VIDEO games were once viewed as anti-social, but the World Health Organization (WHO) has partnered with major gaming studios to encourage people across the globe to stay at home and play video games instead.
WHO hopes this move will help stop the effects of the pandemic since it supports physical distancing measures and combats feelings of isolation, loneliness, and other psychological effects of staying indoors.
Growing industry
Because of this, mobile gaming in the Philippines is expected to grow even more significantly in the coming years. Statista.com reported that Philippine mobile gaming revenues will reach US$1,032m in 2021 and US$1,522m by 2025. Those gains are fueled by more than 70 million mobile phone users, and 80% of those users play mobile games regularly.
The Philippines is now one of the emerging Southeast Asian markets ripe for new game launches and expansion of new mobile game platforms. This is one of the reasons Big Crunch Digital Pte. Limited (Big Crunch Digital) continues to develop local games to further drive the mobile gaming market through its gaming platform – Perya Perya (from the Filipino term for “amusement park”).
Under Perya Perya, Big Crunch Digital has been busy developing mobile games for Wil to Play, a soon-to-be-launched mobile game for Android. The TV show, where the app draws inspiration from, is hosted and created by famous local celebrity Willie Revillame. What sets Wil to Play from other games is its tight integration with its TV game show counterpart and the ability to win real-world prizes.
First game show for online fans
While most mobile games let you win prestige and bragging rights, Wil to Play’s hyper-casual mobile games gives users a chance to bring home digital gadgets, food items, and more. Since there are limits to the sizes of local events and gatherings in the country, Wil to Play may well be the first game show that allows its online fans to win prizes even if they are not in the TV studio.
Jackie Chua, managing director for Big Crunch Digital, said that the company aims to develop a highly disruptive mass-market mobile entertainment offering for Southeast Asia. It has vast experience in content, anime, and game production and development, working with big gaming studios such as Microsoft’s first-party studio, The Coalition and Synergy 88 Digital Inc
As the Philippines’ average revenue per user (ARPU) is at US$33.69 and is expected to increase, Chua sees more opportunities. As such, Big Digital Crunch is looking for developers to expand the Philippine market and partner with the company.
“With Wil to Play and other currently developing mobile gaming platforms, we’ve achieved distribution to more than 10 million users within the 2021 calendar year alone. We expect those numbers to increase exponentially in the coming years,”
Chua concluded.
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National Press Club and Philippine Dental Association awardee George N. True II has written two bestsellers based on his popular column which has been running for almost 40 years. For questions about health, email georgenavatrue@yahoo.com./PN
