Comment by Riaz Haq on November 28, 2018 at 8:07am

Two #Pakistani #gaming startups, DreamNode and we.R.play, are among the first batch of 30 #Google's Indie Games Accelerator (IGA) program's graduates. #Game #Mobile #Pakistan https://www.dawn.com/news/1448184

Two Pakistani gaming startups, DreamNode and we.R.play, are among the first batch of Google's Indie Games Accelerator (IGA) programme's graduates, Techjuice reported on Wednesday.

The Pakistani developers are two of 30 startups that participated in the four months-long programme run by Google in Singapore.

Take a look: Gaming industry breaks cultural barriers

Founded in 2010, we.R.Play boasts viral mobile games such as Run Sheeda Run and Lost Twins among its creations.


DreamNode, meanwhile, is an up and coming studio that aims to "create simple yet engaging mobile and tablet gaming apps".

The IGA is a programme that mentors and trains gaming startups from Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

The programme comprises training workshops and clinics as well as mentoring and networking sessions. According to Google Developers, the IGA provides indie startups expert guidance in three areas:

Game Development: Design best practices, Google Platforms (Android Studio, AR Core, Firebase, Google Cloud, Instant Games), Unity

Business Development: Google Play Console, YouTube Gaming, User Acquisition best practices, Monetisation models and more

People and Team Culture Development: Hiring the right people, building company culture and leadership development

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 30, 2019 at 4:58pm

State of play: Is videogame development on the rise in Pakistan?
With a target market of 2.3 billion gamers worldwide, new opportunities within game development have opened up locally.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1475376

Videogames stand as one of the most influential and largest consumed mediums present — with an approximate target market of over 2.3 billion gamers worldwide. It accounted for a global revenue of over $137.9 billion in 2018, up by 13.3% from the previous year.

According to unpublished IGDA Pakistan (International Game Developers Association) estimates, upto $25 million in revenue is earned locally across the industry each year; with more than 8,000 professionals associated with videogame development.

Yet, videogames, and in particular videogame development in the country, has always flown under the radar. But somewhere within these numbers lies Pakistan's modest gaming industry. This story is about that.

Coming of age: From consumers to developers
The journey of videogame development in Pakistan started sometime around the 2000s — when teenagers who had played and experienced games from what is formally known as the 3rd and 4th generation of videogame development internationally, started to become young adults.

This generation, that had grown up on early PCs, NES, Sega, Atari and Commodores, soon found that it wasn't satisfied with being a mere consumer. It was clear to many of them that a new medium was rising, one where pixels and gameplay were telling a story, replacing the simple and unadorned use of moving images or words.

Initially, the concept of videogame development started off with 'modding' existing games.

Games like Counter-Strike and Unreal Tournament were being actively played in LAN (local area network) cafes, with easily accessible 'world editors' that one could use to modify and tinker levels and features. So it didn’t take long for the pioneering generation to get its hands on some of these modifying features, resulting in the occasional use of custom game maps based on familiar localities on old LANs, which were built by internet service provides or by private individuals.

The first few studios that popped up around the same time were Trango Interactive and Fork Particle in Islamabad, along with Wireframe Interactive in Lahore, that solely focused on small mobile games and indie PC titles.

The early bird catches the worm
Since the target market segmentation for indie gaming was not mature and crystalised enough — and videogame development studios located internationally were creating content of a much higher production value than the local development scene —the early birds found life tough.

To sustain themselves, they had to diversify their revenue streams and enter the world of the outsourcing servicing business model.

This led to some of the big AAA/AA publishers and mobile developers, such as Sega, THQ, Zynga, Pocket Gems, Disney Interactive, Eidos Interactive, etc. to send their outsourced projects, asset and content work to some of these studios; providing finances that allowed Pakistani studios to work on their own projects on the side as well.

Read: Gaming industry breaks cultural barriers

Tomb Raider: Legend, Zynga Poker, Death Jr.2: Root of Evil and Afterburner: Black Falcon, all have hints of a Pakistani soul running through them.

Finances from outsourced projects helped Pakistani studios work on their own projects on the side.— Source: Mindstorm Studios
Moreover, it was during this time that Mindstorm studios were able to sign a contract with Codemasters, an internationally acclaimed game publisher and developer, that kickstarted development on Cricket Revolution, the first-ever videogame developed by Pakistan to land on Steam, an infrastructure for distributing and managing the installation and use of games.

Comment by Riaz Haq on February 4, 2020 at 4:39pm

#Pakistani game developers denied #US visa for #GDC #SanFrancisco make a game about it. Goal is to draw attention to issues faced by those attempting to travel into United States from #Muslim countries. Rejections way up during #Trump admin https://www.polygon.com/2020/2/4/21122459/pakistani-gdc-visa-denied... via @Polygon

Two game developers from Pakistan who were denied U.S. visas to attend the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco have made a game about their experience. The stated goal is to draw attention to issues faced by those attempting to travel into the United States from Muslim countries. Restrictions have been on the rise since the election of President Donald Trump in 2016.

Trying to Fly was created as part of the Global Game Jam, which took place Jan. 31 to Feb. 2, by Bisma Zia, Anam Sajid, and Ali Hamza. Both Zia and Sajid had previously been awarded scholarships by the Independent Game Developers Association (IGDA) to attend GDC. But, when they applied for visas to enter the U.S. for GDC in March, they were denied. Similar stories have played out over the past few years, impacting residents of Iran, Syria, and other predominantly Muslim countries.

“They wanted to make a game that would highlight their (and others) experience at the Visa interview process,” reads the game description, “and how such measures can directly have an effect on their future careers and lives. The bird represents the applicants dreams and aspirations for the future.”

The IGDA has made great strides in the past decade to support fledgling game developers around the world. Pakistan represents an emerging new territory for gaming, due in part to its surging middle class and the adoption of mobile technology. It’s also home to the Pixelart Games Academy, Pakistan’s first games academy.

The same weekend that the Global Game Jam kicked off, the Trump administration announced it would expand its travel restrictions in 2020. Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania will all have new restrictions put in place regarding access to visas.

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