Malaysia’s Budget 2024 reading is ongoing right now and has declared the following for the country’s future for esports funding and spending.

The government will allocate RM30 million to encourage game-making studios -local or overseas- or companies to to invest in Malaysia for the development of their digital products and local talent. Through this allocation, international companies are encouraged to, for example, create original video game intellectual properties.

Here is the official wording in Bahasa Melayu via the Malaysia Budget 2024 reading (on YouTube), as read by Malaysia Prime Minister/Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

201.
Bagi mempromosi Malaysia sebagai hab pembangunan industri e-sukan, 30 juta ringgit diperuntukkan untuk menggalakkan syarikat atau studio permainan video antarabangsa melabur di Malaysia dalam pembangunan produk digital mereka bersama-sama bakat tempatan.

In addition, RM60 million will be allocated to the Digital Content Fund to market local IPs that share and showcase Malaysian culture and content, out of the RM160 million allocated for the local arts (movies, TV shows, performance arts, music, and so forth).

This is great news for game development in Malaysia (indie, international, or otherwise), and perhaps even companies who wish to use part of that massive sum to create their own esports circuit to create new homegrown esports talent. In fact, this money can help with content creation to help educate and entertain people about video games and the digital space.