LEVEL UP KL had a press conference today, talking about the virtual-only nature of this year’s event. The press conference was chaired by Mohan Low, Head of Interactive Media at Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). It was also joined by Wan Hazmer of Metronomik, Stefan Baier from Streamline Studios and Kong Foong Ching from Aeon Spark.

“Level Up started in 2015, with about 300-odd people, and the show has grown year-on-year,” Mohan says. “Last year we had 1700 business delegates, as well as 17000 attendees for our first consumer event. I think we had a pretty good turnout from last year”.

“LevelUp has always been continuously growing and changing, and this year is no different”, he continues. “We continue to bite off more than we can chew”, he says with a smile.

Mohan welcomed the digital-only format this year. According to him, it “didn’t have to follow the rules of a traditional event”. This allowed LEVEL UP KL to space out its programming, turning it into a two-month event.

He also said that despite the advantages, there were no plans to keep LEVEL UP KL as an online-only event. Rather, once it was safe, he would be open to the idea of a hybrid event incorporating both physical and online components.

He says he would ideally want the energy and excitement that comes from a physical event, but also the convenience of a spread-out event you get with online ones.

During the press conference, they highlighted many of the events of the upcoming LEVEL UP KL 2020, the virtual iteration of the gaming conference.

The rest of the panel chimed in too, with updates on what they’ve been working on and what they’ve accomplished through industry events like LEVEL UP.

Key Industry Figures

Stefan Baier, for example, discussed Streamline Studios’ Bake N Switch. He covered two new content updates for the game, one of which was based on community feedback. The update in question is the Bun Solo update, which adds a single-player campaign to the game.

Meanwhile, Kong Foong Ching discussed Aeon Spark’s upcoming title 2 Soup. He talked about the game being something they’d always wanted to make. He also discussed Race Room Mobile, a mobile racing game featuring licensed cars.

Kong says they needed “Simple gameplay” to get as many people interested to try their upcoming game. He also confirmed that both these titles would be available at LEVEL UP KL.

Similarly, Metronomik’s Wan Hazmer also reflected back on the growth of the Malaysian gaming industry. He talked about the success of No Straight Roads, saying it “Made Malaysia louder in the eyes of the International fans”.

He also discussed the “touch of humanity” concept he worked into making No Straight Roads, where he wanted everyone involved to share real pieces of their identity, such as characters speaking with a Malaysian accent.