An Indonesian Indie Game Developer Has Been Accused of Alleged Unpaid Labor, According to Anonymous Sources and Former Employees

The world of independent game development is a rocky, tumultuous, and oftentimes, scary place to find yourself. Putting out a game, regardless of the quality, can be an extremely terrifying process. That’s why many folks dream of working for a “proper” studio. A steady paycheck, possible benefits, and a management team to help things progress smoothly. These studios can make that dream an adequate reality. But, as reported by former employees and anonymous sources, Anantarupa Studios has allegedly been taking advantage of these dreams, delaying payments or not paying employees at all. And this has been going on for months, with no end in sight.

Anantarupa Studios, Developers of ‘Lokapala’, Have Reportedly Delayed Salary Payments for Employees

Update: Since publishing this article, current employees have began to reach out regarding the current crisis at Anantarupa Games. You can read the follow-up article by following this link.

Multiple anonymous users began posting reviews on Glassdoor.com and Murzfeed.com, accusing Anantarupa Studios of delaying payments to their accounts. After being promised payment in February after the Ramadan Celebration, some developers have still not received payments months later. According to the alleged reviews that were left on Glassdoor, employees reported that they had not received their payments for up to five months, from November 2024 until now.

On April 10, 2025, X User @SEAGamethetic attempted to contact Anantarupa Studios and Lokapala Customer Service to receive any clarification on the reported delayed payments. As of the time of this writing, they have received a response from Ivan Chen, CEO of Anantarupa Studios. While Mr. Chen did respond, they avoided several issues and did not address all of the current controversies. Mr. Chen also mentioned that the original email correspondence from @SEAGamesthetic could not be found, although it was forwarded from the Lokapala Customer Support team.

As of the time of this writing, @SEAGamethetic has reached out to Ivan Chen for further clarification on the anonymous reports on Murzfeed and Glassdoor. Mr. Chen has stated, “Anonymous tips from Murzfeed and Glassdoor do not need clarification, because he has nothing to hide.”

Meetings Between the ceo and Former Employees Get Nowhere

Following additional reports from nmiagaming.com, and after a staff meeting with Anantarupa Studios’ CEO and COO, it appears that no resolution has been reached. Rather, it seems that things have been muddled even further after this meeting between staff and corporate. With additional information being shared via social media by pages like Ecommurz, it appears that this situation just keeps getting worse.

Ivan Chen, replying to the Instagram post shared by Ecommurz, admitted that he has not fulfilled his payment obligations. Roughly translated via the Instagram Translation method, Ivan said the following:

“Hello there, everyone. I am Ivan, CEO of Anantarupa. Allow me to respond to information circulating regarding our company. Firstly, I apologize to all parties who feel harmed as Anantarupa has not fulfilled its obligation. This is my responsibility and purely my mistake. Yet I stay here trying to get all these responsibilities done.”

However, according to former and current employees who found themselves in a meeting on April 22, 2025, Anantarupa Studios “gaslighted everyone who attended the meeting, saying that each of our attempts will hinder investors.”

“Had a meeting this morning, and it was… something. Management tried to spin this whole story about how anything we do might ‘scare off investors.’ Since a lot of the team are fresh from college, they were pretty scared. But we told them that the CEO was just trying to manipulate them.” – Direct quote from an anonymous employee of Anantarupa Studios.

Following Reports of Horrific Situations at Brandoville Studios in Indonesia, Anantarupa Studios Should Clarify What Is Happening

While the situation at Anantarupa Studios is nowhere near as haunting as what happened at Brandoville Studios, as reported by PC Gamer, it’s still worth mentioning here. Game studios across the world are regularly subjected to crunch culture, terrible conditions, and harassment from outside sources. Looking into Indonesian Labor Laws, regardless of the work completed on games such as Lokapala, these workers deserve proper compensation.

The employer is obligated to pay the employee, even if the employee terminates the FTC prematurely. And if these Murzfeed and Glassdoor submissions are legitimate, salaried employees should be receiving their payments. According to multiple sources, management at Anantarupa Studios has been pressuring employees into deleting posts on social media, criticizing them for the current situation. They’ve also been calling employees “anarchists,” allegedly.

Regardless of how everything plays out, situations like this shouldn’t be normalized in the gaming world. It’s difficult enough to try and survive in this field right now. And we can only hope that continued reporting will help these employees find the resolution they need.