NEWS
NEWS

August 13, 2021

Andreas Betsche

Virtual SEA Weekly News Update # 4

August 13, 2021 | Andreas Betsche

This week was again packed with good news for fans of Southeast Asian games! Among other things, we learn about the best games from Indonesia and see a lot of new video material on upcoming games. There are also release announcements and console ports and an event of national importance from Singapore. As you can see, there is a lot to discover, so read on quickly!

Game Prime Asia Awards Best Indonesian Games

After the best games from Thailand were chosen last week, it’s now Indonesia’s turn. Under the label Baparekraf Game Prime 2021, industry representatives awarded the best Indonesian games. There were few surprises, but the selection impressively shows how many top indie games come from the Southeast Asian archipelago. Here is an overview of the winners:

Best Narrative: Coffee Talk

Best Game Audio: Rising Hell 

Best Game Mobile: Code Atma 

Most Anticipated Game: Coral Island 

Best Visual Art: Escape From Naraka

Best Start: New Comer Award: Gamecom Team

Best PC / Console Game: Coffee Talk

In addition to games, individual people were also honoured. The award for the most important personality in the Indonesian industry went to Kris Antoni, founder of the flagship indie studio Toge Productions, and the best e-sports athlete is professional Dota 2 player Kenny “Xepher” Deo.

New Trailers for Airship Academy, Biwar Legend of Dragon Slayer, and Grammarian LTD

Lots of new video material and especially gameplay, is currently available on YouTube. Three new trailers for Southeast Asian games were published recently, including a teaser with in-game scenes from the fantasy aircraft simulator Airship Academy, an alpha trailer for the 3D action-adventure Biwar Legend of Dragon Slayer, and the announcement of the grammar puzzler Grammarian LTD by Algo Rocks, the makers of Startup Panic. Airship Academy and Biwar Legend of Dragon Slayer can be wishlisted on Steam already.

The Magister Release Dates Confirmed

We have received the information from publisher Digerati that The Magister will be released as early as the beginning of September. The release date for the PC and Switch versions is September 2, 2021, the version for Xbox consoles will appear one day later. The Magister, by Malaysian developer Nerdook, is a mixture of murder mystery adventure and deck builder, in which we solve randomly generated murder cases and fight tactical battles.

Console Ports for Doctor Who and Love Esquire

Console enthusiasts will also get their money’s worth this week, as the ports of the TV series adaptation Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins and the humorous dating VN Love Esquire were released on August 12th. Those who have not yet played the PC or mobile games can now do so for Doctor Who on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox. Love Esquire is making handheld fans happy on the Switch. As always, you can find the store links in our release overview.

National Day Parade 2021 Virtual Event

Last but not least, a curiosity that shows that game development in Southeast Asia can be deeply linked to local pride and nationality. As part of the Singaporean national holiday, the developer Finute “broadcasted” the National Day Parade 2021 live as a digital counterpart in their game Vanda Bay, a kind of virtual implementation of a district of Singapore in a mobile game. If you missed the event, you can still re-watch the parade’s live stream on YouTube.

New Releases

You can look up which games from Southeast Asia were released this month in our handy release overview.


Andreas Betsche

Andreas Betsche founded Virtual SEA in early 2016 after researching Cambodian mobile games for his Master’s thesis. He has a background in Southeast Asia studies and has worked and lived in Cambodia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Since he has been actively playing games since the early 90s, combing both worlds in Virtual SEA brought together both of his passions.

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