Video game firm Streamline aims to change the gaming landscape
THE gaming industry is a lucrative market, but it's real potential lies beyond what it is now.
That's what former chairman of PlayStation Worldwide Studios and former president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America Shawn Layden has in mind.
Layden, who now sits on the advisory board of Streamline Media Group, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, believes that the role of games can go beyond "games".
"The industry is ripe for disruption, and it's time for someone to come in, break the wheel, and let more people participate," he said.
BEYOND GAMING
Streamline wants to go beyond gaming and foresees the role games can play in the Metaverse (a virtual-reality space in which users can interact with a computer-generated environment) of media, entertainment, technology and video games.
"We have been making games in the same way for over three decades. It is time to augment the way we make games, and that cannot simply be throwing more people at the challenge.
"This is what we have done since the turn of the century, and chasing 'low labour cost' markets is not a sustainable way to solve this," said Layden.
As the gaming industry is built on technology, innovation, high-end math and solving the impossible, there should be no limit to innovation in gaming.
"Teams across the spectrum must be looking at how we leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to give us respite from some of the heavy lifting, and allow creative teams to focus on the true innovation in the game," he said.
For example, Streamline turned heads in the fashion industry in December last year when the game developer worked with international fashion house Balenciaga on a groundbreaking video game titled
Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow.
"This project delivered the largest volumetric video capture and interactive immersive 3D gaming experience in fashion history. Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow is a prime example of how the enterprise can incorporate video games in the digital transformation of the global economy," said Layden.
"The creative concepts had no limits or constraints. It was a welcome challenge to bring Balenciaga's vision to reality.
"It helped us showcase to the world an advanced interactive experience that is now a key milestone for our industry in the enterprise space," he said.
Besides that, video game development has an enormous amount of experience and knowledge to help every industry do better.
"For example, do better in deepening consumer engagement, making interaction with the brand more compelling and enjoyable, and creating an environment where folks don't wish to leave or log out.
"In addition, our understanding of fan behaviour has huge application to the wider consumer product industry. Streamline understands this and is uniquely positioned to activate across this," said Layden.
For the project, Streamline used its production team in Kuala Lumpur, which now has more that 150 people, to work directly with the international luxury fashion brand to pull together the concept, cinematic and streaming elements in the Unreal Engine.
"It was amazing to work beyond the games industry on a creative project of this magnitude," said Streamline Media Group's CEO and co-founder Alexander Fernandez.
While Balenciaga is not the first to incorporate interactive gaming into its brand, it is the first time an international luxury fashion brand has collaborated with a Malaysian-based company to launch a wholly digital in-game experience.
Over its 20-year history, Streamline has supported global brands to deliver groundbreaking creative technology.
Examples include the Coke Zero AVTR commercial with the world's top-selling movie Avatar, a virtual television studio for BBC Sport, and the first virtual reality TV show Rival Peak by Genvid Technologies.
COLLABORATIVE GAME DEVELOPMENT
Streamline has shown that even during the pandemic, great ideas and collaboration can actually flourish.
"We began, built and leveraged the concept of distributed, collaborative game development.
"When the pandemic hit, and it hit hard on countless studios worldwide, the company was already positioned to succeed under the 'new normal' model.
"That set me thinking, what more could that mean? Have we finally found the way to unlock creative talent worldwide and plug them into a development platform that does not require people to move halfway across the world?
"Streamline's process already addressed some of these questions, and more importantly, they are willing to address them and take positive action," said Layden.
Fernandez said when they arrived in Malaysia over a decade ago, they found many talented young people who had never professionally worked at an international level.
"We understood that if we connected our experience and knowledge to that, something great would happen.
"Ten years later, Streamline is the largest independent game developer in Southeast Asia and has blazed a trail for other local/foreign studios to emulate as a path to success.
"It's a clear example of teamwork, grit and belief in creating things bigger than yourself, and creating opportunities for all. We're proud of this model and how global it's becoming for us," he added.