- Malaysia now a creative force in animation, game development, interactive storytelling
- Video game will serve as new revenue stream alongside existing streams for Les’ Copaque
Les’ Copaque Production Sdn Bhd and Streamline Studios Sdn Bhd today announced that Upin & Ipin Universe video game, the anticipated open-world adventure game inspired by the globally popular Upin & Ipin TV series, will officially launch on 17 July.
An open world game is defined as a virtual environment where players can freely approach objectives rather than following a linear path. Among the most well-known open world games are Skyrim and the Witcher series (The Witcher series were inspired by the Witcher novels first, and have now been adapted into a TV series running on Prime Video).
“The Upin & Ipin television series has become a premiere show in Indonesia, and has attracted attention from international streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney Channel and Prime Video. Above this, Les’ Copaque Production’s YouTube channel has 24 million subscribers with 13 billion collective views,” said Burhanuddin Radzi, co-founder and managing director of Les’ Copaque Production.
With a 12+ hour narrative campaign, the 3-D game aims to resonate with a global audience while staying true to its local roots.
Alexander Fernandez, CEO of Streamline Media Group said, “Upin & Ipin Universe isn’t just a game; it’s a love letter to the vibrant culture and traditions of Southeast Asia.”
“Since opening our doors in Malaysia in 2010, we’ve helped the local industry grow into a thriving ecosystem. Malaysia is now a creative force in animation, game development, and interactive storytelling. And Upin & Ipin Universe is proof that Malaysian-born stories resonate not just at home, but everywhere.”
Creative digital industry growth
Gobind Singh Deo, Digital Minister, officiating the event said, “The global entertainment and media industry continues to chart remarkable growth, in 2023 the industry’s total value reached US$2.8 trillion (RM11.82 trillion). Malaysia has also witnessed tremendous progress. In 2023 alone, our creative digital industry generated US$1.25 billion (RM5.3 billion) in revenue, with exports of RM800 million. These achievements led to over 10,000 high value job opportunities across the ecosystem.”
According to PwC global entertainment and media outlook 2024, the industry was projected to reach US$3.4 trillion by the year 2028, growing at a 3.9% compound annual growth rate.
[RM1 = US$.0237]
Capitalising on franchise popularity
Throughout its 18 years, the Upin and Ipin franchise has expanded into not just TV and film, but also other revenue streams like merchandise, theme parks, licensing, advertising and marketing.
While Les’ Copaque declined to share their 2024 revenue and the breakdown by revenue streams, Burhanuddin said he recognizes the importance of developing a pragmatic business model in the animation industry with additional revenue streams, which is where Upin & Ipin open world video game comes into the picture.
“At the end of 2022, we felt that the time was right for us to explore the video game business,”
Burhanuddin said. “This video game will serve as our main revenue stream alongside our existing traditional revenue streams. The Upin & Ipin universe marks a new chapter for us, expanding beyond TV, films, merchandise into a global interactive experience.”
Tender specified that development team must be Malaysia-based, and tech transfer must happen
An open tender exercise was conducted to select the right developer. After evaluating all the proposals, Burhanuddin decided to partner with Las Vegas-headquartered Streamline Studios.
It wasn’t the cost that won Streamline Studios the job. “One of the conditions in the contract is that the development team must be based in Malaysia to facilitate communication between our team and Streamline’s,” Burhanuddin added.
Still it was a global effort. Stefan Marcus Baier, head of worldwide studios at Streamline Studios explained, “While the bulk of the core development was led out of our Malaysia studio, teams from Colombia, Japan, and Europe also contributed across publishing, development, quality assurance (QA), marketing, and sales.”
For example, Stefan explained that having QA coverage across time zones can help maintain a rigorous testing cycle — which is especially valuable for a complex open-world title like this.
Over 100 people were involved in the two year development of the game, consisting of creative teams, designers, modelers, animators, programmers etc.
The hard work paid off. While the game was initially intended to be developed for PS4 and Nintendo Switch platforms, something unexpected happened.
“The game impressed the management of Streamline, prompting them to propose a joint venture for global marketing and suggested that the game’s porting (a technical term that allows a game to be adapted to a different platform than the one it was initially developed for) be upgraded to PS5. We enthusiastically accepted the offer, recognizing that we lack the expertise and networking necessary to effectively promote the game at global scale,” Burhanuddin said.
Hands-on learning from a triple-A studio
During the game’s development, there was a keen emphasis on technology and knowledge transfer, which was a key component in the project, so that Les’ Copaque’s human capital could fully benefit from the collaboration with Streamline Studios which produces Triple-A quality games.
As part of the joint development process, Les’ Copaque was introduced to several industry-standard tools and workflows adopted by Streamline, particularly within the context of AAA game development. These included:
• Hands-on exposure to Unreal Engine 5, exploring its capabilities for real-time, interactive content creation.
• Introduction to interactive storytelling approaches, which differ significantly from traditional animated series—used here as a tool to deepen player immersion and engagement.
• Exposure to production workflows unique to the gaming industry, especially in managing cross-border collaboration, which contrasts with conventional animation pipelines.
• Familiarisation with AAA development practices, such as integrating regular playtesting during production to improve game quality and player experience.
The game’s development began in early 2023, with the gameplay concept developed internally via Les Opaque, while the Streamline handled the overall game design.
By June 2024, the prototype was ready for testing, to which after rigorous evaluation by Les’ Copaque team, it was submitted to Streamline Media Group by Oct 2024.
Neither company declined to disclose the revenue share between them and Stefan also declined to share the expected impact on revenue Streamline Studios expects this game will have.
The game will be available for PC on Steam and Epic Game Store, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Nintendo Switch at the price of US$39.99 (RM168.76).
Philip Elijah contributed to the story.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
