GGWP

Malaysian indie game developer Sophie Azlan has blazed a trail in the traditionally male-dominated gamedev space since she emerged on the scene. Currently a developer involved in several indie projects in Malaysia's burgeoning gaming industry and a lecturer of game development at UOW Malaysia, she aims to leverage on her experiences in both spaces to act as a bridge between the country's emerging talent and studios.

On GGWP this week, we talk to Sophie about her exciting career so far, her experiences being an educator in the fast-growing space, the sustainability of the profession in an industry that's seen its fair share of issues recently, as well as her hopes for the future of the South East Asian video game industry, and some homegrown studios and games to check out for anyone aspiring to get into the industry.

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Video gaming is pretty prevalent these days, especially when mobile platforms make the hobby more accessible beyond the usual demographic. Yet, despite our parents, uncles and aunts also gaming on their mobile phones, some of them do not consider themselves gamers. This is one among many interesting discoveries found in the research conducted by Omnicom Media Group Malaysia titled ‘Unlocking Gamers in Asia Pacific’. We speak to Kiron Kesav, Chief Strategy Officer at the company to learn more about the outcome of the research, including Malaysians' game genre of choice, whether they like to game by themselves or with others, and their attitudes towards brands and advertising in video games.

To read the full research, please contact Anna Lissa Bantigue at [email protected]

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Team Ninja returns with Rise of the Ronin, their first attempt at an open world game. With vast experience in their combat gameplay, from Ninja Gaiden to the Nioh series, does this title elevate the experience of being in 19th century Japan? And does it stack up against other games of the same genre and setting? Alleef Ashaari, Kakuchopurei’s writer, joins us to share his thoughts.

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It’s a month full of meaty updates for longstanding franchises, such as Stardew Valley, with its 1.6 update, as well as for fading franchises that might see a resurgence, in the form of Overwatch 2, with Season 10 bringing about some big changes to the game. Will this be the beginning of a redemption arc for Blizzard’s famous team-based shooter? Elsewhere, legendary game director Amy Hennig returns with Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, while SNK announced a new Fatal Fury game called Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. We summarised some of the biggest news in March, and spoke about this month’s releases, including Dragon’s Dogma 2, Rise of the Ronin, and Unicorn Overlord, among others.

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20m Podcast is a show about games and the people behind them. Hosted by Arief Johan and Samantha Low, the podcast features video game reviews and explores industry news and topics, while also giving us a look behind the curtain by creating a platform for the people behind the games we love - all through a South East Asian lens.

Arief and Sam (aka Rino) join us to talk shop - gaming podcast to gaming podcast - about bringing their unique Malaysian perspectives to the busy realms of both video games and podcasts, supporting the South East Asian games ecosystem by shining a spotlight on developers and studios in the region, and South East Asian games they're most excited for in 2024.

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Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth is the latest entry in the Like A Dragon (or Yakuza) franchise. Ichiban Kasuga and Kazuma Kiryu return to the game, this time set in Hawaii, to go on their epic journeys. How does this game stack up compared to the rest of the franchise? Xandria Morden, writer at Kakuchopurei.com joins us to share her thoughts on the game.

Photo credit: XboxEra

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Alleef Ashaari, writer from Kakuchopurei.com joins us to review Atlus’s Persona 3 Reload. How does this remake of the highly popular Persona 3 stack up against the original? He shares his thoughts, as well as walks us through the overall franchise and the recent global popularity that it has with gamers.

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The gaming world tries its best to celebrate February with awesome releases, with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth at the forefront. Despite that, Persona 3 Reload, Helldivers 2, Islands of Insight, and even to a certain extent, Skull and Bones (finally!) have something to shout about too, as these releases are worth checking out as well. On the news front, Sony announced that they won’t be releasing any major games from existing franchises this financial year, while Microsoft will be releasing some of their exclusives to other platforms. But will this be a good move for the company, or will it backfire on their console sales moving forward? We discussed this on the show, with Kakuchopurei’s content director, Jonathan Leo.

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With Malaysia set to host the M6 World Championship, the world's biggest Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB) tournament later this year, developer Moonton Games undoubtedly has plans to take MLBB to the next level. We dive into the game's impact in Malaysia, how Moonton is supporting their community inside and outside of the game, and their future expansion plans that will (hopefully) lead to us seeing esports on par with football in the country.

We speak to Fikri Rizal Mahruddin, Marketing & Business Development Lead at Moonton Games to find out more.

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Palworld is a survival, monster collector game that exploded and has taken the gaming world by storm upon its release in January. Part of the appeal of the game is that the monsters, or Pals, are cute, reminiscent of a certain franchise by Nintendo, and are also able to do much more! Of course, that indirectly creates controversies too. In this episode, we sift through the noise and look at why it’s a hit immediately upon its release. We also try out the game to see whether it lives up to its hype.

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