While the global game charts are dominated by a handful of massive corporations, Southeast Asia's videogame scene is on fire. Here's why. Published on By I spent much of October on the road, visiting several game expos to see what's up in in .
My tour took me to for LevelUp KL, Bali for the Game Developer Exchange (IGDX), and for " ." Each event had its own distinct vibe and lineup of games. Between them, however, they painted a singular picture: Southeast Asia's videogame scene is on fire.
Japan, the United States, Europe, and China are still undoubtedly generating most of the hits. However, the rise in well-made, culturally interesting, and downright fun games coming out of Southeast Asia cannot be ignored. Start with the Millennial zeitgeist vibes of Coffee Talk – a game in which players work at a midnight cafe and listen to the worries of their nocturnal customers while serving each of them just the right cup of coffee.
Or try the sheer joy of kaiju brawler game Gigabash. In ths one, Godzilla and Ultraman grapple with a host of original monsters and reduce cities to rubble in their wake. Simply put, the region has produced a growing, diverse range of games that have found audiences the world over.
Indeed, many hit games from Japan and the West are partly made in Southeast Asia anyway. Series from and to Dark Souls and use outsource studios in places like Malaysia and Singapore. Through working in the background on multimillion-selling AAA games, local developers have pi.
