The games industry continues to amaze us with its innovation and continued ascent towards becoming the dominant medium of consumers around the world. This year has proven that the appetite for games cannot be satisfied and opportunities across platforms and countries have only just begun. Whether it was the release of the Nintendo Switch that stormed through the industry or Sony’s 70M install base and groundbreaking program to cultivate AAA games in China, through its China Hero Project, video games are on the rise as an industry, profession, and medium.
From our corner of the world in Malaysia, Streamline has taken part in the explosive growth of Southeast Asia’s games industry. Currently valued at US$2.2B*. We’ve witnessed the transformation of the region from a consumer to a development market. Ushered in by savvy studios, government support, and a large talent pool. This growth has translated into net positive value for our partners worldwide, and we are honored to have worked with the brightest in the industry like Square Enix, Sony, and Capcom.
Streamline has led the co-development movement that’s now speeding across external development studios. We are happy to see other studios take note through their own efforts to grow or acquire development teams. What’s clear is that co-development isn’t a tip-in, but a fundamental rebalancing of development resources globally. With top publishers and developers continuing to devour talent in their markets, external development becomes the only sane way to scale while keeping development KPIs and consumer expectations inline.
In 2014, we identified co-development as the next evolution of external development and pioneered the process with forward-thinking publishers and developers. Streamframe, the industry’s first external development platform was built and refined with co-developments in mind.
Streamline’s phenomenal growth continues with co-developments, AAA content creation, and original games. As a leader in AAA development, we’ve become more integrated with our partners than ever before. This translates into turnkey teams that are constantly advising, developing, and executing on our partner’s most ambitious projects. This means full source and SVN access while defining development plans together in concert. It is the only way to make co-developments work.
History and experience show signs of early preparation for the upcoming platform transition. This is led by an incredible uptick in merger and acquisition activity in the external development sector. Consolidation is good if value remains and hopefully, it doesn’t mean the commoditization of engineering and design talent the way it took place for artists over the past decade. Fingers crossed.
As 2017 comes to a close, we wish to thank our wonderful partners, colleagues, and friends for their support and wish everyone a great holiday season. May 2018 be the best year yet for your team, studio, and family.
Best,
Alexander L. Fernandez,
CEO, Streamline Studios