Gaming startups in Pakistan grow despite the lack of a local market

Gaming startups in Pakistan have quietly operated under the radar for several years now, well before the country experienced a wave of growth in high-speed broadband internet connectivity and a resulting rise in tech-based businesses. Pioneering companies such as Lahore-based Mindstorm Studios established their presence in 2006 and experienced early success with the launch of Cricket Revolution, the official game for the 2011 ICC World Cup. Such achievements put Pakistani companies firmly on the global map and helped spawn a wave of several new entrants into the sector.

Almost all gaming industry analysts agree that the launch of the iPhone in 2008 completely altered the playing field by fundamentally redesigning the definition of ‘gaming’ and providing a level playing field for all. Prior to that, the market mainly catered to “hardcore” gamers who preferred either playing on consoles or PCs. Developing games for this segment required colossal budgets and an experienced team of developers and designers, which crowded out smaller, independent companies who were unable to compete with the larger players. While there was a steady stream of quality titles, they were still part of an overall package that was expensive and not suitable for casual gamers. However, the introduction of the iOS and Android platforms and the near-ubiquity of smartphones and tablet PCs helped to dramatically disrupt the gaming ecosphere, resulting in a bigger focus on mobile-based, “casual” gamers.

As global user preferences shifted towards mobile gaming, Pakistani companies were quick to adapt. Mindstorm Studios, which was initially focused on the PC gaming sector, soon realized that a larger market was forming. This new market held tremendous potential as quality games could be built on smaller budgets, thereby facilitating independent developers such as themselves. In 2010, Mindstorm Studios country manager Shoaib Malik told local media that “the trends are now firmly in favour of social media and mobile gaming,” testifying to their shift in strategic direction. “Earlier, we were more of a PC-focused game development studio, but are now moving towards developing multiplatform applications and games,” he added.

Screenshot of Whacksy Taxi

Malik’s shift towards mobile-based gaming reaped rich rewards. In 2010, Mindstorm Studios released Whacksy Taxi, which shot to the number one position in Apple’s App Store in over 25 countries, and was also featured in a review by CNET. Other popular titles include Mafia Farm and Kingdom of Heroes. Buoyed by its successes, Mindstorm Studios was able to streamline cash flow, hire more staff, and focus on consolidating their position. Today, they employ a total of 47 people.

As word of Mindstorm Studios’ success filtered through the nascent IT industry in Pakistan, it helped inspire a number of new entrepreneurial endeavors in the sector. Companies such as Tintash, Caramel Tech, Gamestorm, and Gen ITeam were quick to set up shop and focus on building games with global appeal. “We initially established operations in 2010, focusing on mobile app development and e-learning,” Gamestorm CEO Raheel Iqbal tells Tech in Asia. “However, we soon realized the potential of mobile games, and changed our focus to concentrate on this segment.”

Originality or outsourcing?

The successes of gaming startups in Pakistan did not go unnoticed in other parts of the world. Many industry heavyweights were impressed by what they saw and realized an opportunity to outsource some of their projects to this part of the world, primarily to capitalize on lower labor and development costs. Some startups in Pakistan welcomed such offers of outsourcing, as it provided them an initial revenue stream as well as a crucial opportunity to learn essential skills that could be utilized later in their own projects.

Caramel Tech CEO Saad Zaeem, whose firm coded the port of wildly-successful Fruit Ninja on behalf of Australian company Halfbrick Studios, explains this phenomenon succinctly. “Games are a tough market, and for early entrants it can be worthwhile to build revenue by accepting outsourcing contracts,” he tells Tech in Asia. “Benefits also include a mitigation of risk as well as a key understanding of successful strategies in design, execution, and technology.”

Zaeem goes on to emphasize that this phenomenon is not restricted to the Pakistani industry alone. “Even successful companies like Rovio [developers of Angry Birds] went through a similar trajectory of outsourcing and co-developing before they broke through with their own products,” he adds.

A similar strategy was also adopted by Tintash, which successfully developed Stick Cricket as part of an outsourcing contract through Stick Sports Ltd. Jazib Zahir, chief operations officer at Tintash, told AFP that Pakistan was fast becoming a “prime destination” for software outsourcing. “One of the advantages that Pakistan brings is that we do have a critical mass of people with training and aptitude, an interest in developing software and art, and combining them,” he added.

Stick Cricket