SEA GAME DEV COLLECTIVE DIGEST - June/July 2025 Edition
Editor’s Note
Halfway Point 2025 Check-in: How are you doing, dear reader? I hope that you have some resolutions that have gone your way. And even if you didn’t, that’s also alright. Like I said in January’s Editor’s Note - you can choose to lock in, as many times as you need.
The last time I wrote the Editor’s Note, I was sitting in my room in Manila, manifesting a year of career growth, strengthened relationships, and better physical and mental health. Nearly half a year later, I took a five-hour plane ride and flipped my whole life and gamedev career around. It’s taking some time to get used to and it’s not been a smooth ride, but nothing is more exciting than a clear runway ahead of you, with all the support that I need to take off to an uncharted but promising future.
And better still, it looks like the Southeast Asian games industry continues to go full steam ahead. The Summer Game Fest hosted the first edition of the SEA Games Showcase, the first outing on a truly global stage garnering thousands of views and building hype for our homegrown titles and talents. SEA Games for Good, in partnership with UNRWA USA, is assembling an amazing community effort to deliver aid to Palestine, pulling together devs and gamers for an important cause.
There’s so much time left in 2025 to make it your year: whether you're making big moves in your life, or getting more opportunities to kick back and immerse yourself in amazing games. Whichever the case, keep enjoying each moment and choosing the path of kindness and happiness.
Kenzie Du
Writer for VirtualSEA, Narrative Designer
Game Releases, Launches, Updates
We’re excited by all the recent and upcoming releases from Southeast Asia in June and July 2025:
June
2 - Sinker sound DEMO by Chavafei (Thailand)
4 - Montabi DEMO by Mankibo (Indonesia)
19 - (The Lingering) Graveyard Visit by Storytale (Indonesia)
23 - Not Monday Cafe by Sunny Syrup Studios (Thailand)
26 - Until Then (on Nintendo Switch) by Polychroma Studios, Maximum Entertainment (Philippines)
26 - Grifford Academy by LandShark Games (Singapore)
July
14 - Talents by Izumi Games
17 - Upin & Ipin Universe by Steamline Studios (Malaysia)
….
Also check out all the games that have launched from the region on VirtualSEA’s amazing resource here. Also, Southeast Asia Game Wiki hasan always-updated games database, now featuring over 800+ games.
In other gaming news…
Games
An all-woman Filipina team BibeBytes took the Game of the Year grand prize at this year’s Game Jam Plus Finals held in Brazil with their game Love, Esperanza. Check out the game here.
The team behind Bail Force: Cyberpunk Bounty Hunters, SeblaccSoft and YSY Softworks have announced a partnership with Indie.io to publish the game.
Malaysian dev team Metropolice Studio announced the upcoming Kickstarter campaign launch for their game The HELL: City Builder of the Dead.
GameChanger Studio announces that they are taking on a new role as a publisher for Indonesia-made games. They are currently working with a new game studio, StarBullet, on a project titled The Spirit Weaver.
An early build of PERISH PARADE will be available on Antang Software’s Itch page from July 4 to 7. They are taking player feedback. Follow them on their X page for more info.
Oray Studios is looking for playtesters for their game Hanturium’s short playtest demo. If you’re interested in horror-puzzle games and want to playtest, fill out the form here.
Simulacra developers Kaigan Games’ new project is a horror narrative game called Deadly Rehearsal, and was recently covered by Magic Rain in this article here.
Cuisineer developers BattleBrew Productions announces all-new dungeon-crawler roguelite HellHeart Breaker. The monster girls you date grant you newfound powers, and the girls you don't... are the bosses you fight! Check it out here.
Events
Artist and content creator Xelafina is raising money by making banana-themed merch, with proceeds going to Rural Rising PH (RuRi), a non-profit collective helping Filipino farmers. This supports “rescue buys” of overproduced fruits and vegetables that will then be redistributed to communities in need. More information and preorders here.
IGG Indonesia is organizing Indonesia’s first ever VTuber Game Jam on July 4 - 6. This is aimed at students, with a prize pool of Rp8,250,000. For more information and registration links, check out their social media here.
The Hungry Ghost Steam Festival by SEAGameathetic, a horror-themed games showcase from devs in Asia and around the world, is still accepting submissions, and will close on July 5. More information here.
The Steam Summer Sale is on, and many SE Asian titles are on sale, including DADOO (Algorocks), the Simulacra Trilogy (Kaigan Games, Neon Doctrine), Saber Survivors (Reima Project, Toge Productions), Pamali Universe (Storytale), and more.
