11 Startups to Watch in Indonesia’s Gaming Industry
Indonesia’s mobile market is huge - across both feature phones and smartphones - as well as social media addicts. Game developers are doing good business by providing these people with some good entertainment on mobile as well as tackling games on PC and in-browser. So without further adieu, we present you with the 11 awesome startups to watch for in Indonesia’s gaming industry.
1. Garuda Games
With the vision towards delivering quality, fun-filled gaming titles, Garuda Games is an award-winning game developer that was established back in 2009 by a bunch of dreamers. Its 2011 online game called SteamOps got Garuda Games serious notoriety when it won the Indonesia ICT Award 2011, and SteamPunk Deathmatch 1 , won first place at the Indonesia Game Show 2012 in the 3D PC game category.
Recently, Garuda Games’ Bermain Dengan Bentuk dan Warna also won third place in the Pro Rock Star category at Rock Star Dev 2013.
Garuda Games develops web games, multiplayer PC games, branded games, and web games. The studio has 14 games for iOS including SteamPunk Warrior and Burger Frenzy, with three more games coming soon. They're also trying to enter the Android market by developing the upcoming Save Orang Utan game.
2. Agate Studio
Next stop is another award winning game developer, Agate Studio. Built also in 2009, Agate Studio is famous for its Football Saga 2 an online game that won Flash game of the year in Indonesia Games Show 2012 and has recently released a web game called Sengokuixa, in collaboration with Square Enix Co. Ltd.. The game was published in closed beta on July 1st.
Agate Studio is now operating in three major cities in Indonesia; Bandung as headquarters, Jakarta, and Jogjakarta with more than 80 staff that are experienced in developing entertainment, advertising, training, simulation, and education games across all platforms. Agate also represented Indonesia in Tokyo Game Show 2012.
3. Toge Productions(site under construction)
Our third stop is Toge Productions (toge means beansprout in Indonesian), a game developer founded in 2009. It won first place in Indonesia Game Show 2012 for 2D PC game category with Relic of War. Its other famous PC games are 2010’s Infectonator: World Dominator (which gained more than 7 million plays) and the sequel Infectonator 2. For mobile users, Infectonator 2 can be downloaded in the App Store for $0.99 and Google Play.
4. Creacle Studio(site under construction)
Jogjakarta-based Creacle Studio has won some awards with games especially made for Nokia’s users including first place in Mobile Game Developer War 2 2012 for Virtual Pet and also first winner for the non-Flash game category in Indonesia Game Show 2012 for its Save Komo game.
Creacle Studio has been running since 2011 with its first portfolio, GreenGuard that became the finalist of INAICTA 2011. And since then, Creacle Studio is focusing on developing games which carry Indonesian characters such as Pandawa Series' Arjuna Sang Pemanah and Bima The Conqueror.
Touchten, located in Jakarta, was founded in 2009, and has been focused on the overseas market before finally monetizing its iOS and Android games in Indonesia. With popular games like Infinite Sky (Smartphone-based winner in Indonesia Game Show 2012), Train Legend, Cute Kill, and recently launched Zico: The Official Game, in collaboration with the famous footballer.
We covered a lot of stuff about Touchten, which can be read here.
Maximize Games offers nice user experience with great characters and storyline in its PC games. It has released 12 games so far, including seven PC games like Silent Scream II: The Bride and Pet Playground, three kids edu-games (compatible with iOS and Android phones), and other smartphone-based games such as Push the Box and Meet Your Mate.
Push the Box won as a runner-up in Indonesia Game Show 2012 for smartphone-based category and got the Famigo APProved badge as family-friendly app. You can head over to Apps Store or Google Play to download this great app for free.
7. Tinker Games
Tinker Games is a runner up of Indonesia Game Show 2012 for feature phone-based game with Backyard Madness. In May, they launched another interesting game called INheritage. INheritage is an iOS third-person shooter and with $1.99, and can be downloaded here.
Established by 11 people in November 2011 in Bandung, Tinker Games aims to be the best in developing Indonesia’s mobile game apps. Tinker Games offers game design development, character and story development, game programming and porting, background music and sound effect, visual design and animation for its clients.
8. Educa Studio
Entering the eighth on the list is Educa Studio. It has been running since April 2011 and aims to create games, websites, and apps targeted mostly at children. Educa Studio is making some innovations each year by developing 14 educational PC games since 2011, 30 mobile games since 2012, and four online games. In 2013, Educa Studio is building children's dress up games and its Marble line-up games for Android, Windows Phone, Nokia, iOS, and Blackberry platforms.
Educa Studio’s Marbel Belajar Membaca has has successfully grabbed the first position in Pro Rock Star category during Rock Star Dev 2013 competition this month. You can check out all of Educa studio’s portfolio here and download the apps for free too.
9. Altermyth
Altermyth has been working with big telcos in Indonesia including XL, Bakrie Telecom, and Telkomsel, as well as partnering with a famous Japanese game developer, Square Enix. Founded in 2003, this Jakarta-based game studio started to get its hand on the gaming industry in 2006. It continues to spread its wings in online and mobile game apps in 2012. As one of the longest-running developers, Altermyth has ample experience in developing and porting games for themselves as well as for their clients. One of its proudest achievements is being trusted by Square Enix to make an Indonesian translation version of Final Fantasy I and port it into an Android device, the Samsung Galaxy W.
Pancipon Fishing is Altermyth’s latest game which comes in lite and full versions and can be downloaded in the Apps Store. Altermyth was also one of Indonesia’s representatives in Tokyo Game Show 2012, alongside Agate Studio.
Other Indonesian game developers should be ready to face Square Enix Smileworks with its entrance to Indonesia’s gaming industry last month. Three major shareholders from Japan: Square Enix, Gotanda Denshi, and Smile-Lab are trying their luck in Indonesian market by setting up their business in Surabaya. It is now developing a social game called Nirvaana Genesis and just ended the illustration contest for the game.
11. Nightspade
Last but not least is Nightspade, a mobile game studio that is located in Bandung with a total of 15 developers and focusing on mobile game development for iOS, Android, Symbian, Windows Phone, and Meego. Their latest game project is Give a Dam which was showcased in Jakarta Game Show 2012. At the recent Rock Star Dev, Nightspade achieved the runner up position in the Pro Rock Star category by introducing Fun Point, a system that can turn your smartphone into a game controller.
(Editing by Steven Millward and Anh Minh Do)
Update: SteamPunk Deathmatch is a PC game and SteamPunk Warrior is an iOS game. Both are different games established by Garuda Games. We apologize for the confusion.
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