Jakarta, Indonesia – To respond to the increase and significance of the gaming industry in Indonesia, e-commerce company Bukalapak has announced a partnership with itemku, an Indonesian-based online marketplace catered to the gaming industry.
As part of the commitment, both Bukalapak and itemku will work closely in creating greater reach and access for Indonesians in terms of video games, including distribution of products from itemku to gaming customers who are in the country’s rural areas.
In addition, Bukalapak and itemku will develop new projects in the near future to ascertain game accessibility in the country.
“Millions of Indonesians have used my items for years. However, we want to go beyond just making digital entertainment inclusive. I fully agree with Bukalapak’s vision to build an economy that is fair for all, and that’s why we decided to collaborate with them. We want to have a big impact on hundreds of millions of Indonesians, just as they have done. Along with the social impact, I hope this collaboration can bring rapid development in this industry,” Denis Kim, CEO of itemku, said.
Part of the reason the partnership has flourished is due to the increase of game players during the course of the global lockdowns brought by the pandemic. Verizon reports that mobile game usage rose 75% during the first phase of lockdown in 2020, compared to the period before COVID, and there were more than 2.3b mobile game downloads between March 5 and April 5, up 60% at the same time. the previous year period.
Furthermore, a large number of people want to know and try video games for the first time during the pandemic and many of them will continue to play games in the future. This prediction is strengthened by a survey conducted by Google and Savanta in May 2020 of 7,611 people.
For Willix Halim, chief operating officer at Bukalapak, one of their goals as an e-commerce platform has always been to help increase digital penetration in Indonesia, by helping to create a good digital ecosystem.
“I realize that the need for home entertainment has increased during the pandemic, and itemku is doing a great job of understanding those needs, I hope that with our shared strength, we can help catalyze the need for digital gaming in Indonesia, and make video games more accessible. by every community throughout Indonesia,” Halim stated.
Bukalapak has recently concluded its US$400m funding round, with Swiss investment bank UBS Group AG and Malaysian conglomerate Genting Berhad subsidiary Resorts World being the prime backers of the funding.
