Myanmar’s first RPG hits Steam today

Myanmar’s first RPG is getting published today, by the UK-based KISS Ltd. DarkEnd the RPG will be available on various websites once noon in the UK rolls around. This includes a listing on Steam.

DarkEnd is a 2D game powered by RPG Maker, and features four different main characters, each with their own unique storyline. The game’s main story changes depending on who you pick as protagonist and assistant. DarkEnd also features hand-drawn cut scenes, and is expected to have ten to 20 hours of gameplay depending on your playstyle.

DarkEnd is the first game from Myanmar to get picked up by a publisher. It was created with the RPG Maker engine by Kodots Game Studio, a small team of three that originally started out as a hobbyist group. Chit Ko Ko, better known as Soma, is an English teacher who was working on games for fun with his sister Silva, and girlfriend Haru Katsu. The team’s foray into game-making was purely out of interest, and Soma had grown up with a huge passion for games.

[fve]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDtbXBxZOa0[/fve]

Before DarkEnd, the team worked on several projects that have been left unfinished. As Kodots Game Studio began life as a hobbyist group, its members had no clue about what professional development entailed. They set ambitions too high and goals too large, and even made use of copyrighted art and concepts. It was only later that they realized that this was no way to go commercial.

And so Kodots Game Studio was formed, and DarkEnd birthed. Soma and his team worked on it whenever they had spare time, sacrificing leisure and rest to make the game a reality. In all, Soma estimates that he spent just $2,500 on DarkEnd’s development.

Later in its development cycle, DarkEnd was noticed by the UK-based publisher, KISS Ltd. Having KISS on its side was a great boon for DarkEnd, as KISS provided the newbie team with advice on how to improve on its commercial viability. However KISS left the creative direction largely with Kodots.

DarkEnd is now finally ready for launch, and what a journey it has been for Kodots Game Studio. Soma shared that if DarkEnd starts making money, he might even quit teaching and go into game development full time. The next project Kodots Game Studio has in mind is an old endeavor called Vision Spire Infinite, which when described to us sounds similar to the slice-of-life-JRPG series, Persona.

Myanmar’s game development scene is still very young, with just a handful of game studios fighting for its growth. DarkEnd is a noble undertaking for this passionate team from a country with almost no game development background, and we’re looking forward to trying the game out ourselves. So here’s a huge kudos to Kodots Game Studio, and you can check the game out here.