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Nikki Natividad · · 9 min readSingtel’s bold move to storm the gaming world
Singtel, Singapore’s largest telco, has had a history of failed startup acquisitions and ventures over the years—the downfall of its video-streaming service Hooq is still fresh on people’s minds.
So when a headhunter approached David Yin, a former executive at Google Play, with an opportunity from Singtel, he said: “Sorry, not interested.”
“I was initially hesitant because I don’t think Singtel’s track record has been great,” he tells Tech in Asia.
Image credit: 123RF
But after speaking with Arthur Lang, the CEO of Singtel’s international operations, it dawned on Yin that things might be different this time.
The company is now launching a gaming joint venture called Storms with Yin at the helm as its CEO. Thailand’s AIS and South Korea’s SK Telecom join Singtel in the venture, with each partner contributing equally to a US$22.5 million initial investment.
As each telco will own only a significant minority share in the business, Yin says this gives him more freedom to operate without being bogged down by top-down bureaucracy that could slow down the endeavor.
Another difference is the legally binding commercial agreements that Storms has signed with Singtel and its associates, guaranteeing that the startup will benefit from the telco’s broad ecosystem.
After six months in his role, Yin says that the investors have indeed been relatively hands-off, and that the startup has exceeded revenue and EBITA targets for last year.
A game changer?
Storms is a gaming company with four lines of business.
First, it’s a publisher of hyper-casual and casual mobile games, working with indie gaming studios across Southeast Asia and India to license and publish titles. It recently released two on the Google Play Store, namely Umbra: Amulet of Light and Zombeast: Survival Zombie Shooter.
Image credit: CloudyCats
To supplement its publishing business, Storms offers gaming advisory services to small studios. With the service, game developers and advertisers will be able to leverage Singtel’s network across Southeast Asia to grow their business. The company is also looking to help paid advertising companies sell advertising tools to its network of studios as well.
Storming the gaming world
Capturing the casual and hyper-casual market
An asset-light business
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After a string of failed ventures, Singtel is trying again with a new gaming company called Storms. Can the telco learn from the past?
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