depa Teams Up With Partners to Hail the Success of ?depa Game Accelerator Program Batch 2? in Leveling Up Manpower in Thai Gaming Industry to Meet International Standards March 11, 2022, Bangkok ? The Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa) together with the Thai Game Software Industry Association (TGA), Infofed Co., Ltd, and Garena Online (Thailand) Co., Ltd, announced an excellent accomplishment of the depa Game Accelerator Program Batch 2 and presented prizes to winning game development teams in 4 popular game themes. They were the finalists with great performances in the depa Game Accelerator Program Batch 2 Demo Day. The depa and partners also emphasize their commitment to continue developing and enhancing the potential of personnel in the Thai gaming industry so that they will have the same standard and potential as the world-class gaming entrepreneurs. Mr. Chatchai Khunpitiluck, Senior Executive Vice President of depa, said the gaming industry is one of the country?s target industries. It has continued to grow over the years. The depa acknowledges the growth opportunities in the gaming industry and is committed to pushing the industry to grow systematically under the Thailand Digital Economy and Society Development Masterplan. The depa has promoted and supported professional skills development as well as presenting opportunities and laying the foundation of professional development for personnel in the industry, including enthusiastic undergraduates and general interested people through a variety of support measures and development programs. One of depa?s flagship accelerator programs is the depa Game Accelerator Program Batch 2, which was launched in collaboration between the depa and its allies comprising the Thai Game Software Industry Association (TGA), Infofed Co., Ltd, and Garena Online (Thailand) Co., Ltd. The second batch of the accelerator program received a good response with a large number of game development teams participating in the program. All participating teams and game developers underwent a series of intensive training courses in order to level up their potential and game development standards. Finally, the winning teams of game developers in 4 popular game themes, comprising Action, Adventure, Strategy, and Sport (Casual Game) under the depa Game Accelerator Program Batch 2 Demo Day were announced today. They will receive an opportunity to further enhance their game development capabilities with Nintendo and the chance to present and pitch their games and game concepts and ideas to publishers and investors with an ultimate goal to create a successful business matching, cooperative connections and right partnerships. They will relatively have public relation channels to communicate about their games in the real-world market environment, after which they will obtain feedback and comments from gamers for redeveloping and improving their games before going on sale in domestic and international markets. ?The depa Game Accelerator Program Batch 2 is regarded as a manpower development initiative to continue developing capable personnel in the Thai gaming industry in collaboration with relevant stakeholders and agencies as well as a world-class partner and licensed developer like Nintendo Japan that has always provided an overwhelming support. Regarding the launch of the depa Game Accelerator Program Batch 1 last year, the accelerator program generated around 39 million baht worth of business matching deals and it resulted in Thailand-based games like Joojee s Journey and Bloody Bunny being able to get an international exposure on the Nintendo eShop,? said the Senior Executive Vice President of depa. Mr. Jirayod Theppipit, Chief Executive Officer of Infofed Co., Ltd, said the popularity and growth of the Thai gaming industry are driven mainly by a host of international games. The value of gaming business activity, including sales and distributions and holders of IP licenses for games, in 2020 was as high as 33.316 billion baht. But, looking closely into the market, it found that games developed by Thais accounted for less than 5% of the overall gaming market value recorded in the year. Therefore, the depa Game Accelerator Program Batch 2 serves as a key mechanism to drive development of the Thai gaming industry. The accelerator program is initiated to maximize the potential of Thai game developers so that their competitiveness will be elevated to be on par with the world-class gaming entrepreneurs? as well as leveling up the Thai gaming industry to meet international standards. Dr. Sarut Vanichpun, Director of Sea (Thailand), said Sea (Thailand), which was originated from ?Garena?, the digital entertainment content provider, is delightful to be part of the depa Game Accelerator Program Batch 2 as an online game service provider to leverage its expertise in game development so as to enhance the potential of human resources in the Thai gaming industry. They will be able to learn how to handle essential game development tools for creating and designing unconventionally fascinating games for an immersive gaming experience. The program also helped enhance collaborative connections and networking in order to level up digital content development to meet international standards in the future. Sea (Thailand) views that digital content is one of the key industries crucial for accelerating Thailand?s digital economy development, empowering growth and efficiency in the future. Mr. Nenin Ananbanchachai, President of the Thai Game Software Industry Association, said the Thai digital content industry has continued to grow on the back of crises. The industry has recorded steady growth (Reference: Thailand Digital Content Industry 2020 Survey conducted by depa). In 2018, the industry recorded growth of 13.78% and increased to 15.96% in 2019. The industry saw an exponential growth of 34.89% to reach 34.316 billion baht in value in 2020. Playing games continue to surge in popularity in Thailand since the arrival of mobile gaming platforms where people can play games online via smartphones. Mobile gaming has the majority of market share worth 21.014 billion baht, followed by PC games with 8.231 billion baht and console games with 4.785 billion baht. Other gaming platforms saw substantial contraction such as slot machine games, which recorded decreasing market value to 251 million baht due in large part to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as containment measures and lockdowns were imposed in certain areas, making people not on the mood to leave their homes. It resulted in slot machine games being unable to generate good revenue as seen before the pandemic. Top 4 best games by game development teams in each game theme in the depa Game Accelerator Program Batch 2 Demo Day are as follows; 1) Action theme : DIDTC - Together Out 2) Adventure theme : Rolling Bear - Lost Melody 3) Strategy theme : ZAI Studio ? Dala : The Himmapan Forest 4) Sport (Casual Game) : Electrified - The Last Knife This year, a special prize is granted to the team with the best performance and the potential to develop its work in the future, which is the RoadToMoney team, the creator of the game "When." Interested people stay updated with the latest information and details about the depa Game Accelerator Program Batch 2 at Facebook: depa Game Accelerator Program or visit www.depagameaccelerator.com