INVESTMENTS IN DIGITAL CONTENT SECTOR SURGE TO RM1.6 BN IN 2023 -- GOBIND

KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 (Bernama) -- Investments in the digital content sector in Malaysia surged to RM1.6 billion last year from RM550 million in 2022 through the Digital Malaysia initiative by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). 

Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo said more than 1,900 high-paying jobs had been created in the sector in 2023. 

“Over the past few years, Malaysia has successfully attracted investments from several large-scale studios such as Electronic Arts/Codemasters (2011), Streamline Studios (2015), Bandai Namco (2017), PlayStation Studios (2019), Larian Studios (2019), and Virtuous (2022),” he told a press conference in Parliament today.

He also shared that Malaysia's digital creative industry recorded exports worth RM1 billion across 120 markets by 2022, and the sector was growing at a rate of eight per cent annually. 

"Currently, Malaysia has over 300 studios involved in animation, games, and creative technology, with 20 new studios being established every year, as well as over 180 intellectual property rights of Malaysian origin," he said. 

He pointed out that the global market size for the digital games industry was US$455 billion in June 2024, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.4 per cent for the 2019-2024 period.

Gobind shared that the local company Kurechii Sdn Bhd, which developed the digital game "Tiny Guardians", had penetrated the international market and won the Indie Prize Awards - The Best in Show by Audience Votes and Casual Connect 2015.

He added that local video game developer 7th Beat Game Sdn Bhd, which created the computer game "Rhythm Doctor," had successfully entered the global market and secured a publishing deal with Indienova, a Chinese company, to be marketed in China.

“Malaysia has 20.1 million gamers in 2020, the majority of whom -- 75 per cent -- play mobile games, and 66 per cent use personal computers as their digital game platform,” he noted.

Among the measures taken by the Digital Ministry to support the country's game developers are the implementation of the Digital Content Creators Challenge programme which has helped 135 start-up/indie digital game companies and providing the Digital Content Grant (DCG). 

"To foster more game developers among Malaysians, MDEC has also planned to implement the Digital Creator Incubation Programme," he said. 

Gobind said this in response to a question from Syahredzan Johan (PH-Bangi), who asked the ministry to state existing measures to support the development of games in Malaysia, especially the development of indie games, as well as plans to foster more game developers among Malaysians.

-- BERNAMA