From Being a Gamer to an Entrepreneur
From fervently playing 3D Pinball, to cluelessly clicking away on Minesweeper, the 1990s’ kids had had opportune experiences with early gaming. Fast forward to the post-dial-up internet days, where the gaming scene has radically metamorphosed! With PC and console going mainstream, and mobile gaming picking up pace, you may wonder about the ins and outs of this still embryonic industry in Bangladesh.ULKA Games’ Zamil Rashid shares a scoop with Colors in an interview with Nusrat Noshin.
Zamil Rashid began his journey as a gamer. “The 1990s is the stepping stone of gaming in Bangladesh. I started playing games back in ‘95 and it gradually evolved into a passion. I studied Economics and Mathematics overseas. We took classes on behavioral and experimental economics, where we’d learn about algorithms. After coming back to Dhaka in 2012, I did a typical job,” he says.
“Back then,” he continues, “any opportunity for game development was nil. In 2013, I decided to take control of my career and started an IT firm. It did relatively well but I was still eyeing up the gaming industry. Then, in 2015, I took a leap of faith and finally stepped up. I closed down the IT firm and started Gameover studios with Apple. We made games for iOS and five of our games got featured globally — a rare feat for its time. We made moves towards business expansion and merged with Portbliss in April 2017. That amalgamation birthed Mindfisher Games. Our breakthrough game was Mukti Camp, but I personally think it was much ahead of its time.”
For this entrepreneur, the problem was how he would monetize the business initiative. “Monetization was, and still is, a pressing matter we struggle to solve. The games run on a ‘freemium’ model and prompt in-app purchases for premium features. There is a litany of steps to pay in Google Pay. You need to be a credit card holder and, on-top-of-that, you need to have international payment activated. That is a very small percentage of people our revenue stream depends on.”
This process, he explains, “precluded the next round of fundraising. We had to shake up the team but I was not really happy with the situation.”
“So, I resigned in 2018. And subsequently, I’ve founded ULKA Games as a team of 3.”
Dwelling on his current venture, Zamil Rashid mentions that his past experiences have helped them zero in on South Asia. “We have a conviction that this is a ripe region for Instant Gaming. Under the administration of Moonfrog, we now wholly make games or Facebook and Android. We have undertaken some ambitious, cross-national projects.”
Of them, he added, ‘Card Games’ and ‘Ludo Club’ farewell in Bangladesh.
On the challenges he has faced thus far, Zamil Rashid said. “We have a very talented pool of developers, but only rarely are they skilled. We can recruit a few young employees and train them; it’s not a viable option when the company hits a sizable team. Also, the issue of monetizing is important, always, and everywhere. We are yet to figure out easier solutions.”
He thinks cultural hurdle is something that companies like theirs may have to overcome. “The likes with which India dominate our gaming market and the games like carrom, although fundamentally identical, have subtle differences. For instance, we know our striker disc as the bigger one of the bunch, but in India, it’s the same size as the rest of the discs. It’s the subtleties like these that could worsen cultural contamination,” he further said.
However, at the end of the day, he sees prospects in the Bangladesh market as he concludes, “Game development in Bangladesh is a lucrative market, it now depends on who can tap in and how.”
Fun Q&A:
Q: Favorite Game? A: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Q: Last game played? A: Metro Exodus
Q: PC or console? A: PC
Q: Most anticipated game of 2019? A: Last of Us 2