Vietnam Game Connect 2025 is taking place July 16, bringing together the Vietnamese and international games community to explore games, services, network, and learn everything from UA, monetization, publishing, and more. Find out about the event here.
PGDX - the Philippines Game Dev Expo is back this July 25 - 27 at the SMX Convention Center in Manila. Expect a games showcase, community gatherings, workshops and more! Learn more here.
Indonesia Games Week is coming August 6 - 10 - from game jams, to job fairs, seminars, and more. For more information, follow IGW on IG for updates.
Singapore Games Association and IMDA recently launched the SG Publisher-Developer Connect event, bringing together 8 international and regional publishers to meet with 16 Singapore game studios. Its the first event of its kind, and the organizers hope to be able to connect more studios to more opportunities in the near-future.
Features
Days with Ollie (PT Global Digital Artha), an Indonesia-made game for Hololive Indonesia was recently featured in a write-up by Tombol Start (Indonesian language).
Acts of Blood (Eskil Team), which was featured in Summer Games Fest recently, was covered in a write-up by Polygon.
The Kampung Nerd recently covered some SE Asia-made indie games on his YouTube channel as part of the recent Steam Next Fest.
Richmond Lee, a game maker with Bit Egg Inc. (currently making Lost and Found Co.) recently conducted an in-depth interview with Katsumi Ueda, producer of the documentary series Manban Neo, hosted by Naoki Urasawa (famed manga artist) on how manga is made.
Features of the month
Help Submit Games for Palestine Charity Relief (by SEA Games for Good)
SEA Games for Good, in partnership with UNRWA USA, is launching an Itch.io charity bundle on August 5 with 100% of the proceeds going to Palestine relief aid.
We are currently accepting games and content submissions via the Itch submissions page here https://itch.io/jam/games-for-palestine-2025 until July 13. If you are a game dev or creator with games, art, zines, tools, music and more on Itch, please consider donating your content to support the charity drive.
More details in the link or on our social accounts @seagamesforgood on X or BSKY.
Cahoots Developer Day wasn’t just an event—it was a celebration of Brunei’s indie game development (by Quixotic Works)
On May 17, 2025, held at the Brunei Innovation Lab, Cahoots is a community-driven movement—a support group for local developers who believe in making games despite limited resources. The event featured a diverse lineup of games, starring Tikus Tales and Ham-Spin by WilkGames, Viator by Arc Games, Donki’s Dream Adventure by Quixotic Works, JARLS by 0thSenseArtz, and Marble Race by SOUL CAT Entertainment. Beyond gaming, there were educational entries featuring a children-focused language game by PandaGeekStudio and an interactive infographic platform from EMSOrigin. Special mention for Erasopepero adding flair with vibrant, game-inspired art prints.
A live Blender-to-Unity workshop gave attendees hands-on insight into 3D workflows, sparking curiosity and deeper interest in development. Thanks to N1S Studios and the Innovation Lab, the event fostered a supportive ecosystem for Bruneian talent. The key takeaway - Brunei’s indie scene is small but thriving, driven by passion, storytelling, and community support.
The question on everyone’s mind is: “When’s the next one?”
Full write-up here.
Growing a Grassroots Game Dev Community (by Game Dev Guild)
The Game Dev Guild, a new Singapore grassroots learning community for aspiring game developers, has officially launched! In collaboration with the National Library Board (NLB) and its LearnX initiative, we're bringing accessible game development education to the public. The NLB, which manages Singapore's libraries and archives, supports diverse learning opportunities, and we're proud to be part of the LearnX community.
Our Guild kicked off by hosting public workshops using the Godot Engine, introducing attendees to programming, game design, and iterative development, helping them build their own playable game mechanics. These workshops are open to all skill levels, welcoming students, hobbyists, and creators eager to enhance their game development skills.
Recently, we held a successful public indie game playtest session at Toa Payoh Public Library on May 18th. This event provided local developers a fantastic platform to showcase their works-in-progress, gather valuable feedback, and connect with players and fellow creators.
The Game Dev Guild will continue to offer free workshops and playtest sessions. Our mission is to inspire and share game development knowledge, making it feel achievable and rewarding for anyone curious. Ultimately, we aim to highlight Singapore’s vibrant indie development scene and champion greater recognition and collaboration within it. We're also keen to connect with other grassroots game development communities in Southeast Asia!
Follow our journey and find the full write-up here.
Please help share the newsletter: If you found the content in this issue valuable, please help share the newsletter to more folks in the SEA game dev community (and beyond).
We’re always on the lookout for contributions to the Features of the Month section. Apply here.
The SEA Game Dev Collective (and Digest Editorial team) are: