The Southeast Asian games industry continues to be one of the hottest and fastest growing sectors. LEVEL UP KL, the annual Southeast Asia games industry event led by Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) returns for the fourth year with the ambition to grow the games industry in the region, anchored on the theme “Beyond Entertainment.”
The two-day conference held on 30 and 31 October at the Connexion Conference & Event Centre, Bangsar South, is part of a larger five-day event. Nearly one thousand local and international delegates graced LEVEL UP KL 2018.
Over 70 speakers from the games industry shared their valuable experiences at LEVEL UP KL, including Michael Mumbauer (Playstation), Chris Murphy (Epic Games), Guy Charusadhirakul (Google), Wan Hazmir (Metronomik) and Weiging Ngang (HTC).
The conference has become the go-to platform for studios to showcase their latest projects, market their capabilities and attract new business opportunities. It’s also a platform to share knowledge with industry peers and explore future collaborations.
This year the conference was divided into five tracks: AAA Games, Technology Partner, Indie Games, eSports & Education, and Beyond Entertainment. Read more here.
One of the key industry announcements during the first day was the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between MDEC and iCandy Interactive Limited, one of the world’s leading digital entertainment companies.
The MoU outlines iCandy’s role in promoting the use of blockchain technology in game-making in Malaysia. Also, it will provide funding to promising Malaysian-based game studios to develop blockchain games.
iCandy recently launched a pre-sale for its upcoming blockchain game – “CryptantCrab” – a made-in-Malaysia collectible game that runs on the Ethereum blockchain.
Who says Malaysia’s got no talent?
If you follow the games development industry in Malaysia, you’ll find that Malaysia does not lack talent, contrary to the popular belief. Some potential earth-shaking intellectual properties (IP) are “No Straight Roads” by Metronomik Studio, “Eximius: Seize the Frontline” by Ammobox Studios, “Bake & Switch” by Streamline Games, and “Datum Tap” by NightMorning Studios.
And there has been some successes that were spawned from the event. Indie games studio Kaigan Game got the industry buzzing last year with its game “Sara is Missing” and “SIMULACRA,” and Magnus Games signed a worldwide publishing agreement for its “Re:Legend” game with Italian game publisher and distributor Digital Bros S.p.A., through its subsidiary 505 Games S.p.A.
One of the key highlights of the annual event is also the SEA Games Awards 2018 where 40 finalists out of 105 game submissions to compete in ten award categories including Best Visual, Best Game Design, Best Storytelling, Best Innovation, just to name a few.
