“Excellent localisation of the content!” was the initial thought that crossed my mind when I saw Mukti Camp at NGDC this year.
Just like its previous edition, this year’s NGDC also brought together a varied set of game developers and enthusiasts alike. Mindfisher Games, a Dhaka, Bangaladesh based studio also made their debut at India’s largest game dev conference.
A quick dekko at their website gave me the little idea of the kind of games they have in the past, or are currently creating. “We make midcore and casual mobile games for South Asia. We have more than five million downloads and five Apple features! Based in Dhaka, Bangladesh- we are a team of 27! Now (we’re) making Mukti Camp a sequel to our popular Heroes of 71 Series!” The game is set in the backdrop of Bangaladesh’s liberation war of 1971 and is inspired by mobile games somewhat like Clash of Clans.
Speaking to AnimationXpress, Mindfisher Games CEO Zamilur Rashid stated, “It was a great experience as it was the first time in NGDC for us, all the way from Dhaka, Bangladesh. We have had more than 200 visits at our stall in the three days of the event. We had received appreciations from industry experts and even 15 to 20 key persons.”
The studio’s site also reads, “We are the first Game Studio in Bangladesh to raise foreign direct investment (FDI). We have raised $235,000, to develop Mukti Camp. We have merged Gameover Studio; five times Apple featured studio, to ensure we have the brightest talents of Bangladesh.”
Now the new team of 28 is apparently working relentlessly to make sure the initial version of Mukti Camp launches on 16 December 2017. Subsequently, they plan to release the next version on 26 March 2018.
Says Rashid, “We have heard about NGDC since two years. We wanted to attend it last year as well, but could not because of visa issues. This year we made it an agenda to come, hence had prepared for it since the last two months prior to the event.”
He further mentioned, “Firstly, Bangladesh game dev scene is just coming up. There are only a handful of good studios, so we wanted to check if the games we make are good enough in other markets. It seems we have passed that hurdle with a positive response at this year’s NGDC. We even plan to repackage the game for other regions and hence were looking at partners from India, including studios which can help us with the artwork.”
Concluding his thoughts with a take on the Indian gaming scene, the studio head said, “The whole Indian scenario is much more mature than Bangladesh and much more optimistic. In Bangladesh we have raw talents and programmers but the industry is yet to mature and spread. We plan to visit NGDC next year as well.”
