7 big foreign gaming firms eye PH

At least seven foreign gaming developers and publishers have expressed interest to do business in the Philippines, which is being positioned as the leading game development hub in the region.

These foreign companies, which local game developers met during the External Development Summit (XDS) held recently in Canada, were identified as Blizzard Entertainment Inc., Electronic Arts Inc., Ubisoft Entertainment S.A., Square Enix-Eidos, Microsoft Studios, Activision Publishing Inc., and 2K Games Inc.

“Anchored on a robust, thriving and globally competitive content industry, and supported by a technologically savvy, passionate and creative talent pool, the Philippines is poised to become the leading game development hub and offshore destination in the Asia-Pacific region,” noted Trade Undersecretary Ponciano C. Manalo Jr.

“Filipino-American game development executives and expatriates in Canada and the United States have also expressed support for the growth and promotion of the Philippine game development industry,” he added.

During the three-day summit in Canada, the Philippine delegation was able to encourage top gaming firms to explore business prospects in the country. They met with 28 major game developers and publishers.

The mission included officials from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP) and the Animation Council of the Philippines Inc. (ACPI)—which all promoted the country’s game-related services industry such as art and animation, programming, and support services.

Backed by a strong government and private sector collaboration, the Philippines took affirmative responses from its first participation at the XDS.

“The event organizers lauded the Philippine delegation that gathered positive reviews for its impressive country pavilion. Guests at the pavilion were also impressed with the clear-cut program for the country’s game development industry and stout government, private sector and academe cooperation to achieve the industry’s goals,” Manalo commented.

XDS is the first professionals-only video games industry event, with the main emphasis on external development outsourcing for art, animation, software engineering and support services. It offers a platform for industry professionals to converge and promote cooperative advancement of external development practices for the game development industry.