While the rise of casual gaming has been a global phenomenon, a group of entrepreneurs saw the market potential for greater localisation of the gaming ecosystem to meet the specific needs of individual countries, resulting in the formation of MatchMove Games.
“No one was pursuing this audience at a regional level and we believed that it was an opportunity that was simply too large to ignore as well as a gap that we could fill,” said Mr Shailesh Naik, Chief Executive Officer of MatchMove Games.
During the early stages of the company, MatchMove received backing from the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore under its Infocomm Enterprise Programme. However, for Mr Shailesh, more important than the financial aspect of this support was the impact of the recognition. “This has helped us by bringing a measure of credibility to our company,” he said.
The MatchMove team. |
With a core mission to bring healthy gaming entertainment to the masses, MatchMove Games is now working towards becoming the top online gaming destination for Asians. “As we make inroads into international markets, we place a very high priority on the localisation of our content,” said Mr Shailesh. “We are also expanding to have a physical presence in our target markets. This means that even though we are an international company, we compete like a local firm.”
To date, the company operates directly in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam and has regional presence in China, Indonesia and Vietnam as well.
In each country, MatchMove Games aggregates appropriate content and leverages local platforms to showcase and distribute the games. “Games are a great way to gain traction for a portal, but for our partners, constantly sourcing for new content and managing online store operations can be a hassle,” said Mr Shailesh. “That’s where we fit into the equation: We bring in quality games, and provide a platform on which to play and interact with fellow gamers, while our partners provide us access to their audience - a win-win situation.”
Called the MatchMove Developer Network, the company’s key technology is an application programming interface that enables games to be distributed on multiple platforms, including social or mobile networks. It also works with channel partners to ensure access to preferred local languages and payment systems.
MatchMove currently lists well-known brands such as Yahoo!, AsiaOne, StarHub, TV3 and Kompas.com as its channel partners and popular developers such as PopCap, Playrix, and Cartoon Network as its content partners.
Moving forward, MatchMove Games will offer its users more holistic gameplay, and engage users from diverse backgrounds. “We will be unveiling the latest incarnation of our platform within the next month, with a suite of social features that are sure to improve the gaming experience,” said Mr Shailesh. “MatchMove Games will continue to increase the number of game titles which will include cutting-edge games from the region and beyond.”