Local talent giving S’pore’s video game evolution a power-up

SINGAPORE — Mr Shawn Toh, 32, formerly a game designer with various multinational companies, recently left after six years to set up his own game company, Battlebrew.

He thinks the games industry in Singapore is thriving, and many opportunities abound.

“There are a lot more studios being set up. We do have a growing pool of expert talent here in Singapore, people who have served many years with big gaming companies,” said Mr Toh, who was previously at Japanese mobile game firms Nubee and Gumi Asia.

Since setting up his business in February, Mr Toh has expanded his team to 10 full-timers and part-timers, comprising a mix of studio veterans and new talent.

The team, which is developing a strategy mobile game, moved into an office at the Info-communications Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) Pixel Studios a few months ago. Mr Benjamin Chevalier, art director and co-founder of local video game company Mighty Bear, also moved the company into a space at Pixel Studios.

In the span of two decades, the landscape of Singapore’s games industry has changed significantly. Today, the Republic looks to grow and expand the local ecosystem, spurred on by the booming South-east Asian market.

Popular international game companies in Singapore include Japan’s Bandai Namco and Koei Tecmo, China’s IGG, and French video game publisher Ubisoft. Homegrown companies are also making their mark, including the likes of Garena, Witching Hour Studio, and Mighty Bear.

The growing pool of talent is what supports the ecosystem, said industry veterans. Speaking yesterday at the Singapore leg of Ubisoft’s international media tour, Mr Joachim Ng, director (innovation spaces/Singapore commission) at IMDA noted that back in 2000, there were no big international game companies here, and only a handful of local ones.

“The games sector was completely different from what it is today. The games industry in Singapore relies on one single factor, which is talent. If you don’t have talent, the game companies would not come here. We would not have local game companies coming out,” noted Mr Ng.

Pixel Studios, launched in one-north last November, is one initiative to help groom and nurture local talent. The studio currently hosts 13 companies.

The games industry in South-east Asia is expected to grow at a faster pace than the rest of the world, said Mr Rodrigue Georis, consumer and market manager at Ubisoft Singapore. Singapore has an advantage as it is centrally located in South-east Asia, with easy access to the rest of the countries in the region, he said.

Mr Kiren Kumar, assistant managing director at the Economic Development Board, said: “Singapore’s ambition is to commercialise successful global game titles. In 2016, South-east Asia’s top gaming markets contributed about US$1.5 billion (S$2.04 billion) of revenue. This represents a significant market opportunity for Singapore to participate in.”

Mr Georis said the development of the games industry in the region will expand with growing Internet and mobile penetration as well as multiple screen usage. Last year, social and casual games — or mobile games — dominated the Singapore market compared to console games and personal computer games. The Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia followed a similar pattern. Meanwhile, PC games drove the market in Thailand and Vietnam, he said.

“The market for video games in Singapore is more mature than other countries in South-east Asia. It is already a very popular pastime. As people have higher salaries here, they also spend more ... on the games, be it on PCs, consoles or mobile,” he added.