iCafe cafe; Nvidia's Efforts to Support Indonesian eSports

Seeing the huge potential for eSports in Indonesia, Nvidia as a graphics processor company for various devices, including PC gaming, is determined to develop the Indonesian eSport ecosystem by establishing a game cafe called iCafe, or better known as iCafe Warnet.

eSports is currently growing rapidly in Indonesia. This is evident from several Indonesian eSport teams who have excelled in international eSport competitions. Quoted from the Kompas Tekno page, Indonesia has 43.7 million gamers who spend around 880 million US dollars (or around Rp. 11 billion) to play games. Of this number, 56 percent are male gamers with PCs / laptops, with an age range of 10-50 years. While the remaining 44 percent are female gamers with an age range of 10-50 years.

iCafe Cafe with GeForce Certification

As of October 2021, there are 40 iCafe cafe outlets in 35 cities in Indonesia which Nvidia targets to continue to add to 50 iCafe outlets by the end of 2021. Not just any internet cafe, this iCafe has high standards, namely PCs with international standard graphics quality. , GeForce certified directly by Nvidia.

The GeForce eh Nvidia certification program is divided into three groups, namely Silver, Gold, and Platinum. For the Silver group, 50 PC units at the iCafe must use a GeForce GTX 1050 graphics card and above. For the Gold class, the 100 PC units at the iCafe must use a GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card and have a special place used for the ‘Battle Arena’. And lastly, for the Platinum group, the 150 PCs at the iCafe must use a GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card complete with Battle Arena.

In addition to certification, gamers who play in it are prohibited from smoking, gambling, no pornography and not allowed for students who are still wearing school clothes or playing during school hours.

The presence of the iCafe cafe is claimed to be able to increase the number of eSport enthusiasts in Indonesia. In the past year, there have been many new faces entering entry-level eSports tournaments, whereas previously only the same people participated.

This iCafe cafe is also a space for gamers who want to seriously engage in eSports as a sport that has received worldwide recognition and is ready to take part in various international eSport tournaments. Even if you are already a pro, gamers can earn a lot of money from this new profession.

Get Government Support

Compared to countries in the Southeast Asian region, Indonesia can be said to be still quite behind in the development of eSports. However, President Joko Widodo has given fresh air to the gaming industry players by suggesting that education in Indonesia should open a special eSports vocational school. This was conveyed by the president in his opening speech at the opening ceremony of the ASAD 2021 National Association of Silat and National Championships in East Jakarta last August 2021.

President Jokowi’s attention to eSports can be seen with the first eSport exhibition at the 2021 Asian Games. IeSPA (Indonesia eSport Association) which is an association of Indonesian eSport athletes will help with this exhibition. eSports will also be inaugurated as an official sport by the Olympic Council of Asia and will be competed at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

Share :