DTI vows to support game developers
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is committed to helping build the country’s game development industry through various initiatives, a ranking official said.
“As we build and strengthen the game development ecosystem, the government stands ready to support game developers through various measures, such as funding innovation, minimum viable product development, prototyping, and marketing initiatives,” DTI Competitiveness and Innovation Group (CIG) Undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba said.
“This commitment underscores our dedication to fostering creativity, innovation, job generation and economic growth within the gaming industry,” Aldaba said during the opening ceremony of the GameDev Summit (GDS) in Boracay.
In line with its support for the game development sector, the DTI, in partnership with GameOps Inc. and the Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP), kick-started the first-ever GameDev Summit (GDS) on Feb. 15.
The GDS gathered experts, advocates, and enthusiasts in the game development industry, registering over 300 participants and over 72 companies from 32 countries.
According to the DTI, GDS 2024 is a testament to the commitment of both the government and the private sector in promoting and boosting the country’s game development industry.
“Targeted to be an annual event, the GDS 2024 is an International Video Game Industry Summit featuring two tracks, External Development and Indie Games, where studios, developers, and advocates connect, build meaningful relationships, and advance together,” the DTI said.
In September 2023, the GDS 2024 was formalized and announced during the External Development Summit XDS 2023 in Vancouver, Canada.
Figures from the DTI showed that the country generated $35 million worth of direct investment through its participation in the XDS, which featured five Philippine game development firms.
Apart from the direct investments, the delegation was also able to generate sales revenue worth $46.5 million and $14.3 million worth of contracts under negotiation.
Among the participating Philippine game development firms are Pixel Mafia, GameOps Inc., Synergy88, Animation Vertigo and Neun Farben Corp.
“They explored opportunities for cooperation and synergy between the Philippine and Canadian markets, with a focus on promoting the Philippine Creative Industries,” the DTI said.
In addition, the Philippine delegation also discussed potential partnerships with the Philippines-Canada Trade Council (PCTC), a non-governmental association that aims to enhance economic ties between the two countries, particularly in innovation, startup development, and creative industries.
“The global market is competitive and as part of our initiatives to develop the Philippines into an international video game development hub, we capitalize on outbound services that generate export income, while simultaneously creating inbound sources of investment and transfer of expertise as part of our long-term strategy,” Aldaba said earlier.
Aldaba also highlighted that to achieve the goal of championing Filipino creativity, one must take part in the global value chain of the creative industries and truly embrace the evolving digital technologies to make creative services and goods competitive and enticing.
“We want to provide an enabling environment and provide our local game industries a platform to showcase their capabilities both at the industry and firm level,” DTI-EMB Director Bianca Pearl Sykimte said.
Established in 2013, XDS is the only annual international games industry event with a primary focus on external development for art, animation, audio, software engineering, QA and localization.
It gathers hundreds of international attendees from over 45 countries to advance the practice of external development for the games industry with three days of structured networking.