MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Despite having a population less than that of London, Singapore provides a thriving landscape for games businesses and serves as the Asian home for major Western publishers.
It’s little wonder that big names such as Ubisoft, EA and Activision have moved into the country – Singaporeans are the highest-spending gamers in South-East Asia, according to a 2015 report by research firm Newzoo.
Consumers in the region spent an average of $189 (125) during 2014 across all platforms.
Highlighting the disparity between Singapore and its relatively poor neighbours, the next highest spend, belonging to Malaysian gamers, was $33 (22). In fact, Singapore is the seventh-top-spending country for games in the world.
Much like its Asian counterparts, Singapore’s games industry is primarily driven by mobile, leading smartphone and tablet games to flourish in the area and attract big players from further afield.
Last December, Candy Crush publisher King acquired studio Nonstop Games in the region.
Following this, mobile analytics firm App Annie opened a new office in Singapore this March, citing the fast-growing mobile market in India and South-East Asia (INSEA).
The company added that its belief that INSEA and nearby Australasian regions were almost as large as China, Japan and South Korea combined in terms of the number of iOS and Google Play app downloads during Q4 2014.
Population: 5,469,700
Currency: Singapore Dollar
GDP (Per Capita): $56,319
KEY RETAILERS
Qisahn, GameShop, Games Home, Game Xtreme, Funz Centre, Gamewerks, Mega Multimedia
TOP DISTRIBUTORS
Maxsoft, Play Interactive, Playbox, Master Genius
TOP DEVELOPERS
Glu, Activate Interactive, Boomzap, Eidos Interactive, Gattai Games, Envisage Reality, Genki, Ixora Studios, Playware Studios, Nabi Studios
NOTABLE GAMES FIRMS WITH A LOCAL OFFICE
Ubisoft, EA, Microsoft, Sony, Take-Two, Activision Blizzard, King.com, Disney Interactive, Konami, Bandai Namco, Wargaming
