THE Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP) last Tuesday highlighted the industry’s plans to raise the bar of the country’s growing gaming industry.
GDAP executive director Cesar Tolentino said promoting the gaming industry will help the country earn a bigger share in the global market.
Community
He said the group will organize the game development community by developing a roadmap for the industry. This move, he said, is in cooperation with the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT), Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), International Trade Commission (ITC) and the British Council.
Tolentino also said they will elevate the game development profession through standardization, in cooperation with the academe, education agencies and other training institutions.
“We will also get students involved via game development competitions in cooperation with vendor partners and also allow gamers get involved through collaborations with game publishers,” Tolentino said during the ICT and BPO Congress at the Cebu International Convention Center.
Tolentino reported that the industry projects to earn about $7 million by the end of 2010.
The industry earned $5 million last year, and more than 90 percent of the revenues were from the foreign market.
Of the figure, the bulk of the share was from game development projects conducted by in-house subsidiaries like Kuju Manila, Digital Octane and Gameloft Philippines.
Developers
“There is really a need to improve the number of skilled developers in the country to keep the industry growing,” he said.
The country’s share in the global game development industry, which is valued at $25 billion, is estimated to have reached less than 0.1 percent last year. The industry, he said projects to remain at less than 0.1 percent of the global market this year, which will reach nearly $30 billion.
The industry also projects to employ more than 850 people by the end of this year, mostly through the expansion of large players and the growth of new players in the industry. Last year, the industry was able to employ about 640 people, mostly game programmers and artists.