Video games in Bangladesh

Video gaming was introduced in the country through arcade gaming through a significant growth during the late 1990s because of the availability of personal computers at lower prices. However, local video game development only started in the early 2000s.[2] Dhaka Racing, a racing game set on the streets of Dhaka, is the first 3D game to be developed in the country.[3] The game was designed by two undergraduate students of computer science and was published independently by eSophers in 2002.[3][4] Getting a positive response from gamers across the country, the game eventually paved the way for the local video game development sector. A year later, inspired by the success of Dhaka Racing, a group of computer science students from Chittagong developed Chittagong Racing.[5]

In 2004, a first-person shooter (FPS) game titled Arunodoyer Agnishikha, based on the events of the Bangladesh Liberation War, was developed by Trimatrik Interactive. Being the first Bangladeshi game of its genre, it received widespread acclaim and started a new chapter of video game development in the country.[6] In 2012, a group of students from BRAC University developed Aerial Multi-Player Dogfight, which they claimed was the first massively multi-player online (MMO) game for PCs in the world that responds to body movements and voice command.[7]

On 16 December 2012, the first professional game development team after 2004 was formed: Team 71. They started their journey by announcing a first-person shooter game named Liberation 71, based on the Bangladesh Liberation War and inspired by the Arunodoyer Agnishikha. Liberation 71 will contain the actual history and events of the war. The game is a big project using the Unreal 4 game engine, so it is still under development. Team 71 has been called the "pioneer of the computer game development" era of Bangladesh after 2010.

In 2014, Hatirjheel: Dream Begins, an open-world action-adventure game, was developed and published by MassiveStar Studio. It was the first commercially published video game in Bangladesh.[8]

In 2015, The Reels: Welcome to Bangladesh, a story-based linear racing game that allows the player to drive through Dhaka to Chittagong, was being developed by another development team called LAI MASSIVE. The developers were very young and few in numbers, but made a game of next-generation quality. They also made other games like The Division Sa World at War, The Run, and Night Time Bed. In June 2016, Dream World Studio released a third-person shooter game titled Durjoy.[9] A first-person shooter called Hound6: The Escape is being developed by the team as a sequel to Hound6: Strike,[10] which was also released in 2016.

In 2015, Bangladeshi game developer The Mascoteers hit the top chart with its game 360 Degree. The game was downloaded more than a million times on the Google Play Store and App Store.[11][12]

In 2016, Swiperoo and Dropple by The Mascoteers were also downloaded more than a million times on the Play Store and App Store. Many of The Mascoteers' games, including MineBoom, Drumheads, JetFly, Boo Wee, Pogo Jump, Carpenter, Nail It, Mad Head, and Smatch were featured in iTunes' "New Games We Love" section.[13]

On 25 December 2015, a game called Heroes of 71, based on the Bangladesh Liberation War, was released by Mindfisher Games. Later, on 25 March 2016 a sequel titled Heroes of 71: Retaliation was released. They were downloaded more than 1 million times on the Play Store. On 15 December 2017, a third installment in the series, titled Mukti Camp, was released.[14]

