Asian Game Developers Summit a resounding success, organisers claim

Organisers and attendees have praised the success of the first Asian Game Developers Summit, which attracted over 100 visitors including leading publishers, independent developers and enthusiasts throughout the regional gaming community.

Hosted in Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur last week, the event began with keynote speeches from Valve Software's Mike Dunkle and Obsidian Entertainment's Chris Avellone, who offered insight and advice on digital distribution of games and the challenges of game design. The packed halls were filled with a broad ranging audience from Malaysia, Korea, Japan, USA, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Amongst the additional 17 speakers were discussions on key industry topics including design, programming, storytelling, game art and more. Discussions sponsored by leading companies such as IBM, Maya, ATI and Microsoft incorporated a roundtable event featuring the VP of industry financier Malaysia Debt Ventures, designed to provide ideas and suggestions for a resolution to the challenges of running a game development company in the Malaysian regions.

Gabby Dizon, President of Flipside Games in the Philippines and one of the speakers at the event, said: "The AGDS formally puts Southeast Asia on the map as far as game development is concerned. The event is a great boon to all the developers around the region, who now know each other and can leverage their strengths into being a competitive force in the game industry."

Kamil Othman, Vice President of Creative Multimedia Department, Industry Development Division at co-organisers MDC, stated: "The response to the AGDS has more than encouraged us; it has given the content development industry in Malaysia, particularly for those who want to create games, a much-needed boost.

The Summit was organised and sponsored by the Multimedia Development Corporation and GameAxis Unwired Malaysia. GameAxis' editor Jennifer Tai commented: "What this event has taught us is that even though we are a small industry, we can be exciting. I can only hope that we will do an even better job next year."