Dynamic, innovative and young. These are the qualities of the next generation of leaders who are making waves in their respective fields. We recently had the opportunity to catch up with four sets of young individuals to hear from them what their individual experiences are, what drives them and most importantly, what is their secret to success.
DC and Welson Gan Co-founders, Magnus Games Studio
DC Gan (DC): Magnus game studio is actually a game development studio based in Malaysia. Basically we make games, that’s our passion and it’s what we want to contribute to the ecosystem in Malaysia.
Welson Gan (WG): We started making games way before we had proper education. Back in the day, video games as a career wasn’t very well known. When we made our first game, we learnt almost everything through Google. We wanted it so badly that we had to find ways to start our journey, so straight out of high school, we started learning as much as we could on the internet.
DC: I think the most important key point is we enjoy backing each other up ever since we were six, seven years old. We love playing co-op games. So you know, one person will always be in the front and the other always be behind, and we always have each other’s back. I think that’s one of the key points that makes our bond and trust in each other strong which we carry over even in business.
After graduating, we tried a lot of things and we failed a lot too. But we never gave up and we had to sit down and think, “What’s next?†That was the turning point, and we took a leap of faith.
WG: The first idea was to make a bit of money to allow us to grow, but in chasing money, it became the most stressful part of our life because the money wasn’t our passion. We found out that when you chase the passion, that’s where the money comes. We wanted to make a fun game, so we shifted our direction overnight to make a premium PC game following the traditional video game business model, selling a full game at a set cost. We had to restructure the whole team, the concept of the game. And we started to think out of the box, out of Malaysia. There are 7 billion people and there are more than 2 billion gamers in the world, why restrict ourselves to Malaysia?
By then we had a prototype, a proof of concept of the game Re:Legend, made with just a small team of four to six people, which we submitted into an international platform called Square Enix Collective. That’s where Japanese game company Square Enix helps indie developers like us to validate our game. They showcase it to their audience and gauge their reaction and feedback on the product. We were competing against the whole world for those slots. But we managed to squeeze in, and I’m not sure if it’s luck or all of our hard work, but we hold the spot for the top rated game in the history of the whole platform. We broke the record once, then we broke our own record at a score of 99% audience satisfaction. That was the first point where we felt we were going somewhere.
We put the game on Kickstarter, because we saw that the global audience enjoyed the game’s concept. Success rates games on Kickstarter is only around 32 percent So it was do or die. After 28 days we raised almost MYR2 million, which till today is the highest-funded Kickstarter project in Southeast Asia.
DC: We have to thank MDEC because, without support and funding from the government, it’s impossible for small studios like us to grow. Not many people believed in the digital economy nor the gaming scene, especially in Malaysia. Even when we pitch to investors, it’s quite hard for them to understand us as games are intangible and Malaysian mindsets are aimed at very conventional and traditional businesses. With a government body believing in the digital economy, it actually helps in creating more opportunities, and it’s all linked, an ecosystem that is building up. Now we see a lot of international studios branching into Malaysia and this is a good sign.
WG: MDEC is also pushing the more experienced developers to help groom our young talent. DC was part of a mentorship programme called DICE. We mentor a lot of the newcomers in the industry and that in turn will push new talents to create new IPs, growing the value of the digital economy.
DC: Talent-wise, Malaysia is well known for outsourcing, we are making a lot of big AAA game titles like Final Fantasy, Uncharted and Street Fighter. Now’s the time when we are starting to make our own IPs with the skill set that we’ve learnt—it’s good timing in Malaysia now.
The key point that pushed us here is the environment we grew up in.
For games, it is something different, it is entertainment. What we’re doing is just creating more digital forms of entertainment. Still, no matter the industry, whether old or new, in the end what matters is passion, how much we’re willing to put in and how much you believe in your team. Only by believing will you be willing to sacrifice.
WG: For us personally, playing games affects the way we lead, because when you play games, you either beat the game or you quit. It also helps in decision making because playing games is all about making the right decisions at the right time. We’re also allowed to fail, it’s a free lesson to learn about leadership and working with different people to reach an objective.
DC: Of course, we still need experienced people to guide. We will always take their advice and interpret it to fit our nontraditional business. Now you can have micro international business run by a team of three to six people and with the digital economy, globalisation happens at the flick of a finger. As long as we’re here, making games will be our priority. We are looking into new IPs and bigger opportunities, as well as looking to expand the Magnus brand into China, Japan and Korea. Mentorship for the local game scene will always be important to us and in the very near future we are launching a game academy. It’s time for us to give back to the industry with what we’ve learned and to train the talented people out there that can benefit the economy, the industry and put Malaysia on the world map.
