Relic of the Recent Past: The Decline of Internet Cafes

A decade ago, every street corner had a crowded internet cafe filled with students and out of school youth. For Millennials and Gen Z’s, countless days and nights (as well as cash) were spent hours inside the confines of these cafes, becoming the center of social life for many.

Ten years later, internet cafes can still be found throughout the Philippines but they aren’t as abundant nor are they attracting the same crowd and hype from all those years ago. Many had closed, and many had minimized their products or services, sometimes to a bare minimum. 

If this same predicament has crossed your mind, you’re in for an enlightening read.

Origins

The Philippines was late to the information boom of the early 90s. The ‘cyber-age’ was late to arrive in the Philippines until March 1994 when the country was hooked up via an underwater cable by the initiatives of the DOST and major universities throughout the country from the United States. It was at this moment, the Philippines was introduced to the wonderful world of the Internet.

Unfortunately, even with this big milestone, the Internet at this period was mostly inaccessible to the masa (general public). But in 1996, the first known internet cafes were opened under the name Netopia. These first internet cafes only provided internet service to the people, but for the first time ever, many Filipinos can now access the World Wide Web by paying for their time inside the cafes. 

Expansion

By the arrival of the new millennium, many internet cafes started to diversify their service offerings, not just the chance to browse the fledging Internet, but to provide entertainment as well. The late 90s and early 2000s coincided with the mass popularity of StarCraft, Warcraft, Command and Conquer and many classic titles of the era into the mass consciousness of the youth at the time, making internet cafes second only to the basketball court as the primary hang-out destinations for many Filipinos youths.

Around this time was when a price war started among many internet cafes to attract many people as possible, from the staggering PHP 50/ per hour (even in today’s money) internet cafes started to offer hourly rates from PHP 20 and as low as PHP 15 or PHP 10, which remains the standard to this day (depending on the establishment).

The 2000s also saw the rise of stiff new competitors battling for supremacy over the cybernet scene. Now familiar names such as Mineski and TNC had entered the arena, with a much more solid lineup of online gaming and up to date advanced hardware.

The expansion was further fueled in the late 2000s and 2010s through the sudden rise of e-sports, a formal competition by novice and professional players of online gaming, becoming a dominant culture especially by the mid to late 2010s, with games such as Crossfire, League of Legends, Overwatch, Fortnite and Apex Legends forcing many high school and college students inside internet cafes on hours for end, helping proliferate the emerging streamer culture.

Eventual Decline

Just like George Harrison said, all things must pass. Even the good times, too.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, many businesses were affected. Internet cafes included, since it required people to be near one another. The pandemic forced everyone inside their homes. By 2020, 56.3% of Filipinos already had some form of Internet connection inside their homes. With nothing to do, many Filipinos became dependent on their phones and other electronic devices to entertain themselves and keep themselves busy.

But it is unfair to blame the decline of internet cafes on the pandemic. Traces of it can be found a decade earlier - the emergence of the smartphone. The mid to late 2010s exposed all generations regardless of age and gender to the usefulness of a smartphone. It can do what a computer can and can’t do. Furthermore, more and more Filipinos are able to afford a computer, making internet cafes almost obsolete.

After the pandemic, a few remained, but not as prevalent like their heyday during the past decade. Internet cafes with premium prices still exist by providing the latest tech and specs to play much powerful online games as e-sports became ingrained in the minds of many Filipino youth, especially the Gen Zs. Today, internet cafes only account for 2.4% of internet usage throughout the entire country in 2023, a far, far cry from what it once was when it was the primary hub to access the Internet.

However, as technology continues to become more affordable, as more Gen Zs are starting to become wealthy from BPOs and blue-collar jobs, it is more likely that internet cafes wouldn’t survive a decade or so longer. But the important take-away in this story is how these places introduced many Filipinos to a much cyber-connected world, how it became a hub for entertainment and communication. Internet cafes are much more than a relic; they are now a memory for us to look back fondly upon where we enjoyed much simpler times.