While Japanese developers dominate the Asian console games industry, Southeast Asian nations like the Republic of Singapore are rapidly becoming more involved in the console games scene. Sony wants to ensure that PlayStation is part of the growth, and have opened a ‘PlayStation Incubation Studio’.
Sony Computer Entertainment Asia has partnered with the Media Development Authority and Nanyang Polytechnic to launch the ‘PlayStation Incubation Studio Singapore’ within the newly launched Games Solution Centre. The GSC is a one-stop resource centre that aims to provide a rapid prototyping environment for smaller games developers, and the Incubation Studio allows the developers to have access to PS3 and PSP dev kits, and PS Vita development tools soon.
SCE Asia explained that the move comes at an important time in the Singapore games industry, as, according to the Department of Statistics, the country’s games industry rose from S$7.7 million in 2004 to S$59.6 million in 2009.
Mr. Tetsuhiko Yasuda, President, SCE Asia said:
We are dedicated to provide innovative excitement and high quality game experience to users, and that is the reason why we are fully in support of the incubation program in Asia. Therefore, we are very happy to launch the Southeast Asia’s first PlayStation® Incubation Studio in Singapore and to have MDA and NYP with us to achieve this phenomenal mission.
The first “Made-in-Singapore game”, Ratloop Asia’s Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken released on the PlayStation Network earlier this year.
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