FUTURE OF SINGAPORE’S GAMING INDUSTRY
Singapore-based studio Fntastic announced its closure on Dec 12, just five days after the launch of its highly-anticipated game The Day Before flopped.
Like Skull and Bones, the game was an open-world massively multiplayer online (MMO) game and reportedly was among digital distribution service Steam’s most wishlisted games. It is now one of the 10 worst-reviewed games of all time on the platform.
Skull and Bones could, however, help Singapore’s gaming industry chart new waters.
According to data by market research company YouGov, three-quarters of the country’s population play video or mobile games, and among those aged 18 to 24, this jumps to 90 per cent.
Last year, Singapore claimed its first SEA Games e-sports gold medal and also hosted the first Olympic Esports Week.
The government has several initiatives in place to spur the development of games in Singapore, like the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)’s INVIGORATE and Games Solution Centre (GSC).
“Singapore’s gaming industry has enormous growth potential with 45 per cent of the world’s gamers based in Asia,” Mr Chong Yang Chan, managing director at data integration and analytics company Qlik, told CNA last year.
Mr Chong then pointed out that for a “nation of gamers”, there are a limited number of homegrown games.
“For Singapore game developers, scaling up highly playable games for an international audience remains the primary challenge,” he explained, adding that local talents should be nurtured and supported.
Skull and Bones might be a step in the right direction, according to Mr Wong.
“It’s definitely a step-up because we’ve never had a triple-A game come out of Singapore before,” he said. “Even if it had a troubled development cycle, it is still something worth celebrating.”
Mr Wong hopes the game will succeed, as it could pave the way for future blockbuster games to be made locally.
“We do have the talent and the skill set to make games like that. We just often don’t have the budget or the resources to do so,” he added.
“Whether the game does well … it’s not relevant to the fact that it’s definitely the first of its kind and hopefully, it will pave the way for more to come in the future.”