Blog by Singapore Games Association

The Singapore Games Association (“SGGA”) held the Industry Day - the association’s biggest event to date - from 7th to 8th of August 2020. The Industry Day aims to bridge the gap between the education and development sectors of the games development industry and to become a nurturing ground for Singapore-based talents to springboard their careers in the industry. 

Singapore’s primary trade association for the gaming and esports industry,  Singapore Games Association (“SGGA”),  officially launches today. Supported by Enterprise Singapore (ESG), Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), SGGA aims to develop and support a sustainable gaming and esports ecosystem locally, while placing Singapore’s name on the world map.      The launch of SGGA builds on a growing local gaming and esports industry, with revenue in the Video Games segment in Singapore projected to reach US$130m in 2020 and US$138m by 2024, according to Statista, an online market research portal.   

COVID-19 has brought about tectonic shifts in the way the world interacts with one other, implementing work from home arrangements and home-based learning in efforts to control the spread of this highly contagious virus. We soon discovered that while some of us have embraced all-day PJs and more personal time, a home-based economy has also come with a number of social issues. Isolation, especially among those who live alone or are separated from loved ones, exacerbated feelings of loneliness, boredom and depression. In Singapore, we also have a large population of migrant workers whose living conditions were perfect for the virus to spread, and being far from home, can only rely on the goodwill of the government and Singaporeans to ensure that their well-being is taken care of. So, when our friends at MDEC (Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation) invited us to be a part of the international YANA (You Are Not Alone) initiative, we jumped on board. YANA’s goal was to bring peopl...

We share plenty of similarities with our neighbours in the north, from our passion for food to our love of game development. So, in order to foster and strengthen relations with our Malaysian counterparts. Singapore Games Association (SGGA) organised and led a delegation of 25 on a 6D5N Travel & Learn Program to learn more about the Malaysian game development scene – the mission was also in collaboration with Ngee Ann Polytechnic Continuing Education & Training (CET) The event also coincided with KL’s signature B2B conference Level Up KL 2019 led by Malaysia’s federal agency - the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). The trip was aimed at educating the Singaporean delegation on the Malaysian games and immersive media ecosystem, and also to facilitate networking with fellow industry professionals in Malaysia.The pre-trip briefing was helmed by Alwyn Lee of Daylight Studios sharing with the delegations the ins-and-outs of exhibiting at game conferences overseas as we...

Fireside Chat #2 (Joysteak Studios – Songbird Symphony) Following the recent launch of Songbird Symphony, fans of the adorable Birb finally got to unravel Birb’s musical journey about discovering who he truly is. As the curtains and feathers of Birb’s adventure come to a close, the team behind Joysteak Studios (Hanif, Kang Soon and Sai Hou) came together to answer some of their fan questions and reflect on their own development journey.  <Source: Facebook page > Q: How did the idea of Songbird Symphony come about? Hanif: Back in 2016, one of my university lecturers mentioned that birds would learn each other’s cry. That was when I had the idea of making a musical game about birds Hanif: We made the rhythm aspects more forgiving, allowing new players to appreciate the rhythm game genre and discover their interest in music. Many players have told us that their kids had a better grasp of rhythm after playing the game! Q: How did you all know each other? ...

On 13th July, we held our second annual Industry Day; an event which aims to bridge the gap between education and development industries of games development and become a nurturing ground for Singapore-based talents to springboard their career in the industry. The Industry Day was supported by Eliphant Pte Ltd, the organizers behind GameStart, and Impixel, an innovation space that aims to incubate and support the local games & tech industry. Close to 200 attendees (an increase of more than 60% from last year’s inaugural event)  showed up, including a Malaysian delegation of approximately 40 attendees from Camou Academy of Media Arts, Chicken Feet Studio (a studio the academy is incubating) and Glow Production. The Industry Day had many veteran game creators share their experiences,  trials and tribulations, as well as giving valuable, diverse advice to the attendees. Jonathan Blow, Game Designer and Programmer, shared his insights into the industry into ind...