• Nadan Studio : The company was founded by Zonayed Ahmed and Sadman Sakin in 2020 . They are developing "Oscillate" first stylized multiplayer racing game in Bangladesh, which will be released on steam on 22th February, 2021 . They work on game development, computer-generated animation and game assets . "You play game, we plant trees" is their official slogan.
• The Mascoteers are a game developer known for the worldwide arcade games 360 Degree, Swiperoo, Dropple and many more. It a pioneer of Apple Watch games, Apple TV games and VR Gear games in Bangladesh.[15]
• Rise Up Labs (RUL) is a successful mobile game developer that created the worldwide famous mobile game Tap Tap Ants. It also created some other Android and iOS games, such as Rooftop Frenzy and Highway Chase.
• Massive Star Studio (MSS) is the developer of Hatirjheel: Dream Begins, the first open-world racing game of Bangladesh.
• Dream World Studio (DWS) is a team of young developers based in Bangladesh. The Hound6 series, Durjoy, and Crimact are some of its creations. It is currently working on a police-themed 2D open-world action role-playing game titled Cop Duty. They have plans to develop visual novels in the future.
• 143Play.com is a video game and entertainment company that works with popular card games and MMORPGs along with augmented reality. It also provides gamification aspects in various domains.[16]
• GHOST Interactive is currently working on WAR71 and IGI: GHOST Fighter (Project IGI-3).
• Mindfisher Games, Inc. developed the Heroes of 71 series and Lost Ronin.[17]
• Alpha Potato was founded by the developers at Mindfisher Games after the latter stacked with the shortage of money; They closed the studio and some of the developers shifted into another company, with those who remained founding Alpha Potato. Its first two games, I Peel Good and Icing on the Cake, standed at the top chart of the App Store.
• Some of the developers who left Mindfisher founded Ulka Game Studio.
• Durdanto Studio, founded by Bony Yousuf, developed Almost There: The Platformer and Guerilla for Android.
• Hamba Studio's games have been downloaded more than 10 million times on Google Play. It developed Pick Me Up!, Tumble Ranger, Flappy Fire and Spill It.
• M7 Production developed a tactical FOS game that is currently in early access on Steam.[18] Meheraj Maruf is the company's chief executive officer (CEO). It is currently developing Agontuk, the first-ever open-world game of Bangladesh.
• Huddloper Productions, founded by some teenagers studying in Dhaka Residential Model College in Class 7. Md. Jahin Hossain is the CEO. They're working on Country Recalls, a first person shooter title based on the Bangladesh Military.
• Firefly Studio, founded by Monirul Islam Sumon, is developing 2170, an AAA science fiction-themed game. It has been said to feature high-quality graphics backed by a strong plot. The game is being developed by him alone.
• Crisis Entertainment Ltd., co-founded by Siam Hasan Udoy, developed Dream Runner, an endless runner game for Android. They are working on a project titled Annihilation, a sci-fi fantasy AAA multiplayer FPS game. Before this, they developed a racing game, but it was never released due to some problems. Annihilation was set to be released in Summer 2020.
• ShadoWhite Animators developed FFF: Fight for Freedom, with another game under development.
• Fahad Akash developed Ball Break and Dark Tunnel.
• Ran Technology (Rantech),[19] founded by Nafis Rejowan, is developing Project Judgement[20] with the sponsorship of Crisis Entertainment. Before it, it worked on The Last Blood, which is paused now; they said they will continue working on it soon.
• Games 4 Life founded by Redwan Ahmed Reyadh

The following is a list of some of the games developed in Bangladesh.

• Sobjanta[21] - The first real-time online quiz competition game.
• 360 Degree[22]
• Volkan[23] - The first VR Gear game in the history of Bangladesh; available on the Samsung Oculus Store
• Dropple[24]
• Swiperoo[25]
• Games by The Mascoteers[26]
• Hatirjheel: Dream Begins
• Tap Tap Ants[27]
• The Division Dhaka
• Tap Tap Ants: Battlefield
• Dark Tunnel - The country's first horror game
• 29 Card Game[28]
• Rooftop Freenzy
• Hound6: Strike[10]
• Stickman Crossfire[29]
• Crimact[30]
• RUN N RUN (unreleased)
• WAR71
• Planet RED
• GHOST Fighter
• Heroes of 71
• Heroes of 71: Retaliation
• Mukti Camp
• Battle Of 71
• Massive Juddho 71
• Odommo Ekattor
• Almost There: The Platformer
• Battle Rage
• Hodigun
• Detective: The Game
• Fly
• Pick Me Up!
• Unbounded Reborn
• Tumble Ranger
• Flappy Fire
• Spill It
• Dream Runner
• FFF: Fight for Freedom
• Agontuk
• Evolveex (under development)
• Annihilation (under development)
• Country Recalls (under development)
• Zero Hour[31]
• 2170 (under development)
• Oscillate (under development)
• Project Judgement (under development) [32]

Lately, there has been some research and development carried out on video games. In 2014, Microsoft Bangladesh organized a game development workshop called Imagine Cup Bangladesh 2014 - Game Camp for the participants of the games category of the Imagine Cup Bangladesh 2014.[33] It was followed by two other game camps.[34] In the same year, MassiveStar Studio began a project to train 80,000 students as video game developers.[35]

The mobile game industry of Bangladesh is also rising rapidly,[36] and some companies provide world-class games. The Mascoteers are a pioneer of Apple Watch games,[37] TV games,[38] VR Gear games, and many popular arcade games in Bangladesh. They are taking the Bangladeshi video game industry to a new level. Now it s 25 games on the Google Play Store and App Store, along with its games for Apple Watch and TV, and VR Gear powered by Oculus Store. Tap Tap Ants, downloaded 15 million times, is one of the most popular games developed by Rise Up Labs.

Some highly-anticipated games to be released in 2020 are Agontuk and Annihilation. Agontuk will be an open-world game developed by M7 Productions.[39] and Attrito.[40]