Observations and Reflections on the Gaming Landscape in South East Asia

Abstract

Discussion of the Asian video game market, particularly when focused on digital gamer production, often focuses on China, Japan, and South Korea. However, communities of South East Asia based game makers are emerging. Drawing from firsthand discussion and interviews with more than 400 game developers, 50 post-secondary academic faculty, and 15 academic organizations and universities, the authors offer perspectives, insights, and expected challenges for the region. The findings indicate that a combination of intellectual and creative energy as well as regional political and economic support have helped develop fertile ground for global attention. Most notably, the researchers observed a regional interest in shifting toward exploring innovative, original content and increasing educational capacities to explore creative practice in game design. These findings coincide with other reflections of the region's digital economy's development.