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Pakistan’s video game industry, known for its award-winning products, is struggling to generate foreign exchange and provide job opportunities for young developers due to a lack of government support and the absence of international payment gateways like PayPal, revealed by industry leaders this week.
Last year, gaming studios in the country contributed $171.3 million to the national economy, highlighting its modest share in the global gaming market, which exceeds $300 billion.
Pakistan’s video game industry employs nearly 8,500 individuals who contribute to local companies’ product development for various platforms, including mobile phones, desktops, Mac devices, and gaming consoles like PlayStation and Xbox.
Muhammad Zohaib Khan, Chairman of the Pakistan IT Industry Association, emphasized the need for investing in human resources and skills development programs to employ an additional 3,000 developers annually and achieve a 30 percent year-on-year growth in the industry’s foreign remittances.
“We need to invest in the game development and animation skills of our youth to get a fair share in the global gaming industry,” he said, stressing the importance of training local talent to compete internationally by producing high-quality products.
Fawad Asghar, the Chief Technology Officer of weRplay, an Islamabad-based award-winning game development company, echoed similar sentiments. He lamented that Pakistan’s share of the global gaming industry was less than 1 percent, citing a lack of educational opportunities in game development at local universities and the absence of government support.
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Asghar’s company, founded in 2010 and employing nearly 250 people, has created approximately 40 games over the years, including “Lost Twins 2,” which received international acclaim. However, he noted that it took about four years for developers to create this game, which is slated for release on multiple platforms in the coming months.
Responding to queries about revenue streams and target audiences, Asghar revealed that approximately 90 percent of the company’s foreign exchange income came from downloads and ads, with a significant portion originating from the United States.
Sanwal Nawaz, co-founder of tecHouse Games in Lahore, highlighted the challenges faced by the industry in Pakistan, including a low cost per ad impression rate, a lack of a robust economy resulting in limited in-app purchases, and insufficient capital for marketing and promotion.
Nawaz also pointed out that Pakistani universities do not offer animation and gaming degree programs, which hinder developers from competing internationally.
Despite these challenges, Pakistan’s video game industry continues to produce award-winning games. The industry calls for improvements such as the introduction of international payment gateways like PayPal and Stripe in Pakistan to facilitate financial transactions for employees working from other countries.
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