Firms showcasing wares ranging from hosting services to digital games
11 May 2006, Business Times Singapore, By Winston Chai
IN a concerted bid to make Singapore the port of call for foreign computer game companies, a group of 13 local firms have made their debut appearance at the giant Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, offering everything from hosting services to video and mobile games.
The event, which opened yesterday at the Los Angeles Convention Centre, is the world's largest computer games expo and features 400 exhibitors from over 80 countries.
Last year, E3 served as the launch platform for some 1,000 products from major game studios from around the world. Led by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), the contingent is showcasing its range of offerings at a 1,600 square metre booth in the south hall of the show floor, considered to be a prime location for this year's event. The Singapore delegation will be sharing the limelight alongside industry heavyweights like Microsoft, Japan's Sega and US-based computer games publishers like Blizzard Entertainment and Electronic Arts.
The 13 home-grown companies, all part of the IDA-initiated Games Exchange Alliance (GXA), are made up of games developers like 10tacle Studios Asia and Activate Interactive, as well as hosting service providers SingTel and StarHub. The local wares on show at E3 include Activate's Hinter Wars, touted to be the world's first cross-platform platform MMORPG (massively multi-player online role-playing game) that can be played on both hand phones and PCs, as well as other online and console games.
IDA will help local companies defray the cost of participating in the mammoth event through subsidies. 'In order for Singapore to be recognised as a hub for game development and distribution, we need to use cutting-edge technology creatively. We believe that cross-platform gaming is one of the future growth areas for gaming in Asia,' said Thomas Lim, IDA's director for education, learning, digital media and entertainment.
The E3 participation marks the latest salvo in Singapore's attempt to stake a greater claim in the burgeoning digital games industry.
According to a PricewaterhouseCooper study, the Asian games market alone is envisioned to be worth US$23 billion by 2009. And Singapore is trying to seize this opportunity on multiple fronts. Beyond attracting foreign gaming players to plant their development operations here, IDA has also launched programmes like the GXA to encourage companies to use Singapore as the launch pad for their online games in the region. The GXA is made up of 25 local members that provide the full spectrum of services needed for games deployment.
These include product localisation, development and hosting, as well as payment platforms.
In addition, Singapore is also trying to raise its profile in the global gaming scene by staging events like the World Cyber Games (WCG) Grand Finals, which was held here last year. While the WCG finale is bound for Italy this year, Singapore has managed to secure a spot as the host of the Asian finals for the 2006 tournament.