Catch Up On Southeast Asia’s Animation And Games Industries At Malaysia Digital Creativity Festival (MYDCF)
They won’t be gathering in person, but the animation and game industries in Malaysia and Southeast Asia are preparing for one of the most important conventions in their history.
This month, My Digital Creativity Festival (MYDCF) will bring together promoters and changers from the region’s creative sector for two weeks of virtual pitches, talks, business meetups and more.
MYDCF is in fact a merger of two long-standing events: the animation convention Kre8tif! Conferences & Networking and game festival Level up KL. Both are hosted by Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), the government agency tasked with developing the country’s digital sector and gaining global attention.
For the first time this year, the two events will take place simultaneously on the same virtual platform. Projects will be presented to an international panel of buyers on September 8–10 (Animated Elevator pitch) and September 23 (Game-Indie pitch). Nearly 50 projects have been selected from Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia, but also more distant countries, such as the US, Japan, Australia and South Korea.
B2B meetings will be held September 13–17. MYDCF will be completed by a conference on September 21–22 (Level Up KL) and 23–24 (Kre8tif!), where the directors will Executives from companies like Double 11, Sony Playstation, Microsoft, Warnermedia, Moonbug and Base Media will speak. A one-day festival that will take place in November, featuring a digital gallery, career fair, and e-sports tournament.
MYDCF comes at a good time for Southeast Asia’s creative industries. As Cartoon Brew observed at Kre8tif!, Malaysian animation is growing rapidly from a service industry into a producer of successful original IPs, and the same is true of several neighboring countries. Report for 2019 (compiled by MDEC) identified the region’s industry strengths, as well as potential growth areas.
The Southeast Asian gaming platform is also on the rise, with domestic titles increasingly finding the presence of international gamers. Eg, Gigabash, a battle by Malaysian developer Passion Republic Games, was introduced at E3 2021.
The games industry is attracting more foreign investment than ever before, aided by programs such as the Toge Game Fund Initiative from Indonesia’s Toge Productions. The Foundation is open to developers based in the region and offers mentoring and financial support.
As a result, game development is attracting more and more Southeast Asian content companies. The progress of the industry will be charted in detail in MDEC’s Upcoming SEA Games Industry Report 2021.
An emerging area of development in the region is the use of blockchain in games. For example, Vietnamese studio Sky Mavis made waves with its game based on NFT Axie Infinity, and has attracted capital from investors such as Mark Cuban and Alexis Ohanian. On September 14, MYDCF will host a Blockchain Bootcamp, where experts will explain how games and blockchain intersect and the business opportunities the field offers.
One ticket to the whole Kre8tif! & Level Up KL costs RM400 (US$96) and offers access to events recorded through the end of October. For more information on Kre8tif!, visit websiteand for more details on Level Up KL visit website.
