Singapore’s video game development scene got a boost when interactive media university DigiPen (Singapore) opened its development and publishing studio, DigiPen Game Studios, yesterday. The studio will work with developers to create games for the Nintendo 3DS system, after which the games will be made available on Nintendo’s various online platforms. The studio is supported by the Japanese video game giant and Media Development Authority (MDA).
Said Mr Jason Chu, chief operating officer (International) at DigiPen Institute of Technology: “We are an educational institution. Our expertise is in technical solutions, helping people. If developers have a roadblock in their development or if they want advice on how to make their games better, those are the kinds of things that DigiPen will be able to provide.” DigiPen will organise its first gaming conference for third-party developers beginning September, and they can then submit game concepts for the studio’s evaluation. Successful applicants will be selected for development and publication.
DigiPen and Nintendo will evaluate the games and hope to select up to 10 games from Singapore. Nintendo will lend marketing and advertising support for shortlisted games. “Once the games are completed, as a publisher, DigiPen will take the game and submit it to Nintendo’s Quality Assurance department, and they will do the quality assurance checks. If there are any issues, they will send it back to the developers and they will redevelop or solve those issues before resubmitting for publishing,” said Mr Chu.
According to MDA, Singapore’s game sector is one of fastest growing media sectors, with video game revenue forecast to exceed US$0.5 billion (S$0.69 billion) by 2018. “We will assist DigiPen in reaching out to the local game development community to invite our game developers to the conference to enjoy the networking opportunity, and also to hear from industry leaders and also to hear (about) the latest trends, and to learn the know-how for developing on the Nintendo platform,” said MDA’s assistant chief executive for industry Angeline Poh. While initially for the Nintendo 3DS platform, the studio may open up to other platforms in the future, DigiPen said.
First seen at: Channel News Asia
