It feels really good to know that many Pakistani individuals and Game development studios are working with giant companies like UBISOFT, EA, Microsoft Studios, Sony Entertainment Studios, MTV Games and many more that are famous for developing games like Assassin’s Creed, Call of duty, Halo etc. that takes you on a journey filled with mind blowing graphics, heart wrenching story and addictive gaming mechanics that makes you want to sit in front of your display, if you’re a pc gamer or a console gamer all day long.
The emotions that you feel when you learn that there are your fellow countrymen doing something on a scale which impacts the whole world is nothing short of heart spiraling. You feel great about the fact that some Pakistanis are doing something that none has done previously before in Pakistan. These are some of the people involved in gaming industry that makes Pakistan proud:
1. Shahid Ahmad
Shahid Ahmad is one of the best; if not the best one can be when involved in gaming or any other industry. He was given the Develop Industry Excellence Award in 2014 as a developer. In his long career, he has been a producer, a director but his best contribution has been for Sony Entertainment. Shahid Ahmad has single handedly transformed Sony from second fiddle to Microsoft in the Indie stakes, to arguably the leading console platform holder for small developers to abide their games on. Believe it or not but Sony Entertainment Studios owes a lot to this man. Without Shahid as a friendly and approachable figure, Sony’s platforms could arguably look a lot less Indie friendly, and the firm would not be able to ride the wave of positivity surrounding its hardware offerings. If not for Shahid then Low Budget Developers would never have put faith in Sony Development Studios. This man has surely made Pakistan proud and he is what gaming developers of Pakistan should aspire to be.
2. Fashat Salim
Fasahat Salim, Associate Producer at Crytek UK has worked on blockbusters that defined the genre of First Person Shooters games like Crysis 1 and Crysis 2. He has also worked for Electronic Arts (EA) in quality assurance.
3. We R Play
In Islamabad, our beloved capital, there is a group of talented people that goes by the name We R Play has developed a game called Dream Chaser which is being published by the makers of World renowned games like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope. Dream Chaser was published by Chillingo , a premier game publisher that is a sister concern of Electronics Arts (EA).
4. Mind Storm Studios
Mind Storm Studios, in my opinion, showed their love and admiration for both Cricket and games by developing a game: Cricket Revolution, which received World Recognition. Not only Cricket Revolution was rated as having the best game physics at many award ceremonies worldwide, but also received higher ratings than Electronic Art’s (EA) conventional cricket games. The game was so much better than Electronic Art’s Cricket games that EA Sports started bidding for an acquisition of the game, but Mind Storm Studios rejected the deal. They may have rejected the offer but the euphoria they must have felt by being acknowledged by Electronic Arts must have been mined numbing.
5. Trango Interactive
Trango Interactive was involved in making Tomb Raider: Legend which redefined the Tomb Raider series as Tomb Raider has lost its fire and became lackluster but this game put the franchise back on the map. The also did the CGI for a 13 part documentary series called Next World. They also made Blackberry ads for Mobilink. While Trango Interactive may not be a big name but it sure is flexible and has spread Wings in many industries ranging from gaming to campaigning.
6. Game View Studios
Game View Studios (formerly Cambridge Docs) is based in Lahore and has produced some of the #1 app store and play store titles including Tap Fish, Tap Ranch and Tap Town. It was acquired by one of the greatest gaming companies in Japan: DeNa in 2010-11.
