As part of the continual efforts to extend beyond education and be plugged into the industry, DigiPen (Singapore) organized the first of many lunch gatherings for its alumni members who have chosen to strike out on their own by establishing game studio start-ups.
By connecting with our alumni who are in the heart of the industry, DigiPen (Singapore) ensures that it remains updated on changes and development in the industry.
The DigiPen (Singapore) team including our Admissions, Career Services, Marketing & Communications and Business Development officers attended the gathering to foster closer collaboration with our alumni.
The event is also part of our ongoing efforts to support our alumni after they graduate, and find new ways of helping them thrive.
To date, DigiPen (Singapore) alumni have formed six game studio start-ups over the past two years. They are Oddity Studios, Lionfish Studios, 4EVA Studios, Rotten Mage, Gattai Games and The Gentlebros.
Some are in the process of getting their games ready for launch. Others have launched their games.
Ariel Ang, 2014 graduate of the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Digital Art and Animation program, started Oddity Studios, which now has a staff strength of seven – six of whom are DigiPen (Singapore) graduates.
After a fruitful networking session at the Game Developer Conference in San Francisco, Oddity’s first commercial release, tactical action RGS game Horizon’s Edge has been picked up by Israeli publisher Playscape.
Ariel is excited about the expected launch of Horizon’s Edge in March this year on the iOS and Android mobile platforms. “We have many features planned. The best of which, we feel, is the PvP system. It complements our battle system really well and we hope players will enjoy it as we do.”
Studio Head at Lionfish Studios, Zhang Zi Tian, who is also a 2014 graduate of the Bachelor of Arts in Game Design program won the Excellent Student Award in Independent Games Festival (IGF) China in 2009 for the game, Ink when he was in the Diploma of Games Design and Development program in Singapore Polytechnic.
Since he graduated, Zi Tian has already made Lion City Heroes, archery game Wuchyu which garnered good reviews in the Google Play Store, The Clone Wos and Vaulting Sheep.
He is currently preparing to launch his next game in June this year.
“It will be a mobile RPG puzzle hybrid game,” Zi Tian shared.
Howard Sin, 2013 graduate of the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation program, is the director of 4EVA Studios, the company behind mobile game I Wanna Be A Hero.
Howard talked about the creative process that his team, consisting of all DigiPen (Singapore) alumni went through in their journey of making I Wanna Be A Hero.
“We took a big spin on the genre, no one has ever done it and therefore there were no references we could take from. We had to experiment on our own. In many points of the project, there was a lot of temptation to go back to what was known to work.”
Rotten Mage, a start up by Chin Yong Kian and Lim Chian Song, both 2013 graduates of the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation program will release its anticipated game PC, MAC and Linux-compatible game Spacejacked in February this year via STEAM, the leading entertainment platform portal that lets gamers worldwide buy games online.
Spacejacked is a labor of love of Chian Song and Yong Kian, and a project that has taken 18 months to realize.
DigiPen (Singapore) will be assisting Rotten Mage through a scheduled play test session, where more than 60 current DigiPen (Singapore) students will experience the game and provide invaluable feedback to the enterprising pair.
Justin Ng, 2014 graduate of the Bachelor of Arts in Game Design program and one of the founders of Gattai Games shared that his company’s sound-based horror thriller PC-and-console game, Stifled, is estimated for launch in the middle of the year. The game is based on an earlier product, Lurking, which won the Excellence in Technology award in IGF China 2014.
“I’ve always known that I wanted to do my own thing since my NS days. I’m young, have no commitments, it is the best time to do it,” said Justin.
When completed, Stifled will have taken the Gattai team between 21 and 24 months to create.
Last but not least, Desmond Wong, 2013 graduate of the Bachelor of Arts in Game Design program and co-founder of The Gentlebros launched a Halloween-themed mobile game Slashy Hero, available on the iOS and Android platforms since last October.
The game was placed within the top 15 band of the dungeon crawler genre on the iOS platform and is published by mobile game publisher Kongregate.