New Games from Malaysia in 2021
It’s that time of the year again—no, not the holiday season. It’s time to take a look at upcoming games from Malaysia, some of which we’ll hopefully see in 2021. Some are already playable in Early Access with a possible full release next year, while others don’t have a set release date yet.
Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins
We’ll start the list with a well-known franchise and one of the most frightening collaborations I can imagine. Developed by none other than Kaigan Games – the studio that has made a name for itself with the found-phone-horror game Simulacra and its sequels – Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins seems to follow much of the same formula, with the creepy addition of weeping angels to be terrified of. This promises a game to look forward to for fans of Doctor Who and horror alike.
Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins is set to be released in spring 2021 and will be available on the App Store, Google Play, Steam and the Nintendo Switch. I’d say the waiting time will be over in the blink of an eye, but – don’t blink.
Endura
Next up is Endura, the ambitious debut game by IFiO Studio. This action-adventure focuses on speedy and fluid gameplay. Players slip into the role of a so-called Endura, tasked to deliver seeds in a dying world. How exactly the ‘action delivery’-system the game promises will play out remains to be seen, but Endura already has a distinct look and a story hinting at the vast world waiting to be explored.
So far, there’s no set date for either of the upcoming releases on Steam and the Nintendo Switch, but the devs seem hard at work and give development updates whenever they can.
GigaBash
For those of us who’ve always wanted to battle it out with our friends in local multiplayer matches, while slipping into the role of giant monsters, GigaBash by Passion Republic Games might be the game to fulfill your heart’s desire. One look at the recently released trailer for Gigaman, the latest hero to join the character roster, already reveals a deep passion for classic Kaiju films as well as the Sentai brand of superheroes.
The game is being developed for both PC and PS4 and scheduled for release in early 2021. Until then, we must suppress our giant-monster-urges to rampage through the city.
Go Gold Castle
Your collection of multiplayer games to have fun and/or end friendships with still isn’t big enough? Then Go Gold Castle could be another addition. Developed by Lusolab Entertainment, this upcoming game features charming pixel art and a whole bunch of intriguing-looking characters. Each of them comes with unique abilities to help you steal precious coins from other players.
The game is scheduled for its Steam release just in time for next year’s Halloween, on the 31st of October.
Hexlords: Quantum Warfare
Our next entry is Hexlords: Quantum Warfare by Tantanmen Games and Aeonsparx Interactive, a strategy game currently in Early Access for iOS and Android devices. Set in a world once united and now split apart into four distinct factions, the gameplay focuses on real-time PvP battles and various strategic elements like base- and resource-management and tower defence.
There’s no exact date for the full release yet, but the game has been in Early Access since 2018. Development seems to have continued since then, so perhaps we’ll see the full release in 2021.
Postknight 2
We’ve featured one of Kurechii‘s games before, but you might know the studio best for Postknight, which has been released for iOS and Android in 2017 and was a great success. Players all over the world enjoyed the cute graphics and the bite-sized RPG gameplay. And with its upcoming sequel Postknight 2, the developers are aiming to expand and improve the experience further.
While the intended release for late 2020 no longer seems feasible for Postknight 2, the game is currently in its alpha testing period. With the devs so tirelessly working on it, we’ll surely see the result of their efforts in 2021.
RaceRoom Mobile
The second entry from Aeonsparx Interactive in this list, RaceRoom Mobile is an upcoming racing game for mobile devices that challenges player reaction times with timing-based controls and tracks requiring active memorisation.
Players can currently sign up as beta testers for the game on Aeonsparx’ homepage, so we’ll likely see the game officially released some time next year.
Rhythm Doctor
As the name suggests, Rhythm Doctor by 7th Beat Games is all about rhythm. More specifically, the heartbeat of your patients! Players will need excellent timing to match their defibrillation attempts to each 7th heartbeat—and to make matters worse, the beat is unique to each patient. Packed with a funky and immediately charming soundtrack, Rhythm Doctor doesn’t merely want to challenge players, but aims to teach some rhythm theory along the way.
After some interruptions in the development, the game is now finally set to release on Steam next February.
Rokudo
Another entry for our pixel art line-up, Rokudo by Heaven Tales Entertainment is an exploration-adventure, set in a colourful variation of the Japanese afterlife. It follows the story of Minori, a young hermit on a quest to find his lost dog. The game introduces players to the various Buddhist realms of existence and plenty of curios characters and creatures.
There is no release date yet, but players can test the game in its alpha stage on itch.io.
The Lonely Hearts Petshop
Last year’s list featured the then-upcoming title Fires at Midnight from Persona Theory Games. The studio is now working on a new project, The Lonely Hearts Petshop. While this title might make you think of a quaint little shop where you have to find the right pet for human customers, this visual novel is quite the opposite. Here, we get to match talking cats with their pet humans. In a way, that’s quite realistic, as every cat owner would know.
This project seems to be in early development, so there’s no release date yet. But, since Fires at Midnight was released on Steam and itch.io, we can venture a guess that The Lonely Hearts Petshop will come to the same platforms.
The Magister
There hasn’t been enough murder in this list, so it’s time to change that. The Magister by one-man studio Nerdook Productions is all about murders and mysteries, and one magister sent to solve them all. In this deckbuilding game, players have to carefully choose their cards, for strategic use in battle encounters or tactical diplomacy, if they want any hope of solving the randomly generated murder cases.
The original released date has been pushed back and we can now expect the game in early 2021. In return, it will not only be released on Steam but for the Nintendo Switch as well, along with additional features and improvements.
The Plight
There can’t ever be enough horror games to terrify us, and The Plight by Cellar Vault Games aims to do just that. We follow Wu, the young caregiver of an old, catatonic woman, to her home, where a tragedy had taken place decades ago. Through object puzzles and careful interactions with the environment, players will slowly uncover the truth about the past.
While there is no release date yet, ‘The Plight’ will move into Early Access on Steam soon.
Zombie Soup
Zombie Soup is the third and last entry from Aeonsparx Interactive, and you might remember it from our list last year. And while we had hoped to see this neon-drenched action shooter released in 2020, delays are often a good thing. In this case, Zombie Soup has recently been awarded an Epic MegaGrant, which should boost the development significantly.
The release date on Steam has now been pushed back to 2021, but with the additional funding, the game will likely turn out all the better and will be worth the wait.
What Else?
There are many more games we couldn’t cover this time. There’s Combat Wombats, with its match-3 mechanic used for heated live PvP battles. We have Eximius: Seize the Frontline, a team-based FPS getting to end its Early Access phase. Re:Legend—a cute farming sim with RPG elements, that is already available for Early Access as well. DeLight: The Journey Home lets players experience the story of a blind girl during wartime and has recently been released on Steam. We hope for more episodes coming out next year. The student project P.U.D.U (Project Unifying Dead Underworld) inspired by the real Pudu jail, will take players on a sci-fi horror trip in VR. Nukem Warhead is a side-scrolling action game, taking heavy cues from games like Doom and Quake. And of course, there is Monsoon Merchants, a project we’ve already featured last year and are still looking forward to.
And if all this goes to show anything, then that we’ll get to see even more great and interesting games by Malaysian devs in the future.
To get another glimpse of what we await for 2021 from Southeast Asia, have a look at our lists for Cambodia/Myanmar/Brunei, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Enjoy!
Which game are you expecting the most for 2021? Have we forgotten a highlight? Let us know in the comments!
