Asian developers get a spotlight at the ID@Xbox Digital Session

We recently got invited to attend an online session where Xbox featured a number of their upcoming indie games that come from Asian developers. Xbox has always been a major voice in promoting smaller developers with their passion projects. The ID@Xbox Digital Session is further proof of their commitment in empowering indie developers and bringing their games to a wider audience. Here’s everything that went down in the event.

The Xbox global expansion team was founded back in early 2022 with the core goal of being able to connect with new and underrepresented figures in the game development scene, specifically in the Asian region.  Jun Shen Chia, Xbox Global Expansion Head hosted the digital session as he expresses his enthusiasm for the upcoming lineup the company has to show.

“We believe in more creators creating more games and reaching people.”

Ever since day 1, Chia and his team made it a point to continuously approach indie developers around the world and provide them with resources to be successful in the Xbox platform. Currently, they have about 3,500 games in active development in more than 100 countries. In Asia alone, there are over 600 development studios under the Xbox ID program. All of which have access to a mentorship initiative which includes a 2-month development bootcamp in collaboration with some of Xbox’s major studios.

January 2024 was the highest engagement ever in Xbox consoles, measured in playtime. Thanks in large part to Palword, which currently has over 10 million registered users. This success is a testament to Xbox’s ID program and they’re looking to continue doing so. Starting with some of these games that had their debut in the digital session.

Fallen Tear: The Ascension, a 2D JRPG Metroidvania from CMD Studios, a Philippines-based developer. A debut title for a young studio that was launched only back in 2020. We were shown a 10-minute gameplay demo where one of the narrative leads walked us through the basic gameplay elements such as combat, exploration, and progression.

It featured a beautiful art style in which Stephen Manalastas, Founder of Winter Crew mentioned that they were heavily inspired by Wakfu for character designs and Ori and the Blind Forest when it came to environmental design. Aside from the main story, there will also be over 20+ hunting missions that get progressively harder with each one. Stay tuned for more details but for now, the team is targeting the end of 2025 as a release window.

InKonbini: One Store. Many Stories, a choice-driven narrative store simulator set in a small-town Japanese convenience store in the 1990s from Nagai Industries (Japan). Basing off from what we saw in the gameplay demo that was debuted in the Digital Session, it’s a very calming experience that leverages the sense of nostalgia and comfort you get when it comes to visiting local Konbinis.

While you are in charge of managing the store, fixing the supplies and keeping it tidy, initiating conversations with customers is the heart and soul of the game. Through these conversations, you’ll get to piece together the town’s story.

Coming from solo developer, Prateek Jadhwani, Founder of Destroyer Doggo (India), comes Brocula. You play as a vampire who just woke up in the hospital after being asleep for 500 years. Being in a time and setting you don’t recognize, you’re now forced to take on part-time jobs to slowly build up your wealth again. Aside from being a quirky title, it also tackles the issues of capitalism and social struggles when it comes to labor.

This game has been in development for over 4 years while Jadhwani was still balancing it with a full-time job of his own. He mentioned in the Digital Session that the game promises to bring in about 40 hours of gameplay. A vampire trying to earn money through multiple jobs? Sounds like a relatable plight to me.

Go-Go Town, a town building simulator from Australian-based developers Prideful Sloth. You play as the town mayor where you are tasked to make sure that the town is devveloped into a thriving tourist location. And you can do this in however way you want to. You are only limited by your imagination.

At first glance, the game looks like what it would be like if The Sims had a baby with Animal Crossing. I know a lot of you will get excited on the premise alone. Game Director Joel Styles mentioned that the inspiration for the game came from children’s play sets where you have a sandbox area that you can just tinker around in.

“We’re anticipating longer hours of gameplay. In our playtests, some people took 10-20 hours into something we thought would only take 2-3 hours. It goes to show how much players get lost in a game that gives them the tools to enjoy doing so.”

The devvelopers have confirmed that there’s a lot of content that will be there on release and a whole lot more in the pipeline to follow. And as a cherry on top, the game features up to 4-player couch co-op! Online play is still not available, but it is definitely part of the roadmap. The developers are just focused on making sure that the split screen and singleplayer experience is as good as it can be for now.

Only 4 games were shown but all of which show a lot of promise. It’s great to see Asian developers get the recognition and support they deserve from a gaming giant such as Xbox. There’s a lot to get excited for in the coming months, aside from major AAA releases we all know and love, it’s through these indie developers where we see some of the more unique games to ever release.