A Big Success for Malaysians
Original and localised content these were the key pulling factors which drew traders and potential investors to the Malaysian pavilion at the third Dubai World Games Expo (DWGE) 2010. Visitors from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, India, Jordan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United States streamed into the pavilion to speak with Malaysian animators, game developers, content providers and mobile application developers. Participating companies included Les’ Copaque Productions Sdn Bhd, Johan Nawawi Sdn Bhd, Quark Energy System, Terato Tech Sdn Bhd, Hezmedia Interactive Sdn Bhd, Forest Interactive Sdn Bhd, Salt Media Consultancy Sdn Bhd, Xadira Games Sdn Bhd, Funcel Sdn Bhd and Tulus Fikir Sdn Bhd.
“A European company is interested in distributing our Upin and Ipin television series to a global audience, while
there was also interest in our online game spin-off, which is currently under development,” said Syed Norfaiz Khalid Syed Ibrahim, a game developer with Les’ Copaque. Mobile application developer Terato Tech Sdn Bhd was another crowdpuller. “They were interested in our publishing engine, our Islamic game, the educational aspects of our games it’s been a mix.
They also like that our content has been localised,” said managing director Reza F. Razali. Malaysia’s debut at the DWGE, which ran from Nov 29 to Dec 1 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, was organised by the Futurist Foundation with support from the Multimedia Development Corporation, or MDeC which works to nurture and promote Malaysian ICT companies to ensure that they can access the global creative content industry. MDeC’s work includes bringing contingents of Malaysian companies to various international platforms, such as the DWGE, where entrepreneurs can find business partners and expand their networks.
“We’ve had a lot of meetings in the past which did not focus on micro enterprises or did not result in anything concrete,” Reza said. “This time, however, was different. This was awesomeness and efficiency on the part of MDeC and the Foundation.“
“The Malaysian companies have gained fantastic exposure by taking part they have undergone free tutorials from Epic Games, which develops cross-platform game engine technology,
and made contact with some of the major players in the industry,” said the Foundation’s founder and CEO, Sheikh Faleigh Sheikh Mansor.“The Foundation’s main focus is to nurture young entrepreneurs by helping
them explore new frontiers and understanding the industry in a global manner, regardless of what their financial
resources are. They would not have had the same opportunities if they had remained cocooned in Malaysia,” he said. About 150 exhibitors took part in DWGE, the largest games platform in the Middle East. The region is believed to have among the biggest online gaming potential in the world with some 63 million Internet users and an Internet penetration rate that is growing at 28.3 per cent a year.
