For the millennial generation who grew up in the 2000s to mid-2010s, the smell of instant noodles mixed with the noisy sound of a keyboard in an air-conditioned room is an invaluable collective memory. What we are discussing this time is about internet cafes, aka internet cafes, especially gaming internet cafes.
In the past, this place was a holy land for gamers. There is even a term “with–clean” for gaming activities in internet cafes, starting from skipping school to play Point Blankstaying up all night to grind on Ragnarok Onlineeven buying billing packages for the sake of winning Dota. However, the existence of this hangout place in recent years is no longer visible. Where did those memorable places go? The legendary gaming internet cafe that used to have branches at every corner of the road is now increasingly disappearing, leaving behind empty shophouses with dull banners that are starting to tear.
This is a story about the shift in the communal culture of our society, from one that used to like to gather and meet face to face, to an independent society isolated in each room with a five inch screen in hand.
The Disappearance of Gaming Internet Cafes: Where to Move?
The biggest factor in the loss of popularity of internet cafes is of course the smartphone invasion. We have to admit that today’s smart phones are too capable. Games that previously required mid to upper class PC specifications to run smoothly, now have a twin concept that can be played on a cellphone costing two million that can be taken anywhere.
The birth of mobile games like Mobile Legends, PUBG Mobileuntil Free Fire really changed the landscape of the gaming industry in Indonesia instantly. These games offer one thing that no cool gaming cafe ever could: they can be played anywhere!
To play games at an internet cafe, you have to shower (or at least wash your face), wear appropriate clothes, walk or ride a motorbike to the location, then pay hourly billing. If you are hungry, you have to buy food there. Meanwhile, with a smartphone, you can hang out while lying on the bed, wearing loose shorts, without having to think about the remaining billing time which is flashing red in the bottom right corner of the monitor screen.
This convenience is slowly but surely taking away the main market for gaming internet cafes, namely school children and teenagers. When they can compete and socialize for free via a device in the palm of their hand, turning off their PC at the internet cafe and going home makes the most sense for their wallet.
Home Gaming PCs Are Increasingly Affordable
For those who remain firmly on the “PC Master Race” path, internet cafes are also starting to lose their appeal. In the past, people went to internet cafes because PCs were very expensive. Having a gaming PC at home in 2005 was a luxury on par with having a car in the garage. Internet cafes exist as a solution to technological equality, where everyone can experience the performance of a godly computer for only a few thousand Rupiah per hour.
But what happened? The situation in recent years has changed drastically. The computer components market is increasingly competitive. Entry-level to mid-range class processors and graphics cards are now very powerful to beat modern competitive games such as Value, Dota 2or Counterattack 2. Building a home PC is no longer a dream.
When a gamer already has his own PC in his room complete with a stable fiber optic internet connection, the reason to go to an internet cafe automatically disappears. Why share a keyboard that has been held by hundreds of strangers when you can type on your own clean mechanical keyboard and we can customize the shape or color.
Pandemic Effects
It feels like the internet cafe business has simultaneously experienced a setback after the world was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. As soon as the government announced the lockdown and PSBB, the internet gaming cafe business died instantly. Communal spaces where gatherings are no longer possible to preserve.
Uncertainty about when the pandemic will end will only worsen the financial condition of entrepreneurs if they choose to persist. Not infrequently, the more sensible choice is to go out of business. PCs that had been on display for years were sold, chairs and tables were transported for further use. The shophouse that was once fragrant with cigarette smoke and boy’s sweat has now turned into an empty space ready to be filled by another business.
Loss of Communal Social Space
However, there is one thing that was lost when these gaming internet cafes disappeared, something that can never be replaced by even the most powerful home PC or the most expensive smartphone in the world, social interaction.
For some gamers, an internet cafe is a communal social space. In this place, friendship between gamers is established regardless of social status or school background. In an internet cafe, a junior high school student can hang out with a final year student, or an office worker can laugh out loud with a local unemployed because they both managed to win a fierce competition.
There is a unique psychological satisfaction when we succeed in doing it gripping or win warthen you can immediately turn around and laugh at the opposing team sitting across the room. There is a real sense of togetherness when a compact room cheers when the internet connection suddenly goes down, or when the buzzer says “10 minutes remaining”.
Now, magical moments like that have been replaced by virtual voice chats via Discord or the in-game voice chat feature which are often full of insults from strangers whose faces we don’t even know. We are surrounded by thousands of friends online, but we are actually playing alone in a quiet room.
Overdue and Too Expensive Transformation
Several internet cafe entrepreneurs actually did not remain silent watching this extinction. They are trying to adapt by changing the concept of a conventional internet cafe into a more premium iCafe (Internet Cafe). A shabby room with leaking air conditioning was transformed into a cafe-like aesthetic room with expensive gaming chairs, monster-specification PCs that use the highest series graphics cards, and a food menu that is no longer just corned beef egg instant noodles, but modern milk coffee and western food.
This step has indeed extended the breath of this industry. However, iCafe brings a new problem: soaring billing prices. The hourly rate, which was previously only two thousand to three thousand rupiah, has jumped to ten thousand to twenty-five thousand rupiah per hour for the premium package.
With rates of that class, the segmentation of internet cafe consumers immediately changes completely. Internet cafes are no longer a place for complex kids to escape who want to spend their pocket money, but rather an exclusive hangout for ‘city kids’ who really have extra money. Sadly, the number of this group is not large enough to maintain a massive long-term internet cafe business ecosystem in various regions.
A Monument of Remembrance
Finally, we really have to accept the fact that the glorious era of gaming internet cafes is over. Replaced by socialization that is much more virtual, individualistic, and perhaps much colder.
The disappearance of gaming internet cafes is the absolute price we have to pay for technological progress. Life becomes more efficient, comfortable, and provides extraordinary portability via smartphones and home PCs. However, at the same time, we also lose a warm culture of togetherness, a place where true friendship often starts with just a simple sentence: “Bro, buy tonight.”
Were you a true internet cafe dweller during its heyday? What games have you subscribed to? Do you miss the presence of internet cafes a little or are you grateful that you are no longer in that phase?
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