Joining us now live in the studio is Ben Joseph Banta.
He's the CEO and Studio Head of Ranida Games.
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He's the CEO and Studio Head of Ranida Games.
Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/
Follow our social media pages:
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NewsTranscript
00:00 The popularity of mobile gaming is skyrocketing everywhere in the world, which is why game
00:04 developers are continuously finding ways and learning new tactics to appeal to the gaming
00:09 public.
00:10 Ranida Games is a Filipino game developer maximizing the platforms available to improve
00:15 their business.
00:16 Last year, its members participated in an intensive 10-week Google Play Indie Games
00:21 Accelerator or IGA program in Singapore, and they were the sole representatives from the
00:27 Philippines.
00:28 Joining us now live in the studio is Ben Joseph Banta.
00:31 He's the CEO and studio head of Ranida Games.
00:33 Good morning, Ben.
00:34 Good morning.
00:35 Thanks for having me.
00:36 It's so exciting, Ben.
00:37 You know, it's such a, it must be such a feather in your cap to be part of this.
00:41 Yes, it is very exciting.
00:44 With the thing is when we were invited in IGA, because 30 countries, 30 studios from
00:51 all over the world chose us.
00:54 And being a part of this, we are very blessed and lucky.
00:57 It's like a cream of the crop.
00:58 You guys really sort of made a good case for yourselves.
01:03 Why do you think it is that you guys were selected?
01:06 Maybe because of the game that we have presented.
01:09 The game, Beta Fighters is the game that we presented to IGA.
01:14 And it has, actually, Beta Fighters is like a new game that, because we are targeting
01:21 the fighting game community.
01:23 And it's on mobile.
01:24 So there is nothing like it.
01:26 And when it comes to controls, and I think they saw something, some potential in the
01:31 game that we have provided.
01:33 That's why we are accepted.
01:35 Well, yeah, you have to sort of stand out and present something fresh, something new,
01:38 something that will really catch their eye.
01:41 So before joining the program, it wasn't the rosy scene that we might imagine.
01:48 There were hurdles and challenges.
01:49 It's a bit difficult to get things going.
01:52 What were some of the challenges that you guys had to face?
01:54 Let me give you a short story about our studio.
01:58 I'm not a game developer when I started.
02:01 I'm a software engineer.
02:02 I do websites.
02:03 So during that time, I was playing a web game.
02:08 And I kind of, I was a bit confused because I don't have a sequel.
02:12 And then so I decided to create one myself.
02:15 So I published the game on, I created my own website and I published the game there.
02:20 And I was approached by a US-based website that offers publishing as well.
02:30 So they said that, "Hey, Ben, we would like to publish your game."
02:34 And then I accepted.
02:37 And it was actually the entry point for me in the game industry.
02:42 So, and then from that one game, the game is entitled Sniper Assassin, and from that
02:47 one game, I was able to create more web games.
02:52 And then, and from there, I was able to set up a studio called Gonzo Games before.
02:58 It was around 2011.
03:01 And then when it closed down because of the shift from web games to free to play on mobile.
03:10 And so we started Ready to Games way back 2015 from there.
03:15 So what I'm trying to say is that I started from scratch.
03:19 So I don't have any training.
03:21 But as early as then, your talent and your vision was sort of recognized by people and
03:25 it sort of helped pave the way for where you guys are now with Ready to Games.
03:31 And it's pretty exciting that Vita Fighters obviously is what's really got you guys noticed.
03:36 What's Vita Fighters all about?
03:37 Vita Fighters is a 1v1 fighting game that is designed for mobile.
03:43 So it's really hard to play fighting games on mobile, to be honest, if you wanted to
03:48 do combos and different technical moves.
03:51 But with Vita Fighters, we were able to pull off a way to control the game on your mobile
03:58 device.
03:59 And we also provided a way for the players to control the game by hooking their Bluetooth
04:03 controllers to the game.
04:05 And they can also do that and play versus each other.
04:08 So we were able to pull that off.
04:11 And that's the game that we presented in IGA.
04:12 Awesome.
04:13 Okay, so you're not just coming up with game concepts, you're coming up with new ways to
04:18 play the games, to use the hardware that we already have and really just sort of engage
04:22 the gaming community.
04:24 What is your advice to aspiring game developers out there?
04:27 I'm sure everybody is sort of looking at your success and thinking, "Maybe I can do something
04:31 similar."
04:33 What's your final word of advice?
04:35 For aspiring game developers, I would like them to build their portfolio early on.
04:43 Make sure that they have a portfolio, whether it's music, whether it's art, whether it's
04:49 programming, build their portfolio.
04:50 It's very important.
04:52 And of course, attend conferences.
04:55 And we have conferences.
04:57 We have PGDX coming this August.
05:00 It's a very important event for game developers.
05:02 And I would like to invite all of them to go there.
05:07 We'll be there as well.
05:09 And also, join groups.
05:14 There are a lot of groups right now.
05:16 And we have IGG, Indie Games Group, that is backed by Google.
05:22 And if they join there, there's a lot of other developers that are in there.
05:28 So network, expose yourself, and really just sort of try and immerse yourself in the scene.
05:34 Considering how technology is developing in leaps and bounds, who knows what tomorrow
05:39 may bring.
05:40 It's a very, very exciting field.
05:41 And congratulations to you, Ben, and to your group for your success.
05:44 Maraming salamat.
05:45 Thank you for joining us again.
05:46 That was Ben Banta joining us here on New Day.
05:48 Salamat.