Made-in-Singapore games going places

Made-in-Singapore games going places

Made-in-Singapore mobile game Brave Frontier was launched just a month ago and it has already been downloaded more than 1.2 million times by gamers in about 12 locations in South-east Asia, North-east Asia and North America.

The game is available for smartphones and tablets running on the Apple iOS and Android platforms. App ranking site AppAnnie.com says this Japanese-style game made No.1 in four app stores under the role-playing genre and reached the top 10 for best overall game in six locations.

It is continuing to grow at a dizzying rate of about 100,000 new downloads a day, said Mr David Ng, chief executive of Gumi Asia, the Singapore-based developer behind the game.

It is not the only made-in-Singapore game making waves. Monster Blade and Puzzle Trooper also passed the million-download mark last year, with the former exceeding 2.5 million.

This year's Digital Life Forum will focus on the meteoric rise of these made-in-Singapore games.

To be held on Feb 11 at the Shangri-La Hotel, the forum will bring together the who's who of the video game industry, including developers, publishers, investors and government, in an activity- packed morning.

Digital Life will announce the top three winners, from a shortlist of 10 finalists, of its inaugural Best Made-In-Singapore Games awards at the forum, which is supported by the Media Development Authority. The proliferation of mobile devices and the ease of publishing games on app stores has lowered the barriers of entry for local game developers in the global market.

Venture capitalists and angel investors are also casting their eyes on mobile games, some of which rake in huge profits. Possibly the most successful mobile game in the world, Clash Of Clans, reportedly rakes in US$2.4 million (S$3 million) in daily revenue from its in-app purchases. The Finnish company behind the game, Supercell, has been valued at US$700 million.

The forum will be of interest to both experienced and budding game developers as well as tertiary students keen on a career in game development.

Digital Life will also be announcing the best gadgets and games of the year at its annual DL Awards ceremony.

To register for the DL forum, go to www.straitstimes.com/2014DigitalLifeForum. Sign up before Jan 29 to enjoy the early bird entry price of $18.

ginlee@sph.com.sg


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