PLDT ties up with PC game dev’t firm

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has forged a partnership with Anino Entertainment, the country’s first Filipino PC game development company, in a bid to gain a stronger foothold on the burgeoning industry of content development.

Ariel Roda, PLDT senior vice president and business development head, said PC gaming is a future strategic source of revenues for PLDT.

"This is part of our aggressive efforts to diversify our fixed line business and move toward content development and supporting content development initiatives. We decided to get together because we share a common vision, to think ahead, to pioneer when others fear the risk, and to build when others fear potential failure," Roda said.

Anino Entertainment is the first PC game development company in the country to launch the first Filipino-made PC game called Anito: Defend a Land Engraged. PLDT has supported this creative team of Filipinos as they recently launched the game. PLDT has also extended assistance by publishing 1,000 copies of the 3D computer game as a special PLDT Edition.

The game will eventually be bundled with PLDT Retail Group’s CyberMadness promo where customers will get the PC, Internet link and the game content in one affordable package.

Roda said the gaming industry is rapidly growing worldwide, citing China’s game industry making a profit of $110 million and mobile gaming contributing $870 million to the telecommunications industry in 2002. The Indian gaming market is also predicted to reach $50 million by 2005, with console and computer gaming accounting for $35 million and $15 million respectively.

"In the United States, game development is currently a $10 billion industry, and the console market is dominated by Sony’s PlayStation 2, Nintendo’s Game Cube and Microsoft’s XBox. And in Southeast Asia, South Korean products account for 54 percent of the region’s gaming industry revenue, according to a study conducted by Blackstone Market facts. That’s a lot of Ragnarok going on," Roda said.

He added that to Anino Entertainment, PLDT’s myDSL provides fast Internet connection that is invaluable to Anino’s research efforts, and that to PLDT, Anito represents a new industry for growth and opportunity.

"It brings us closer to our customers, to create new ways by which our products and services become exciting, to be truly entertaining. It’s a journey by which PLDT can help create new jobs, enable the Filipino to be a global player. It’s an investment in R&D, an expansion play for our Innovation Labs," he explained.

PLDT’s subsidiary, ePLDT, through its Spoon Interactive Arts division, is also developing a unique game that can be played on Smart Communications Inc.’s mobile phone platform to expand the world of the Anito PC game. ePLDT’s wireless version of the game, entitled Tersiago’s Wrath recently bagged and International award for content development sponsored by Sony Ericsson.

Roda also emphasized the importance of the government and academe’s role in the development of the gaming industry. He suggested that tax breaks could be granted to Filipino game development groups so they can prosper.

Universities and colleges with computer science-related courses can also include game development courses to help foster the development of this potentially lucrative industry.

Roda offered a contrarian view of the widespread impression that gaming can only inhibit the mental and physical growth of young people."Research scientists say it’s actually necessary for the youth to play games, the younger we are the better, for it helps stimulate motor and mental development. To me, games form a good chunk of my happiest childhood memories. And today, it’s a serious industry and it’s big business," he said.