GAMES SUCH AS Projext Xandata and Anito: Defend a Land Enraged are proof that the Philippines can develop and publish their own video game titles.
Then there are local organizations like Secret 6 who managed to create video game assets for big time international titles like Diablo IV, The Last of Us, etc.
These are signs that there is potential in the video game development scene in the Philippines, and the weekend festival known as the Philippine GameDev Expo (PGDX) aimed to showcase the talents of the Philippines.
This was the first time that the expo existed and Joebert Yu, the Chief Partnerships Officer of CBZN Perspective, who is one of the organizers of the event alongside the Game Developers of the Philippines (GDAP), expressed the purpose of the event.
Prior to his stint in PGDX, Yu is also one of the primary figures behind the Electronic Sports and Gaming Summit (ESGS).
"In the past kasi I've been doing events, but purely focused on business-to-consumer (B2C)...At the same time, yung game development needs a helping hand...na para at least we can do something about it. That's why we positioned PGDX more as a B2B (business-to-business) with a B2C element," started Yu in an exclusive interview with Spin.ph.
And with the B2B approach, comes the opportunities for local game developers and publishers in the Philippines as the PGDX features international organizations who could potentially partner with local devs.
"The purpose of this is we want to connect our game developers to international companies, or international decision makers and have a business. So yun yung mission for now."
He added: "If I can hear or see the news that there's one company that's able to make a business deal with another local company, that's a big win for us."
What the local game development scene needs
While there has been promise in the local gaming scene, there are also problems that are worth noting.
June Carl Malapit of Phoenix Up! Media and formerly from Anino Games, who has been part of the game dev scene since 2006, explained some issues that developers might experience.
While there are Filipino games that managed to appear on App Store, Steam, and Google Play, there are those who struggle to penetrate the market.
"I'm guessing people, the game developers are just either not knowledgeable about how to upload their games into those stores, or there are fees involved in uploading the games in those stores," said Malapit in an interview with Spin.ph.
In addition, Joebert Yu expressed some of the things he learned after hearing from game developers.
"I think some of them are probably, in a way, not yet educated in terms of how to sell their games. Some of them, or maybe most of them, don't know how to make their game into a business. Some of them are mostly hobby, to some it's just a thesis," he revealed.
With international companies headed into the PGDX, comes the opportunities for game developers in the Philippines to have their games published, and Yu mentioned their role in the event.
"If you saw yung sa BizCon area, there were companies like Nintendo, and international companies there, talking to local game companies, local developers, and wanted to make business, wanted to get their games to be published, or there are international game publishers who also joined in, they're looking for the next game to be published, but locally made." he explained.
He further added: "They were able to make business dealings, connections and I think some of them were able to talk to a lot of developers. So possibly, maybe you know, get their games to be published."
And when talking about how local developers reaching the next step of making their gaming projects into a business, Yu hinted on plans for the future.
"Maybe next year, I had this idea from one of the international visitors who's into publishing, mentioned about doing a mentoring program. So we're thinking about probably setting up some workshops for mentoring for those new games, how to publish your game, how to sell your game, something like that."
A thriving scene
Yet despite some of the hiccups it encounters, the Philippine game development scene still has a lot to offer.
While there are those who are intimidated by prospect of making their games due to the demands involved, the current setting is more accessible and convenient.
With YouTube providing online classes on game development, and applications like Unity and Unreal Engine, easing the process of developing games, Phoenix Up! Media's Malapit expressed that the scene is booming.
"It's actually booming right now, so I've been in the industry since 2006, and back then, I worked for Anino Games, which is the very first game development company in the Philippines. Back then, it was only us. Right now, even the regular people, average Joes or something, they can develop games already.
"All the tools are readily available online. I'm very much happy that game development is booming in the Philippines right now," said the game developer.
And his statements were further supported by Secret 6's Head of Marketing, Hannah Donato.
"I think it's flourishing a lot. Kasi nga, it's becoming also more accessible, the resources, and especially now na tapos na yung pandemic. Actually, during the pandemic, natatuloy-tuloy pa rin naman, it was actually a very good thing for games.
Pero the fact na, you know, that indie area is growing, I think the indie scene is definitely thriving. Ang dami ring bago," she revealed to Spin.ph.
And while Secret 6 could serve as a blueprint or inspiration for up-and-coming developers given their involvement with major gaming titles, Donato revealed that there are growing pains that everyone would encounter.
"I'm very proud that my colleagues are able to rise up to the challenge of providing the quality that they need. Kasi hindi joke to work with these developers because they have really high standards," she started.
Then she revealed the lengthy feats the team had to accomplish.
"And our studio, we started really small, but our artists are just very driven to provide what they need. So, they had to learn, we had to grow, and I'm very proud to see how our involvement, especially with Naughty Dog, we started with Uncharted 3 na mga treasures yung ginagawa namin."
"Pero dito for the Last of Us Part 2, we made over 2,000 assets already, and that's a huge feat talagang...Hindi siya yung biglaan na si-nailstock lang namin sila."
All of which took a lot of devotion to the craft, a key attribute of the Filipino spirit.
"It was like years of built trust and commitment talaga. That's why we achieved this. So, that's what makes us proud. It's really the journey that it took for us to get here...It's really cool, because I think Filipinos have a very high work ethic," reflected Donato.
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