BAGFest 2026: Sarawak should build its own gaming ecosystem, not copy KL, says Hasnul Hadi of PlayStation Studios Malaysia
- ID
- 17107
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 23 Aug 2026, 9:34 PM
- Fetched
- 24 Aug 2026, 1:24 AM
- Provider
- Digital News Asia
- Category
- malaysia-tech
- Original URL
- https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/digital-economy/bagfest-2026-sarawak-should-build-its-own-gaming-ecosystem-not-copy-kl-says-hasnul
- Source URL
- https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/rss.xml
Summary
- Score
- 4.5
- Created
- 24 Aug 2026, 1:24 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- developerssaas_founders
What happened
At BAGFest 2026, Hasnul Hadi Samsudin (Head of PlayStation Studios Malaysia) advised Sarawak to build its own gaming ecosystem rooted in Borneo culture—citing the Borneo Cultures Museum as a potential creative anchor—rather than replicating Kuala Lumpur's model. Panelists from MDEC, Virtuos Games Malaysia, and Larian Studios Malaysia noted Malaysian visual arts talent is world-class but programming remains a weak area, and that talent flourishes when given opportunity and the right environment.
Why it matters
For Malaysian founders or developers considering gaming/creative-tech ventures, the concrete signal is a talent gap in programming and a first-mover opportunity outside KL—specifically in Sarawak, where MDEC and state government are actively pushing ecosystem development. If you're hiring game programmers or building IP around regional culture, this panel flags where the supply-demand mismatch and policy support currently sit.
Discussion angle
Is the programming talent gap a real bottleneck for Malaysian game studios, or a training pipeline problem—and does Sarawak's culture-first approach actually attract the technical talent it needs to ship globally competitive games?