SportsHero Broadens Indosat Deal to Tap Indonesia’s Mobile Gaming Boom

Expanding the Playing Field

SportsHero Limited (ASX, SHO) has taken a significant step forward in its growth strategy by expanding its existing agreement with Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Indonesia’s second largest telecommunications provider. The new deal extends beyond SportsHero’s PC-based iGV.Com Family Game Pass to include a mobile casual gaming product, a move that taps into the explosive mobile gaming market in Southeast Asia.

Under the revised terms, Indosat will offer its customers the ability to subscribe to a suite of mobile games directly through their mobile phone accounts, leveraging Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) for seamless payment. This integration not only simplifies the user experience but also opens the door to a potentially massive subscriber base, given Indosat’s reported 98.8 million total customer accounts and over 50 million monthly active users on its apps.

A Market Ripe for Growth

The timing of this expansion is strategic. Southeast Asia’s mobile gaming market is one of the fastest growing globally, with approximately 286 million mobile gamers, outnumbering PC gamers by a factor of 20 to 25. SportsHero’s CEO, Tom Lapping, highlighted this opportunity, noting that mobile gamers represent a vastly larger audience than PC gamers in the region. By entering this space, SportsHero positions itself to capitalize on a market comparable in size to Europe or North America.

The gross subscription value per customer is estimated between IDR50,000 and IDR105,000 (roughly A$4.75 to A$9.75) monthly, depending on the service options selected. SportsHero will retain 65% of this revenue, with an expected gross margin ranging from 35% to 65%, contingent on usage volumes. This revenue stream will be additive to the existing PC gaming product, diversifying SportsHero’s income and reducing reliance on a single platform.

Strategic Partnership and Future Outlook

Indosat’s full marketing support is a critical component of this deal, providing SportsHero with access to a broad and engaged customer base. The mobile casual gaming product is slated for launch in the early December quarter of 2025, marking a new chapter in SportsHero’s regional expansion. While the agreement’s other terms remain unchanged, the potential scale and revenue impact could be transformative if subscriber uptake meets expectations.

However, the success of this initiative will depend on how quickly and widely the mobile gaming product is adopted by Indosat’s customers, as well as how SportsHero navigates competition in the vibrant Southeast Asian gaming landscape. The company’s ability to leverage this partnership effectively could set a precedent for further collaborations with other regional telcos.