Newzoo, a global leader in providing games and esports analytics and market research estimates that the total revenue generated by the gaming industry was over $180.3 billion, with 3 billion players driving this revenue.
According to the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), Pakistan generates up to $25 million in gaming industry revenue each year. Dawn estimated over 8000 professionals in the video game development sector in 2019.
However, video game development has not been able to acquire its fair share of attention, despite game development studios across the world producing numerous well-acclaimed titles.
Here are a few reasons why Pakistan has been unable to harbor better talent for video game development:
Industry-Experienced Faculty and Industry Exposure
Higher education institutes in Pakistan mostly employ faculty with little to no relevant industrial experience. Faculty with more academic as compared to industrial experience tend to lack up-to-date knowledge of the ongoing trends, requirements, and latest industry standards and are thus, unable to simulate students in a direction compatible with the industry.
On the other hand, visiting faculty at educational institutes have a close link to the industry and can play a strong role in bridging the gap between academia and industry. However, most visiting faculty only join for short tenures and may sometimes opt for different courses every semester. They are unable to specialize in one single subject and share their knowledge with students efficiently.
To bridge the huge divide between what the industry wants and needs, and what academics are willing to offer is to connect students with people who are working in the field, doing what they love, and connect the dots, in such a way that it provides the necessary insights needed for students to step into the market and gain some practical work experience.
Revision and Alignment of Curriculum
Until 2019, game development programs and courses were not available to facilitate and complement the growth of the gaming industry in Pakistan. Only recently have institutes such as Arena Multimedia Pakistan, Institute for Arts and Culture, PixelArt Game Academy, The Millennium Universal College, FAST, UIT, and Habib University introduced specialized courses for students.
However, most courses taught at higher education institutes focus on irrelevant case studies. A majority of these case studies found in textbooks taught at universities have either become obsolete, focus on foreign markets, or simply fall short in their ability to provide practical work experience.
Development of Soft Skills
Universities and higher education institutes in Pakistan are majorly focused on developing the technical skills of individuals. When students without the proper soft skills step into the job market, recruiters are often left frustrated.
Director QA at WeRPlay, Khadija Murtaza, notes that most students might have the technological skillset but they often severely lack soft skills. Thus, recruiters often prefer hiring those with a balance of soft and hard skills and most of the students are ignored because of this.
For a service-based industry, it is often very important to meet client expectations and communicate with them over multiple instances. Khadija Murtaza further highlights that in such scenarios where developers have to communicate directly with clients, soft skills sometimes play a much larger role than technical skills.
Development for Multiple Platforms
Most game development studios and developers in Pakistan are mostly focused on creating games for popular or mainstream platforms such as STEAM or in the case of mobile games for the Google Play Store. Little to no work is currently being published on stores such as Epic Games, Riot Games, etc.
Other than that, they’re often unfamiliar with the options they have when it comes to publishing their games, which leads the games to not get the attention they deserve.
The way to remedy this is for the developers/studios to diversify their platforms to increase their outreach, which will ultimately put Pakistani developers in the limelight.
Lack of International Investors
A lack of international investors has been noted for game development studios across Pakistan. A number of local game development studios have established a repertoire for themselves despite little support from international investors.
Game development studios have mostly secured projects from international clients through word-of-mouth or via connections. However, investors are wary of stepping into the Pakistani game development market, unless incentivized.
The Case of AA/AAA Games
Gaming studios in Pakistan have majorly focused on developing indie games. AA and AAA games, those produced or distributed by mid-sized or major publishers, have typically higher marketing budgets than other tiers of games. Numerous factors have been involved that have limited Pakistani game development studios from producing high-end games.
Previously, companies such as Sega, THQ, Zynga, Pocket Gems, Disney Interactive, Eidos Interactive, and many others outsourced their projects, assets, and content to Pakistani studios. However, Pakistani game development studios have been unable to produce acclaimed AA/AAA games of their own.
Learning Gap for Developers
It is a known fact that students in universities have been unable to learn the basics of most development courses unless they have an interest of their own in said field.
In the case of game developers, most developers acquired the necessary skills after graduating and learned more about video game development, design, and the industry itself, after joining a studio or through self-paced study.
Some game development studios have been willing to lend resources to teach devs how to navigate from base level and become better at the work they do. For others, most of the effort has been towards learning everything on their own.
Government Initiatives
In November 2020, Federal Minister of Science and Technology, Fawad Chaudhry introduced an animation and video games certification program to cater to young people and pave the pathway for Pakistani talent into the billion-dollar industry. However, we are yet to see it materialize.
Until recently, esports was also not considered to be an official sport in Pakistan. The lack of such initiatives for game development for both gaming studios and game developers has been a major cause of hindrance in the lack of good content and game development in Pakistan.
Notable Game Developers and Studios of Pakistan
Other than highlighting the major issues plaguing the video gaming industry in the country, we would also like to mention notable game developers and studios in Pakistan that have played a strong role in the progress of the gaming industry.
Note: This list is in no way extensive or complete.
Shahid Ahmed
A major part of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Virgin, and Hasbro, Shahid Ahmed has been a part of the video game industry since 1982. Winning the Develop Industry Excellence Award in 2014, Shahid Ahmed pushed Sony into the Indie game development category. The one-of-a-kind developer has been regarded as passionate and a strong positive figure for the gaming industry.
Named as one of Games Industry International’s Top 10 Persons of the Year and 100 Top Influencers in the British Games Industry, Shahid now works as a developer, advisor, mentors, produces music, and does A&R for Team 17.
Shahid is the author of “Code is Just,” a highly acclaimed Twitter thread, and is also the producer of “Floor 13: Deep State” on Steam.
Fasahat Salim
Lead Designer at American video game developer Hangar 13, Fasahat Salim has been a part of EA Studios, Deep Silver Dambuster Studios, and Crytek. Fasahat Salim has worked on massive hits such as Crysis 1, 2, and 3, as well as Ryse: Son of Rome, 2013.
Zohaib Zaidi
Senior Unity developer at YallaPlay, Zohaib Zaidi has over 13 years of experience in the video game development industry. Previously a senior game development with We.R.Play and Tintash, Zohaib Zaidi has mostly been focused on VR and mobile games.
We R Play
Found in 2010, WeRPlay has emerged as one of the major video game development houses in the country. The company launched Dream Chaser, later published by Chillingo. The company focuses on content & game design, game engineering, and creative marketing services. We R Play has worked with Zynga, Blizzard, Apple (Arcade), PocketGems, and many others.
Trango Interactive
Trango Interactive is another interactive computer graphics and game development studio providing a range of services such as high-end CGI, interactive and mobile game development. The portfolio of the company features clients and projects from Blackberry, Audi, Lexus, Hyundai, UPS, and many more.
Mind Storm Studios
Located in the heart of Lahore, Mindstorm Studios has produced critically acclaimed titles such as Cricket Revolution and the ICC 2011 official world cup cricket game, Cricket Power. The gaming studio has also partnered with top publishers from around the world.
A very special thanks to Khadija Murtaza, Director QA at We.R.Play, Muhammad Momin, Game Developer at We.R.Play, and Aoun Abbas, Project Manager, Top Edge Technologies for providing insight and info for this piece.
