Spearheaded by Games Solution Centre (GSC), more than a dozen Singapore gaming producers and platform providers attended this year’s Gamescom.
By Sanjay Surana
The games industry here in Singapore may be in its nascent stages, but that did not stop it from making splashes on the world stage. Spearheaded by Games Solution Centre (GSC) – an initiative by the Infocomm Media Development Authority to help Singapore-based SMEs to develop their games – more than a dozen Singapore gaming producers and platform providers attended this year’s Gamescom. Four of them even launched products at the annual event, the world’s largest trade fair for computer and video games, held from 17-21 August at the Koelnmesse exhibition hall in Cologne, Germany.
Among them were the piece-matching Hello Kitty: Fantasy Theatre (pictured left)and swashbuckling adventure War Pirates: Heroes of the Sea, both by mobile game publisher goGame, and the conquest strategy Legends of Callasia by Boomzap. Gaming developers are drawn to the event by the tantalising size of the global gaming community and media that come each year. And no wonder – with 877 exhibiting companies from 54 nations (a new record), and 345,000 attendees from 97 countries this year, the exposure for local games featured at Gamescom is invaluable.
“We attended Gamescom due to the fact that the number of attendees is astronomical,” says Ivan Moltini of Daylight Studios, a Singapore-based independent games developer that showcased its new space adventure Holy Potatoes! We’re in Space?! (pictured bottom right) at this year’s Gamescom. “The general reception of the game was positive! Consumers and media alike were attracted by the colourful and bold art style of the game.”
Just as important as the public and media plaudits, were the deals sealed at Gamescom, further evidence of the growing maturity and appeal of products developed here in the Lion City. “We officially signed with Daedelic Entertainment [a German video game software development and publishing company] at Gamescom this year!” continues Ivan. “It was great to get everything finalised and have our partnership started in Daedelic’s home country. The publicity and outreach that Gamescom provided for our game is invaluable to us.”
For other producers, getting a pulse on their customers was the main impetus behind visiting the show. “We didn’t attend Gamescom to make business deals. We are self-publishing Legends of Callasia, and we were there mainly to meet and talk with our users,” explains Christopher Natsuume, co-founder of Boomzap. “Most of the people we met really liked the fact that our game works on a cross-platform basis. We learned that there really is a desire for games to be delivered in this way.”
Gamescom is one event out of the many that GSC has on its calendar. Throughout the year, GSC extends calls to local developers and publishers for interest in various international gaming events that can help promote local content on a global platform.
Image credits:
Hello Kitty: Fantasy Theatre - Image by GameStart Asia
Holy Potatoes! We’re in Space?! - Image by Daylight Studios
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