depa Teams Up With TGA, Infofed to Announce Top 4 Thai Games Developers to Go Global Under depa Game Accelerator Program
Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa) collaborated with the Thai Game Software Industry Association (TGA) and Infofed Co., Ltd to announce the winning teams in four popular categories of the depa Game Accelerator Program Batch #1. They will be upskilled by licensed developer “Nintendo” and will get ample opportunities in business matching to secure a deal with potential investors in the gaming industry. The winning teams will also have a chance to test out their games software in the actual market testing session in order to receive the real-world feedback from the real games players and enthusiasts before launching their games products both in Thailand and abroad.
Dr. Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin, President/CEO of depa, said digital content is currently playing a vital role in daily lives of people in society and it is continuing to see exponential growth, especially in the gaming industry, in line with the new digital-driven business models and evolving technologies. It has resulted in businesses in Thailand’s gaming industry continuing to grow at a rapid pace.
“Therefore, depa partnered with the Thai Game Software Industry Association (TGA) and Infofed Co., Ltd to launch the depa Game Accelerator Program Batch #1 with the objective to promote and develop Thai entrepreneurs, particularly games developers, who are regarded as the precursor in the gaming ecosystem. In addition, the regulatory measures are also a factor to help drive growth of Thai games developers to meet international levels and to be able to compete with games developers from other countries. Business matching events and other relevant activities ever organized are part of Thailand’s first accelerator program for the gaming industry,” said the President/CEO of depa.
Mr. Nenin Ananbanchachai, President of the Thai Game Software Industry Association, said the spread of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has led to widespread lockdowns, but it resulted in playing games becoming more popular significantly. At present, the number of games players in Thailand totaled more than 27.8 million or 41% of the total population. According to reported by Newzoo, the leading e-sports game market survey and global marketing consultancy partner for companies interested in gaming, it found in 2020 the game market has reached 159 billion U.S. dollars or about 4.9 trillion baht. It is forecast that in 2023 the game market will grow and generate more than 200 billion U.S. dollars.
“Such statistics have led us to believe that there will be more investment and manpower in the Thai gaming industry in the near future. Moreover, we might be able to see companies in the gaming industry listed in the new sector on the Stock Exchange of Thailand so that investors can invest in those games development companies,” said Mr. Nenin.
Mr. Jirayod Theppipit, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Infofed Co., Ltd, said games are a kind of entertainment platform and it is growing in popularity. It will be more important in the future both in terms of technological advancement and new business models. Games can create a more sustainable interaction among games players than digital content in general. In order to create a successful game, it needs to make games players feel fun to maintain player engagement in the games and it has to be able to motivate the games players to encourage their friends to join the games they are playing so as to expand the gaming ecosystem and accommodate a diverse range of business models. Hence, the depa Game Accelerator Program Batch #1 is regarded as a key mechanism helping to steer development of Thai gaming industry. The accelerator program helped enhance games developers’ potential in game design ideas and boost their competitiveness to be on par with international games developers and be able to create or produce quality games.
Top 4 games from the best games developers that reached the final qualifying round of each category in the depa Game Accelerator Program Batch #1 are as follows;
Action game category: IGLOO STUDIO – Bounty Brawl
Adventure game category: Plastiek Company Limited – RRR Express
Strategy game category: Fairplay Studios – at your servic
Sport (Casual Game) category: Varisoft Company Limited – Pakapow party
Top 4 teams will get an opportunity to upskill their talent with licensed developer Nintendo, plus a support fund for developing games and presenting their games in front of investors during the business matching session. The winning teams will also receive an opportunity to promote and test their games in the real-world market in order to get real market feedback and suggestions from games players for improving their games before introducing their games in Thailand and abroad.
Interested people can stay in touch with the latest updates on the depa Game Accelerator Program Batch #1 at Facebook Page: depa game accelerator program or www.earenaacademy.com/depagameaccelerator