Pakistan's gaming industry breaks culture barriers

In the shadow of Lahore's historical monuments, a new generation of video-game programmers is working away in brand new studios, giving a silicon valley feel to the Swat valley. Duration: 02:38

Published

5 months ago

Categories

Arts & Society, Technology, World

Topics

Arts & Culture, Video Games, Asia

People

Jazib Zahir, Mohsin Ali Afzal, Ammar Zaeem, Murad Akhter, Babar Ahmed, Waqar Azim, Saad Zaeem

Places

Japan, United States of America, Pakistan, Philippines, California, Islamabad, Karachi, Texas, Austin, Lahore, Punjab, Berkeley, Swat Valley

Companies

The Star Tribune Company

Transcript

It’s a simple premise: you slice fruit -- lots of it – and fast. The game is global phenomenon, and it was born here in Pakistan’s Lahore. Its creators, who launched their start-up just three ago, are exceptionally proud. SOUNDBITE 1 - Saad Zaeem (man), Caramel Tech Studios (English, 23 sec) : "Fruit ninja was downloaded almost 500 million times till today, and Jetpack Joyride had won many awards including Apple design award pocket game award. So we worked very closely with them on these two products, and we got them to multiple stores, multiple different devices, and it was one of the biggest things on our portfolio." Could Pakistan’s Punjab province be the next silicon valley? Computer game studios are flourishing here, and they aren’t just programming games conceived overseas – they’re creating and testing their own, made-in-Pakistan. SOUNDBITE 2 - Ammar Zaeem (man), Caramel Tech studios (English, 7 sec) : it is not only playing the games through and through and taking out the bugs, it is also a lot of software testing as well." This is a brand new sector, that employs almost 25,000 people, men and women. The star of this Islamabad-based company is a game for smartphones called “Dream Chaser.” SOUNDBITE 3 - Waqar Azim (man), We R Play studios (English, 10 sec): "Basically his world is crumbling and he has to collect these dreams to, you know, well, fix his world" Running a tech industry like this is no easy feat in Pakistan, where you’re faced with constant power cuts, security threats and corruption. But there are financial advantages. SOUNDBITE 4 - Waqar Azim (man), We R Play studios (English, 15 sec) : "The costs associated with developing a game are definitely very low compared to the West. So, that's an advantage. But when it comes to disadvantages : not finding equally skilled people." Like many video-game programmers, Murad studied in California. But it’s here in Lahore that he chose to set up his company. SOUNDBITE 5 - Murad Akhter (man), CEO of Tintash (English, 18 sec) : "There is a sense of belonging that I have here, you know my family, my friends I wanted actually to give back to the community as well. Especially with the field I was hoping to get into it would make no difference if I was here, of if I was in the Valley or if I was in Japan." With an IT sector now worth an estimated 2.8 billion US dollars, these new programmers could be changing the face of Pakistan’s economy. ------------------------------------- SHOTLIST: LAORE, PAKISTAN, JAN 2013 SOURCE: AFPTV - VAR of young employees of Caramel Tech playing fruit ninja - VAR of Saad Zaeem in the office SOUNDBITE 1 - VAR of Ammar Zaeem working with designers SOUNDBITE 2 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN, JAN 2014 SOURCE: AFPTV - VAR of the We R Play offices - VAR of Waqar Azim playing Dream Chaser SOUBDBITE 3 - VAR of the We R Play office SOUNDBITE 4 LAHORE, PAKISTAN, JAN 2014 SOURCE: AFPTV - VAR of Murad Akhter working in the Tintash offices - VAR of Saad Zaeem playing a game in the Caramel Tech offices /// ------------------------- AFP TEXT STORY Pakistan's gaming industry breaks culture barriers / Lahore (Pakistan) - 07 March 2014 It's a city better known for its history and culture, but a new generation of mobile game developers is bringing a slice of Silicon Valley to Pakistan's Lahore. With open plan offices, mixed gender teams, gourmet catering and an emphasis on a fun atmosphere, the small but growing IT industry worth an estimated $2.8 billion is being led by young entrepreneurs like Babar Ahmed. Ahmed, 33, left a career as a circuit engineer in Austin, Texas to found Mindstorm Studios in the eastern Pakistani city in 2006 with his brother Faraz. Today their studio employs 47 people thanks to hits like 2010's "Whacksy Taxi", which shot to number one on Apple's AppStore in over 25 countries; "Mafia Farm" in 2012 and "Cricket Power", the official game of the 2011 World Cup. "The idea was to put Pakistan on the gaming world," said Ahmed, explaining he was tired of "drawing room talk" among expatriates in the US about how something should be done for their homeland. - Smartphone revolution - Mindstorm is one of several games development studios in Pakistan -- mainly based in Lahore but also in the capital Islamabad and Karachi -- to have prospered with the spread of the smartphone. "After the iPhone was launched, the definition of what a game is changed overnight. The definition of what a gamer is changed overnight," said Ahmed. While traditional "hardcore" games -- typically played on home console systems or PCs -- need multi-million dollar budgets and teams of dozens of developers, games designed for smartphones need far less start-up capital. That has allowed countries in eastern Europe, Pakistan, and the Philippines to become prime destinations for software outsourcing, said Jazib Zahir, chief operations officer at Tintash, another Lahore-based studio that provided the back-office for "Fishing Frenzy", another top-ten hit. According to the government, some 24,000 people are now employed in software exports - though the figure also includes more traditional areas like financial software and healthcare. "One of the advantages that Pakistan brings is we do have a critical mass of people with training and aptitude, an interest in developing software and art and combining them," adds Zahir, who is also a part-time tech journalist. - Breaking boundaries - At We R Play, an Islamabad-based studio based in a converted warehouse on the outskirts of the city, rows of twentysomethings busy themselves on their computers surrounded by colourful posters, plush toys and action figures. The company was founded in 2010 by Mohsin Ali Afzal and Waqar Azim, with a major emphasis placed on a modern office space. "We were sure from when we started that we didn't want cubicles and I wouldn't have a big office," said Afzal, who returned from UC Berkeley in 2010. "We wanted to make sure we're sitting with everyone. We encouraged everyone to take ownership of their spaces and gave them (money) to get stuff for their tables." Workspace and play is also seen as key at CaramelTech, a Lahore studio founded in 2011 by brothers Saad and Ammar Zaeem which is responsible for coding global 2011 mega-hit Fruit Ninja (which had over 500 million downloads) for an Australian studio. The office has a designated play room complete with pool table, table football, and X-box. "Every day at 4pm they're forced to leave their work and go play upstairs. We want that culture where people aren't only working but also enjoy themselves," he said. Also notable in the games studios is near gender-parity, a striking fact in a country where female participation in the workforce has lagged behind for decades. People are dressed in everything from Western jeans and t-shirts to hijabs. For some, convincing their family they are working in a "real job" wasn't easy. "Basically my parents think I play all day and don't work," joked Saadia Zia, We R Play's 24-year-old head of quality assurance department which is tasked with teasing out bugs. In addition to gaining the trust of employees' families, the game studios have to contend with a host of issues ranging from frequent power outages to insecurity and civil unrest. "Electricity does not work. You have to come to terms with that," said Ahmed of Mindstorm, who plans to move his studio off-the-grid using solar panels. They also have to contend with faulty telephone lines, security threats and the ubiquitous corruption that dogs life in Pakistan. "Right outside our gate we had a car being gunned down. That affects you." However, the rewards outweigh the risks, he said. "It's somewhat like the Wild West. It's not for everybody. If you expect a level of service from the environment around you, that's not going to happen. If you can fend for yourself, it's great." ia/pdw/dwa/jhb