Fruitful Tokyo Game Show 2018 for Malaysian game studios

• Twelve Malaysian game studios were brought under Matrade to TGS 2018
• Studios gained useful feedback and insight from the show

THE recently concluded Tokyo Game Show 2018 (TGS 2018) in Japan marked the conclusion of one of this year’s biggest events in the video game industry. Continuing on its mission to promote Malaysian game developers overseas, Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) brought 12 local game development studios to the show.

Minister of Communications and Multimedia Gobind Singh Deo was there to launch the Malaysian Pavilion that housed the 12 local studios that included Studio Kamii, Streamline Studios, Soundtrec and Passion Republic. Gobind also visited the various booths after the launch and even tried his hand at playing a Virtual Reality (VR) game.

Studio Kamii game director and chief executive officer Hanis Rahim said the company showcased its latest title ToGather Island that is being developed for PC and consoles. It is said to be a survival adventure game set in a world that blends science and fantasy.

In the game, players would need to survive by gathering resources, hunting, fishing and building structures.

The studio also showcased another game, Neva Logik which is a third person action adventure game that was shown last TGS but is now in the alpha stage of development.

“Surprisingly, both titles were widely accepted by visitors and we got lots of constructive feedback on the game. Many younger visitors were blown away by Neva Logik and wanted to play the game. There were also publishers who also wanted to see ToGather Island as a mobile game,” said Hanis.

Another prolific Malaysian game developers that was present at the event was Metronomik, the local independent game developer started by Wan Hazmer Halim, who had previously worked on the role playing game, Final Fantasy XV. The studio brought its debut game No Straight Roads to the show.

Metronomik describes the game as a music-based action game where players are to face-off against a massive EDM (Electronic Dance Music) empire as an indie rock band.

Hazmer was most thrilled by the surprise visits from Sony Interactive Entertainment president Shuhei Yoshida and Gobind.

“He (Yoshida) gave really good feedback and we can’t wait to show him the full game. Thank you for coming, Yoshida-san!,” according to a post on Metronomik’s Facebook page on the final day of TGS 2018.

“I’m really happy with the turnout of events for our booth. There was no moment when the booth was empty. We had a constant flow of people coming into play!,” said Hazmer.

Admittedly, he was nervous at first at the thought of putting out the demo of the game but he said the visitor who tried his game gave him lots of good feedback and words of encouragement. He hopes to finish No Straight Roads by the spring of 2019.

Related Stories:

Studio Kamii braves the console game scene

Magnus Games Studio inks global publishing deal for Re: Legend

Wan Hazmer keeps time with the rhythm of the industry with new studio, Metronomik

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