaments Esports on a large scale with 24-hour support," he added.

Basically any player interested in joining a session will be charged a fee. In the session there are certain prizes from the nominal collected – in some events prizes are also provided from sponsors. Users can also exchange points (diamonds) obtained through the MPL Mall feature to be exchanged for various items voucher provided.

business model

In addition to ensuring that anyone can play and compete, Ridzki said, MPL technology is also designed to keep all competitions running fairly. This includes prevention fraud and potential fraud from cheater. They monetize in two ways, namely by using fee to users for platforms and entry fees. Then also work with business partners to do brand activation.

Now that MPL's overall user growth has reached 85%, the pandemic has also driven an increase in the user base. Since March of last year, there has been a 55% increase in gameplay and 7x the number of users. But the pandemic also presents many challenges for companies.

“There was a positive impact in some metrics, but there was a disturbance in other metrics as well. For example, as a result purchasing power which decreases. Many users continue to play for alternative entertainment during the pandemic, but their purchasing power has dropped. March to April 2020 was the peak we felt a significant impact on deposit rate on the platform,” explained Ridzki.

Strategic partnership

Go-Ventures started investing in MPL in the early stages. This strategic partnership also makes Gopay the first payment platform integrated with the MPL site in Indonesia. Furthermore, the entry of MDI Ventures has also brought LinkAja into the ranks of payment options via email e-wallet.

"Besides integration, there is an important aspect that we feel is very useful in this partnership, namely increasing the credibility of the Indonesian MPL platform," said Ridzki.

In addition, MPL is also intensively cooperating with game publishers. From Indonesia, there is already Agate Studio which puts some of its games onto the platform. Ridzki views that the presence of MPL as a “container” can be used by developers to help monetize their work – at least to become additional way outside of publishing applications through market store.

MPL success supports Esports President's Cup 2020 also rated as benchmarking good for the company to cooperate with other strategic partners – including brand and organizations – to organize activities on a city-wide to national scale.

User education challenge

MPL claims, as rewarding gaming platform First in Indonesia, they feel they have a responsibility to educate users – making them aware of the existence of the platform, business processes, and responsibilities in playing. For millennials, Ridzki considers that there are not many issues in educational efforts, what is more challenging is convincing older users (including parents) that game not only synonymous with something nonproductive.

"From these conditions, this year we will still focus a lot on brand awareness, industry awareness thereby creating a more prepared ecosystem. In addition, with the investment obtained, we will also optimize the potential fantasy sport in Indonesia," added Ridzki.

Quoting Newzoo report 2020, India has mobile gaming revenue of $1,8 billion with a population of approximately 1,38 billion people. Meanwhile, Indonesia with a population of around 273 million people has mobile gaming revenue of 1,2 billion. So it can be concluded that there is high interest and enthusiasm in the industry Gaming Indonesia, its potential can still be explored.

“For industrial income gaming, Indonesia is now number one in Southeast Asia and number 8 in the world. Approximately 64% of the total active population in online gaming, "explained Ridzki.

He is also quite optimistic about the ecosystem in Indonesia. It is proven by the more stakeholder who play from publishers, tim eSports, talent management Esports, tournament manager, until an influencer – each participates in economy units in the industry.

“And no less important is the competitive element itself. Ranges just like football, because there is competition it becomes more popular. People become idolized by certain players, have ambitions to be like their idols, and even want to invest in them – from participating in competitions to watching content. Esports. On the other hand, the government such as the Presidential Staff Office, Kemenpora, PBSI Esports Indonesia are very supportive of this industry," he concluded.