16 September 2009 - Speech By RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore at the Launch of Unreal Technology Lab at Lecture Theatre T1A, Singapore Polytechnic
Speech By RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore at the Launch of Unreal Technology Lab at Lecture Theatre T1A, Singapore Polytechnic on Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Mr Lim Peng Hun, Deputy Principal for Technology & Industry, Singapore Polytechnic
Mr Pentera Dio, Vice President for Business Development, Epic Games China
Ladies and gentlemen
1. Good afternoon. It gives me great pleasure to be here today to witness the launch of the Unreal Technology Lab.
2. The Unreal Engine by Epic Games is one of the most sought-after game engines worldwide. Popular games built on this engine include Bioshock, Gears of War, Lineage 2, Army of Two and many more. The idea of having an Unreal Technology Lab in Singapore to provide training and access to Unreal Engine 3 was mooted more than a year ago when IDA led a trade mission to ChinaJoy, an annual digital entertainment expo and conference in Shanghai. We introduced Singapore Polytechnic to Epic Games China which licenses Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 in China and many parts of Asia. In September last year, both Epic Games China and Singapore Polytechnic announced their intention to set up this training facility. For Epic Games China, this represented an opportunity to expand their reach into the Southeast Asia region while for Singapore Polytechnic, their students would benefit from the exposure to a world-class engine. After months of hard work by the respective parties, we are witnessing the fruition of this idea today.
3. The Unreal Technology Lab is the first of its kind set-up for Epic Games in Southeast Asia. It provides access to the complete suite of Unreal software for next-generation consoles and PCs for the development of different types of games, such as massively multiplayer online and action games. This facility will not only benefit students of Singapore Polytechnic, but the game development community, especially the small- and medium-sized studios.
4. The Connected Games Programme is IDA's contribution to the growing digital media industry and it aims to develop Singapore into a leading regional centre for Connected Games with a holistic approach to attract companies to deploy games services, anchor market leaders, and build the ICT capabilities for the ecosystem.
5. One of the key initiatives of the Programme is to anchor Games Resource Centres in Singapore. This initiative came about in response to feedback from the industry that the lack of access to the latest technologies, expertise and resources for games development was among the key challenges faced by this sector. This is especially so for freelance developers and local companies, who do not have the means to obtain access to costly tools for game development and testing. This lack of access affects the quality and development capability of our games developers. The Games Resource Centre initiative addresses this market gap by providing a platform for game developers to level up, collaborate and create game prototypes using the latest software development kits or game engines.
6. The Unreal Technology Lab is the second IDA-supported Games Resource Centre to be established. The first Games Resource Centre was that set up earlier this year by Sony Computer Entertainment and Nanyang Polytechnic with a focus on building the PlayStation development capability. We are indeed very pleased to see more leading game companies coming onboard to set up Games Resource Centres in Singapore. We believe that having a vibrant games industry coupled with Singapore's robust infrastructure and strong IP regime will enhance our position as a leading regional hub for the games sector.
Conclusion
7. The Unreal Technology Lab will provide a strong foundation for games development in Singapore. I would like to offer my heartiest congratulations to Epic Games China and Singapore Polytechnic on this collaboration and I extend my best wishes to them on this endeavour. I am confident that this collaboration will add to the diversity and vibrancy of the games eco-system here in Singapore.
8. Thank You.
.webp)