The Malaysian games industry has boomed in the past several years. Many foreign video game developers and studios have taken root in Malaysia, including Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios and even Sony’s PlayStation Studios. That’s not even mentioning other companies like Bandai Namco and Double Eleven.

Recently, we conducted an exclusive interview with MDEC (Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation) CEO Mahadhir Aziz. In our interview, he mentioned that MDEC wants even more foreign companies to come set up shop in Malaysia, develop their games in the country and in the process, promote Malaysia as a viable and thriving setting for game development.

He said:

“MDEC, as an agency, we look at the mandate as facilitating. A healthy growth of an industry, or an ecosystem. We look at this, by creating some of these projects, there’s a win-win situation. For the business, where they can have traction, they can have the track record, and at the same time, promoting the country, of which they are based in.

That’s why I said, it can be a Malaysia-based company. I can have foreign game studios that come to Malaysia, develop something in Malaysia, and promote Malaysia at the same time. We like that, so that’s the whole concept.”

Malaysia Is Fertile Ground For Games Development

In the future, perhaps we can have more developers and studios come to Malaysia, but we also have our own local developers and studios making their own quality content. If overseas developers want proof or evidence that game development can thrive in Malaysia, just look at various recent examples, such as Metronomik’s No Straight Roads and Passion Republic’s GigaBash.

Baldur’s Gate 3 was one of the biggest games in 2023, and Larian Studios Malaysia contributed to that. We also have PlayStation Studios Malaysia contributing to many games since its launch, including The Last Of Us Part 1 and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

There’s still so much potential growth for game development in Malaysia, and MDEC is ready to embrace more foreign studios to join the ranks of Larian Studios and PlayStation. Malaysia Boleh!

Check out our full exclusive interview with MDEC CEO Mahadhir Aziz below: