Contact
Home Games Creator Camp Industry Digest Bonfire News Careers About
Contact
← All issues Issue · 26 Oct 2026 · English edition
Games Newsletter · 26 October 2026

Bonfire Games Newsletter — 26 October 2026

Stories 4 Read about 4 minutes Editions English · 中文

A new Tencent-backed study puts a hard number on Southeast Asia's games economy just as Indonesia moves to finance its studios and fill its deal rooms. With Bangkok's big show days away and foreign studios lining up Thai publishing partners, the money conversation has shifted from audience size to who builds, owns and operates the IP.

In this issue
Image: Access Partnership Top story

Tencent and Access Partnership value the games industry in five Southeast Asian markets at US$9.1bn, with up to US$14.2bn in value added by 2030

A report from Tencent and policy consultancy Access Partnership estimates the video game industry in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand generated US$9.1bn in revenue and US$8.2bn in value added in 2025, supporting about 646,800 jobs. Exports make up 48% of revenue, and hardware and peripherals account for 55% of value added. Value added could reach US$12.2bn by 2030 on current trends, or US$14.2bn and 1.16 million jobs under an accelerated scenario, with esports the fastest-growing segment.

Why it matters With nearly half of revenue already earned abroad and the policy-driven upside worth an extra US$2bn a year by 2030, the region has a clear case for calibrated rules that keep investors and partners coming in.

Access Partnership · 22 Oct 2026

Indonesia: capital and deal flow

Indonesia's Creative Economy Ministry pushes IP-backed bank loans and culture-fund grants to widen financing for local game studios

Speaking at the Tencent white paper launch during the World Conference on Creative Economy in Jakarta, Games Director Luat Sihombing said the ministry is promoting intellectual property as collateral for bank loans, a mechanism already set out in regulation. Lenders and developers still need to align on risk and repayment terms. The ministry also points studios to the Dana Indonesia Raya culture fund, which grants up to Rp200 million to individual developers and up to Rp1.5 billion to companies.

Why it matters If banks start pricing game IP as collateral, Indonesian studios gain a non-dilutive route to scale, and co-development and publishing partners gain better-funded local counterparts.

ANTARA News · 22 Oct 2026

Image: ANTARA News

IGDX 2026 in Bali brings 244 studios and 66 international publishers from 31 countries into business meetings

The Indonesia Game Developer Exchange, run by the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Kemkomdigi) and the Indonesian Game Association (AGI) as part of Bali Tech Week, drew 543 Business Pass holders to one-on-one meetings alongside 1,037 public visitors. Officials also cited Kemkomdigi's Garuda Spark programme, which has run 178 programmes, nurtured 80 startups and recorded more than Rp429.5 billion in direct investment.

Why it matters A state-backed matchmaking floor with 66 foreign publishers gives overseas partners a low-cost way to source Indonesian content and gives local studios a direct line to global distribution.

Medcom.id · 26 Oct 2026

Image: Medcom.id

Thailand: market entry

Busan sends five Korean game studios to Bangkok to meet PlayPark and Gravity Game Tech and pitch for publishing deals

The Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency and Busan Metropolitan City are leading BND Angle, Urban Wolf Games, C-Play, Visual Dart and Zombie Mate to Bangkok from 28 to 31 October under a Korea-Thailand Market Pioneers programme. The delegation visits Thai publishers PlayPark and Gravity Game Tech on 28 October to study local publishing and live operations, then pitches to publishers, investors and platforms in the gamescom asia x Thailand Game Show B2B hall. The agency also plans to meet Thailand's depa to compare support policies.

Why it matters Foreign studios are choosing Thai publishers as their gateway to Southeast Asia, which turns local publishing and operations know-how into an exportable service and a steady source of licensed content.

Gamemeca · 20 Oct 2026

Curated from public reporting. Links go to original sources.

Images are reproduced for editorial commentary with attribution and remain the property of their respective owners. Every headline links to the original article. If you own an image and would like it removed, contact hello@bonfiregathering.com and we will take it down promptly.

← All issues