The Malaysian government has revealed the National Budget for 2020. MDEC, the government agency responsible for matters pertaining to the digital economy, has been allocated RM40 million to grow the game development and esports scene in the country.
RM20 million is being allocated for growing the “digital content ecosystem”. This includes the local animation industry as well as game development. This sector has been contributing over RM7.6 billion in revenue, of RM1.3 billion, are from export, and have created over 10,000 jobs.
In a press statement, MDEC CEO Pn. Surina Shukri believes this is a show of confidence the Malaysian government has with the digital content industry.
“This will also send a vital signal to the region and the global digital content industry that Malaysia is both serious and committed to develop world-class animation, games, visual effects, and digital content platforms,” she said.
So expect more Malaysian-made animation content and games like No Straight Roads (an Epic Games Store exclusive on PC) and Re:Legend in the future.
MDEC, working alongside the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia are drafting the Digital Content Ecosystem (DICE) policy. They have expressed that they are aware of the issues of unhealthy game development practices like crunch and such issues will be addressed.
Also, MDEC received an additional RM20 million, an increase from RM10 million last year, dedicated to esports. MDEC has a partnership with Esports Malaysia (ESM), the main esports governing body. The current esports scene in Malaysia could use some nice monetary injections, but there are more pressing issues that need to be sorted out.