Anantarupa Studios Risked Going to Court After Defaulting on Employee Compensation

Anantarupa Studios risked going to court after a recent finding revealed that they failed to compensate terminated employees.

Serikat Pekerja Media dan Industri Kreatif untuk Demokrasi (The Media and Creative Industries Workers Union for Democracy, SINDIKASI) has revealed that Anantarupa Studios, the developer behind Indonesian-made esports MOBA game Lokapala, has failed to pay for employees’ work termination.

They demanded that Anantarupa pay their outstanding compensation to a former employee and SINDIKASI member named DP (legal name withheld).

“The Lokapala game developer has been proven to have defaulted on the collective agreement signed by both parties on September 3, 2025, which has become legally binding. Due to this violation, SINDIKASI filed a motion for execution with the Jakarta Industrial Relations Court (PHI) on Thursday, February 19, 2026,” said SINDIKASI in a published release.

Setyo A. Saputro, a member of the SINDIKASI advocacy team, said that the team has served a warning letter to Anantarupa but so far has been ignored.

“We were forced to file this motion for execution due to a lack of good faith from Anantarupa,” Setyo added.

SINDIKASI filed an execution request with the DKI Jakarta Industrial Relations Court (PHI) on Thursday, February 19, 2026.

Timeline of Anantarupa Studios’s financial woes

Anantarupa Studios was founded in 2011, providing B2B services of custom games, augmented reality, and virtual reality. They self-published their esports game, Lokapala, in May 2020.

They collaborated with various brands, such as airline Garuda Indonesia and comic publisher Bumilangit, to bring limited-time content into the game.

The game received a lot of support from the government, with Lokapala being showcased various times at the Piala Presiden Esports event.

The financial struggles of Anantarupa Studios began in November 2024, when DP and many other employees noticed late payments for their salaries. In December 2024, they also realized that Anantarupa unilaterally terminated their BPJS Kesehatan, a government-issued health insurance.

Anantarupa promised the affected employees that they will receive compensation in the form of monthly interest on their outstanding salaries.

The working condition was leaked through various platforms such as Murzfeed and Glassdoor. Anantarupa then released a statement that they won’t force employees to work during this time, and they’re working on an internal audit.

Initially, the working conditions seem to be moving in a better direction. Employees said that a town hall was held by the CEO, Ivan Chen, and COO, Diana Paskarina, to explain the current situation and options given to the affected employees.

Through his Instagram comment, Ivan Chen admitted that Anantarupa hasn’t paid the employee’s salary.

“First, I apologize to all parties who feel aggrieved by Anantarupa’s failure to fulfill its obligations. This is my responsibility and entirely my fault. However, I remain here and strive to fulfill all my responsibilities,” he wrote.

Negotiation assisted with legal entities went lengthy

Mediation by a third-party entity was actively pursued. The Indonesian Game Association (AGI) became the first to be involved, as confirmed by the chairman, Shafiq Husein.

“From AGI itself, we have forwarded the email to the Anantarupa team so they can resolve their issues internally,” said Shafiq. “As an association, we regret this incident, and we hope everything can be resolved amicably.”

Unfortunately, as of 2025, no compensations were paid to the employees affected. This caused DP to authorize SINDIKASI to get involved.

Bipartite negotiations between the SINDIKASI advocacy team and Anantarupa Studios were held on April 15, 2025. Anantarupa was represented by both the CEO and COO, HR Manager Stefanus Oliver, and Head of IP Division Ninoi Kiling.

The negotiation went nowhere, as both parties did not arrive at a satisfactory conclusion. SINDIKASI officially filed against the West Jakarta Manpower, Transmigration, and Energy Sub-agency (Sudin Nakertransgi).

More negotiations were held, and after four more meetings, in September 2025, Anantarupa Studios agreed to terminate the employee’s contract, as well as give out compensations for parties affected. This agreement was supervised by Yoel Albert Laoh, an industrial relations mediator at the West Jakarta Sudin Nakertransgi

The compensation payment mechanism was agreed to be paid in four installments at the end of each month, from October 2025 to January 2026.

Meanwhile, in June 2025, Anantarupa decided to stop the Lokapala game service indefinitely.

With no compensation paid, Anantarupa Studios risked going to court

SINDIKASI’s effort to fight for DP and other employees’ compensation is still facing a rocky road, with Anantarupa once again failing to fulfill their obligation. Of the four agreed payments, Anantarupa only fulfilled one in October 2025.

They tried to contact Anantarupa through their attorney, Suwarto S.H., who also reminded Anantarupa that the agreement is legally binding with severe legal consequences. But the company made many excuses.

Since SINDIKASI has pursued all available avenues for mediation, yet Anantarupa has failed to fulfill their responsibility, therefore SINDIKASI has filed a request for enforcement in court and made this case public.

“Hopefully, this step will serve as a reminder to all parties that workers who have been cheated have the right to fight back. Just because it’s a game company doesn’t mean workers’ fates are being played around with,” said Setyo.