Developers out to play games

A group of local developers has joined to establish the Thai Game Software Industry Association (TGA) to encourage local mobile-game software to reach international standards.

The association plans to focus on development of the local game industry in four areas - creating standards for local mobile-game development, training developers, finding sources of funding, and creating an international market.

Permbun Aimsupasit, acting president of the TGA, said the priority is to strengthen the local mobile-game industry in terms of local software development and development in the education sector.

The association will be a mechanism to encourage the growth of the local game industry. It has recently worked with AIS to make local game products available for sale through the AIS Mobile Life channel. This, Permbun said, would help local game developers with marketing.

The association has also developed what it called a download platform to facilitate game developers who can now send their game products for sale through the AIS WAP Mobile Life site.

Developers, he said, could upload their games through the association's platform and the association's team would then verify their products before sending them to Mobile Life.

Standardisation, Pernbum added, would be a key concern and the association would play a role setting standards and giving certification to local game products. "We will verify all game products sent through our platform to determine whether or not they reach the standard before sending them to AIS for distribution," he said.

The project started in October and there are now 70 game titles available at AIS, which generate 200 downloads per month on average worth about Bt300,000 in monthly revenue. The association plans by the end of this year to increase the number of mobile games to 150 titles.

Meanwhile, to encourage mobile-game development, the association plans to collaborate with universities and government organisations to train game developers. The training will be done inside and outside universities. For instance, TGA has joined with the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa) and Sriprathum University to provide six-day training courses for mobile-game developers free of charge.

The industry has around 300 developers but to make Thailand a game-software development destination requires 5,000 developers.

"This is a job we have to do," Permbun said.

The association will also be a centre to help developers who need funding support by matching developers with sources of funds, both private and government organisations such as Sipa, the SME Bank, and the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI).

"The association will work closely with these funding organisations to help local developers get closer to the sources of funds. We will provide information to make investors and venture-capital sources understand the software business, especially mobile games and their market opportunity, to make them more confident so they invest more," said Permbun.

The association will also work with developers to help them not only develop good applications but also make business plans. It aims to educate developers to understand marketing and investment angles.

TGA will provide facilities to help local developers reach the global market. It will arrange international conferences in Thailand to provide opportunities for local developers to access global trends, technology, and knowledge. It will take selected local developers and their games to overseas conferences. These activities are to provide chances for business matching between global and local interests.

Asina Pornwasin

The Nation