'Mukticamp', a mobile role-playing strategy game inspired by Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, is going to be released on this year’s Victory Day (December 16) on Google Play. This game is the much awaited third entry to the already popular 'Heroes of 71' series. The series has attracted more than six million unique users, among them 45 per cent are from Bangladesh, and the rest 55 per cent are from different countries all over the world. Even after two years since the initial release, more than 25,000 people play the first two games of the 'Heroes of 71' series every month.
The game studio, 'Mindfisher Games', formed after the merger between Portbliss Inc and Gameover Studio, has raised USD 235,000 as foreign direct investment to develop Mukticamp. The studio focuses exclusively on building games on Bangladesh's history and culture-- a different approach than most game studios of Bangladesh.
Mobile games in general are getting very popular among Bangladeshi smart phone users. The users are currently getting the taste of globally popular games such as Clash of Clans, Candy Crush, Farmville etc. However, some of the games whose offline versions are also rooted in Bangladesh are now being built in Asian nations such as India, Indonesia, China etc. This poses a great challenge for developers who are focusing on local context as the market is still not deemed to be monetisable. While internationally built games on South Asian context such as Teen Patti and Ludo Star and social media platforms such as Facebook and Youtube earn most of the attention of Bangladeshi users, there is a little room for local game studios to thrive under barley monetisable market.
This writer reached out to the Founder and CEO of Mindfisher Games Zamilur Rashid to know more about the company's ambitions and challenges during the journey.
'It is true that Bangladesh market right now is very difficult to monetise. But it does not mean, it shall stay the same. We have a very young demographics. Three key matrices- mobile Internet users, smartphone users and mobile finance users (i.e. bKash) are rising rapidly. Now we need a seamless payment system so that our users can complete the transaction with ease. If we do not move fast, developers from our neighbouring countries will completely take away our market. A good example will be the growing popularity of Ludo Star, Teen Patti and Bahubali,' said Zamilur Rashid.
‘Mindfisher's mission is to bring and engage people of Bangladesh into mobile games with the content that people like them as there is a shortage of readymade content in the growing market of Bangladesh,’ Zamil added. They also want to capture the growing Internet users of Bangladesh.
Mindfisher Games is also looking into the untapped market of 240 million native Bangla language speakers. The company believes, in near future mobile gaming will be a major source of entertainment for anyone. In terms of genre, strategy based games is also an area Bangladeshi users have not experienced; as a result, despite Mindfisher Games' previous hits were first person shooter games, Mukticamp is developed as a role-playing strategy game. The players will build, maintain, defend and upgrade the base situated in a village that resembles a traditional Bangladeshi village during 1971. Players will scout characters, engage them in different tasks and train them to fight the Liberation War of 1971. Character's skill customisation is one of the core parts of the gameplay. When ready, players shall be able to attack Pakistan Army camps.
Armed with 29 dedicated game professionals, Mindfisher Games is gearing up to launch the 'Mukti camp' on December 16. For the December release, the game is a single player offline game, but Zamil says, 'We are committed to improve Mukticamp for a few months after the initial launch. And if the players like the concept, Mindfisher shall start working on a multiplayer version and players can expect a full-fledged multiplayer MOBA gamer by the end of 2018.'
The first two games in the series, 'Heroes of 71' and 'Heroes of 71: Retaliation', are third person shooter games. However, this time, the studio is taking a different approach to 'Mukticamp'. The company could not bring an update of the last two versions even after so many requests from the fans. In contrast, Mukticamp will have new level and new content after every update, and gamers will be able to play it for sustained period of time.
To know more about the games and its development, interested people can visit Mukticamp stall in Digital World's Innovation and Experience Zone at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre from December 06 to 09. Also, Mukticamp team maintains an engaged Facebook community at fb.com/heroesof71.
The writer is currently studying BBA at Bangladesh University of Professionals. He can be reached at [email protected]
