Asia 2016Video Coverage

Andy Pichayapa and Reaching Indochina’s Mobile Market | Casual Connect Video

August 18, 2016 — by David Radd

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Asia 2016Video Coverage

Andy Pichayapa and Reaching Indochina’s Mobile Market | Casual Connect Video

August 18, 2016 — by David Radd

'Whatever new platform that comes with convenience has a better chance of success.' - Andy PichayapaClick To Tweet

Join Andy Pichayapa of INi3 Digital and other publishing professionals in a panel from Casual Connect Asia. This panel (called The 20 Billion Dollar Market! Really?) raised a lot of questions on the international side of the mobile games business. One of the big questions was: Who is making money in this market and how? They discussed strategies from a publisher’s perspective as well as what a developer should deliver and be prepared for before searching for a publisher.




Andy Pichayapa is the global BD director of Ini3 Digital
Andy Pichayapa is the global BD director of Ini3 Digital

Andy Pichayapa currently serves as the global BD director of Ini3 Digital. Based in Thailand, the company is a major game publisher in the SEA region. Andy is responsible for game sourcing and acquisition from partners globally.

Andy describes himself as a “hardcore gamer” and that pushed him into this career field. While he got started in other industries, Andy says that his management experience helped get him up to speed in the game industry that much faster. It was the right opportunity at the right time, and Andy wanted to make an impact on the gaming industry.

“As a hardcore gamer, it was always my passion to work in the game industry. Fortunately, Ini3 was looking for a multilingual person for a business development position in order to expand possibilities through language borders,” says Andy. “The most fun part is being able to make a difference and share the fun with our players.”

Importance of Convenience

Andy was very keen to emphasize his own personal love of video games. Still, all the passion in the world isn’t going to ensure success, and Andy is well aware of that.

“The fast-paced, changing mobile market is both a problem and an opportunity,” said Andy. “As a business development person, I need to keep in track of the changes and adapt to survive.”

The Ini3 Digital PLC team
The Ini3 Digital PLC team

The proudest moment for Andy was acquiring an incredibly successful game for the Thai market. He notes that his constant persistence led to success. To that end, Andy looks at trends and isn’t necessarily looking for the most flashy technology, but those that are the easiest to use and suitable for the local behavior.

“Most players are addicted to convenience,” notes Andy. “Whatever new platform that comes with convenience has a better chance of success.”

Passion, Viral Marketing and Gameplay

Andy has loved games for a long time now, and even envisioned himself as a child helping create a successful game. While he isn’t a designer and he sees himself as a very business-like worker, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t take time out to play games on his own. Andy described himself as being “addicted” to Hearthstone right now.




^686237E85AF7C1B5A667B7F6D32736A2FE9B7D1C6476911963^pimgpsh_fullsize_distrMarketing a game is always a challenge, but Andy visualizes it as making forms of communication work for you. Whether it’s partnering with social media or trying to create trends, there’s always some form of viral marketing that can bring attention to a title.

When deciding whether to publish a game, Andy says he looks for many things, but mostly “gameplay, longevity, monetization model, balance, graphics and theme.”

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Good Publishers Maximize Revenue

Andy emphasizes that it’s important for developers and publishers to work towards the same goal. Both parties should be supporting each other. It’s important for developers to vet publishers to make sure that they are successful, have the right attitude, plenty of passion and positive work methods.

“Publishers know the market best, whether a game is suitable, what kind of localization is needed, relationship and resource in the market, accurate marketing strategies, community management,” says Andy. “All in all, good publishers will help developers maximize the revenue.”




 




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David Radd

David Radd

David Radd is a staff writer for GameSauce.biz. David loves playing video games about as much as he enjoys writing about them, martial arts and composing his own novels.

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