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Hashstash Studio on its aspirations for the Indian mobile game market

Plenty of potential

Hashstash Studio on its aspirations for the Indian mobile game market

In the lead up to Pocket Gamer Connects Bangalore 2015, we're catching up with the top developers from the region to discuss their views on the Indian market, Reliance Game's GameHack initiative. and the developers who inspire them.

This week, we're talking to Kinshuk Sunil of Hashtash Studios.

Pocket Gamer: Are you excited about the GameHack opportunity? Do you fancy your chances?

Kinshuk Sunil: I am very excited about GameHack, PG Connects and the Big Indie Pitch. They are very welcome to the Indian ecosystem.

Getting the word out to the world about the work being done in India has been very troublesome and cost prohibitive until now. I think GameHack can really help deserving games in this regard. There is a lot of good work being done in India.

We expect the Game Hack to be a good competition and yes, we fancy our chances. We have a couple of games - including our cricket game - in progress that can have a huge impact in their spaces. 

How do you think Indian mobile games compare to the best from the west (and east) currently?

I think India stands pretty much nowhere. One reason would be the polish and design of the games we have made so far. Another would be the reach and visibility our games have.

Even the good games we have made have failed to have a wide reach globally. So, yes, there is a lot that needs to be done in this regard.

What is the potential for the Indian mobile games market and Indian developers?

The potential is unlimited. We need to rise up to the challenge of reaching it. We need to up our game as far as polish and production is concerned. We need to rise up to the challenge of monetisation, reach and visibility.

Studios that are focusing on the right stuff and executing it well, will find themselves in very favorable positions soon.

What are your own aspirations in terms of your company and games?

From the very beginning, two things have been very clear to us: make the games we want to play, and always bring something new to the table. We have successfully managed to do that with our past games. We have two upcoming games, where we are pulling off the two things again.

Let's hope they do us some financial gains too. In the future we want to work on games that provide rich experience and engagement to players, something that the players can't keep down.

Our journey is very iterative. We keep getting better with every game and build up on it.

What one thing could have the most impact on the market?

I don’t see any single thing would have any major effect. It will always be a combination of things.

Monetisation, for example, is the biggest pain. Users being more open to pay for content, operator billing, and integrated advertising are a few things that can have a positive impact.

What current games and developers inspire you?

Some of the games that inspire me right now are Prison Architect (it is hopefully coming to mobiles), Final Freeway 2R, New Star Soccer, Crossy Road, Alone, Meter Maid City, Robots Need Love Too, and Shattered Planet.

In term of developers, I'm inspired by

Yellow Monkey Studios, Simogo, Hipster Whale, Martin Jonasson, Jeppe Carslon, Alex Neuse and Gaijin Games, Jon Blow, Anders Gustaffson, Terry Cavanagh, Kentucky Route Zero, Stanley Parable - seriously this list is endless.

Thanks to Kinshuk for his time.

The GameHack initiative is live now for Indian developers to register at www.game-hack.in

It will be visiting Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai over the coming weeks.

Pocket Gamer Connects Bangalore focusing on the Indian and southeast Asian ecosystems, how Indian developers can make it in the west, as well as all the usual PGC goodness

The Pocket Gamer Connects Bangalore website is open now for speaker submissions and advance ticket sales.


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A footy game fanatic and experienced editor of numerous computing and game titles, lively Chris is up for anything - including running Steel Media! (Madman!)