LogInMalaysia is a rapidly developing SEA country where the gaming market is expected to show a CAGR of 7.9% in 2023-2028 so that the game revenue will increase from 588 million USD to 860 million USD in this period.
In Malaysia, the gaming industry is keenly centered on development, nurturing skilled talents who will eventually forge their own paths and create distinctive games. While solely engaging with Malaysia as an outsourcing partner may constrain the creative potential of local talent, the accumulation of skill and experience sets the stage for a vibrant future.
There's a huge appetite to level up beyond just servicing. For instance, you can see Passion Republic building their own product GigaBash as a small-size coop game. Another example is Lemon Sky which has a new IP in SEA. Both studios are still maintaining their servicing. Alitt sees that these companies want to build products but they would also be learning a lot through their journey.
Until recent times, Malaysia has mostly been a mobile-centric location. Companies tend to mostly make mobile games but there are also big platforms like PlayStation and Steam that are growing more popular here.
There are courses that offer art degrees in 3D modeling, animation, illustration, and concept art. For example, The One Academy (TOA), an art college based in Kuala Lumpur, works a lot with local studios so that graduates can easily find work at these companies.
There is a bias for Malaysian games, people would like to play in successful games. So, most of the time a game from a Malaysian studio has to become popular abroad, and then people from Malaysia will know about the game and will start playing. So, Malaysian game developers are mostly targeting the Western market rather than the local one.