Vincent Low ventured into the unknown, and started a web portal that offers online games for free.
Venturing into the unknown can be daunting at first, but that did not stop Media Education Scholar, Vincent Low, from leaving Singapore to launch his own company, Play68, in Guangzhou, China.
Vincent was awarded the Media Education Scholarship in 2006 to study at Bournemouth University in United Kingdom, leading to the award of his Masters in 3D Computer Animation. In 2010, he founded Tzai Entertainment and in 2014, he started up Guangzhou-based Play68, a web portal that offers online games for free.
MediaExchange had a chat with Vincent to talk about his journey getting to where he is now.
MediaExchange: Tell us a little bit about yourself. How has your experience in the industry been so far?
Vincent: I have been working on games since early 2000, from initially freelancing for games development while studying, to creating independent games in my free time, and to working on Xbox 360 Kinect titles at Microsoft Game Studios in the UK after pursuing my Master's degree there under MDA's MES scholarship. I have worked on console titles, mobile games, web-based casual games and MMOs (Massive Multiplayer Online games) in numerous roles ranging from artist, programmer to designer and producer etc. I’m now the Founder and CEO of Play68 Games, China.
What was the inspiration behind setting up Play68, and why in Guangzhou?
Vincent: Play68 aspires to create a platform where true entertainment is brought to players and their friends, instead of the usual "social" games where interaction is minimal. We focus on HTML5 mobile games, which do not require any downloads and installation. Players can share games they like with their friends and start playing immediately, which brings out the true spirit of gaming socially.
Guangzhou's game development scene is thriving and is the area where the best web-based MMOs in China are developed. We have a pool of talented developers and a great environment over here, which definitely aids us in our quest to build the best mobile social gaming platform ever. Oh, and of course Cantonese Dim Sum is a major plus!
What are your hopes for the company? Where do you see it going in the near future?
Vincent: I want to bring the best social gaming experience not only to China, but to the entire world. I hope that with Play68, more people can get exposed to gaming through their friends, and more developers are encouraged to develop for our platform to create value for these players. In the near future, we will be having a lot more social features, better games and will be looking at expanding beyond China.
What is the most exciting or memorable thing that your company has achieved/gone through?
Vincent: The most unforgettable achievement was reaching 10 million page views daily in our early days. One of our games had gone extremely viral and we were pulling all-nighters to solve stability issues, and our customer service could hardly cope with the influx of messages. It was also with that momentum that we became one of the leading HTML5 games platform in China.
What advice would you give to your juniors who are also looking at a career in this industry?
Vincent: Great choice to be in the games industry! Having passion is a must, since long hours and hard work are the minimum. One important thing is to recognise that games have a business side as well as an artistic side. Balancing both is the key to creating great games and also essential to the growth of the industry. Also, China is not that scary and has a booming games industry, so it's definitely worth checking out.
Anything exciting we can look forward to from you in 2016?
Vincent: We are planning to get listed in China to fuel our growth even further. We are also looking to expand beyond China, and being Singaporean, South-East Asia is an obvious choice for me. We are looking forward to bringing games to an international audience, and will be partnering with developers in Singapore to bring their games to China and beyond. On a personal level, I am extremely interested in eSports as well, and will be seeking investment or collaboration opportunities in this area.
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