Singapore Games Bazaar Now Open

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA, www.ida.gov.sg), a statutory board of the Singapore Government, announced the Games Bazaar, a regional hosting platform for game makers and publishers to deploy their titles. Launched in partnership with the country’s leading telecommunication and technology providers SingTel and Hewlett Packard Singapore, the Games Bazaar seeks to attract game companies contemplating on entering the Asian market. To make the offer more attractive, the Singaporean government, in conjunction with SingTel and HP Singapore, will help companies defray up to 80 percent of the hosting costs during the first six months of their participation in the Games Bazaar. Many of the companies have been reluctant to plunge into the Asian market due to a lack of understanding of regional politics, bureaucracy, or infrastructure. Thomas Lin, IDA’s director of Games and Entertainment, pointed out that IDA, being a government entity, has more leverages than commercial entities and is well-positioned to help negotiate contractual agreements with regional authorities if necessary. The IDA delegation of Singaporean firms that appeared at GDC 2004 included: