India's Leading Game Exchange Company to Watch

VOL-10

ISSUE-02

2020

www.insightssuccess.in

INDIA'S LEADING

EXCHANGE

TO WATCH

FOUNDER GAMEAHOLIC

COMPANY

Sagar Sadhwani

I

THE HAND-HELD GAMING ZONES

n the 1990s video game parlours were a rage in India, with at least one in every street of tier 1 and tier 2 cities. Summer vacations were a particularly busy time for these parlours. What more, they even offered the consoles on rent so that enthusiastic kids could enjoy them at their home with characters like Mario, Contra and more.

Times changed, and people could now afford gaming consoles on their own. Play stations offered a wide spectrum of games and tapped into the frenzy around games. However, mass acceptance was still a long way to go. Most of these play stations and gadgets for gaming catered to a niche market and the potential lay much beyond it as well.

Enter the humble mobile phone, followed by smartphones of all sizes and makes. The gaming market saw a new way to reach every hand. Very soon, game developers were busy delivering games that could cater to a huge clientele and interest both

From the kids and adults alike. Smartphones became the latest gaming consoles with pre-loaded and downloaded games.

The last decade saw these mobile games go up a notch and introduce Augmented Reality based games.

As a result, many saw youngsters out of the streets chasing virtual characters that would pop up on their screens anytime, anywhere. However, many termed the move pre-mature due to the damaging incidents that happened while people were engrossed in these games. However, this did open a new opportunity for the gaming industry.

The start of this year, especially the second quarter, saw a huge rise in popularity of games, both mobile and otherwise, owing to the pandemic and the resulting lockdown that was imposed across the globe.

And the things with games is that once you are hooked to them, it is not that easy to give them up. So, the gaming industry is currently looking smug, happy and is anticipating revenues that it has been waiting for.

In this edition of Insights Success, we present “India's Leading Game Exchange Company to Watch�.

These creative companies are trying to tap into the potential that mobile gaming has to offer, one popular game at a time.

On the Cover we have Gameaholic, the fastest, easiest way to exchange your PS4 games in India,

EDITOR giving you affordable access to the widest selection of the latest games.

The edition also features Shott Amusement LLP, the urban family entertainment game zone where players can enjoy their every moment with fun games and great food; Westvindh, a mobile game company, focusing on casual games for India; and ZVKY Design Studio, a leading game art outsourcing studio in Asia with a decade of experience in providing 2D art and animation, 3D game art, development services, and integration solutions across all platforms.

We would also like to applaud the contributions of Ommzi, Esferasoft Solutions Pvt. Ltd, DevDen Creative Solutions Pvt Ltd, iMobiGames to the industry.

Do go through the articles curated by industry experts and our in-house editors.

Stay Home! Stay Safe! Play a Game!

Sneha Sinha Sneha Sinha

sneha@insightssuccess.com

Contents GAMEAH

10

An Exclusive Game Exchange Platform By The Gamers, For The Gamers

COVER STORY CXO

30 26 Gamifying the Remote Workplace Westvindh Adorning People’s Life via Video Games

Interview With Insights Success

How you can drive teams to be more productive and collaborative in a post-COVID world with gamification

HOLIC 20

Shott Amusement LLP Your Favorite Destination for all things Fun

24

ZvkyDesign Asia’s leading Game Art, Design and Mobile App Development Studio

ARTICLES 18

Trend Setters

32

Playing to Learn

Trends of the Indian Gaming Industry

Cognitive Effects of Gaming on Kids

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal sales@insightssuccess.com

Managing Editor Sneha Sinha

October, 2020

Quality Assurance Team Darshan Parmar Abhishaj Sajeev Art & Design Head Amol Kamble Associate Designer Asha Bange Art & Picture Editor Mayur Koli Co-designer Karan Gaikwad Operation Head Megha Mishra Business Development Manager Nandan Deshpande Business Development Lead Tejaswini Whaval Sr. Business Development Executive Prathamesh Kate Technical Head Pratiksha Patil Technical Specialist Amar Sawant

Corporate OfďŹ ces: Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. Off. No. 22 & 510, Rainbow Plaza, Shivar Chowk, Pimple Saudagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411017 Phone - India: +91 7410079881/ 82/ 83/ 84/ 85 Email: info@insightssuccess.in For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.in Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - (614)-602-1754 Email: info@insightssuccess.com For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com

Digital Marketing Manager Amol Wadekar SME-SMO Executive Atul Dhoran Circulation Manager Tanaji

Cover Price : RS. 150/Follow us on :

www.facebook.com/insightssuccess/

https://twitter.com/insightssuccess

We are also available on Copyright Š 2020 Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd., All rights reserved. The content and images used in this magazine should not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. Reprint rights remain solely with Insights Success. Printed and Published by Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. RNI NUMBER: MAHENG/2018/75953

INDIA'S LEADING

EXCHANGE COMPANY

TO WATCH

Company Name

Management

Brief

DevDen Creative Solutions Pvt Ltd devdensolutions.com

Ram Gowtham CEO

A creative solution provider of Virtual Reality(VR), Augmented Reality(AR) and 3D simulation technologies for the real world.

Esferasoft Solutions Pvt. Ltd esferasoft.com

Vipan Kumar CEO

Company’s aim is Deliver to Services Above and beyond Customer Expectation that can Expand Their Boundaries with its Innovative and Flawless Business Partnership with them.

Gameaholic gameaholic.in

Sagar Sadhwani Founder

Gameaholic is the fastest, easiest way to exchange your PS4 games in India, giving you aordable access to the widest selection of the latest games.

iMobiGames imobigames.com

Naveen Tewari CEO

iMobiGames is one of best web and application company providing high quality work and also know what is your personal and professional needs.

Ommzi ommzi.com

Mandeep Dhalor CEO

Ommzi's innovative approach towards game development makes it the stalwarts. Till now, it has developed 30 games and many more to come.

SHOTT AMUSEMENT LLP shott.in

Rishi Shah Founder

Shott is the urban family entertainment game zone where players can enjoy their every moment with fun games and great food.

Western Vindhya. westvindh.com

Sahil Goyal Managing Partner

Zvky Design Studio Private Limited zvky.com

Abhishek Subramanyam CEO & Founder

Westvindh is a mobile game company, focusing on casual games for India.

ZVKY Design Studio is the leading game art outsourcing studio in Asia with a decade of experience in providing 2D art and animation, 3D game art, development services, and integration solutions across all platforms.

Sagar Sadhwani FOUNDER GAMEAHOLIC

INDIA'S LEADING

EXCHANGE COMPANY

TO WATCH

An Exclusive Game Exchange Platform By The Gamers, For The Gamers

COVER STORY

The success of a company is highly reflected by its clients or customers and with Gameaholic there are no unsatisfied customers. The various success stories are proof of this claim.

Success Stories “Dear Team, Greetings of the day!

G

aming, today has become a huge market. How did that happen? A few years back we were all playing Snake, and Rescue the Princess, we turn our heads for one second, and now it’s this beautiful, immersive and massive world. In case, you are wondering just how massive?

The Grand Theft Auto V (2013) got a sale worth $800 million worldwide in the first 24 hours of its release.

According to a survey conducted in 2017, the global gaming industry had generated revenue of $108 billion and its popularity continues to grow. This popularity stems from a couple of things; the games themselves, how gamers interact with it, and a sense of community that gaming has fostered amongst fellow gamers.

At the onset, I would like to begin by thanking you for coming up with this idea of a platform. To be honest this website is like a dream come true for gamers like me who are always on a budget and don't plan on collecting games. I was a bit skeptical of using the service as it has just started but thought of giving it a try as I had nothing to lose. And the idea of exchanging a game irrespective of the price is amazing. The entire experience from the very beginning was smooth, and not to mention quick and well informed, which is something I wasn't expecting from a newly started website.

Totally amazed to receive a sealed copy of red dead redemption 2 along with the DLCs. I have already informed about you to all my gamer friends and I hope to see you grow more and more in the near future.

From, a very satisfied and now loyal customer” - Puneet Singh, Gurgaon

Success Stories “Hello, First of all, I would like to say I'm thrilled to use your game exchange service and you can count on me to come back for more. You guys went out of your way to send the games faster. As you made two separate couriers since one of the games was not readily available. That itself shows you care about your patrons. The games reached very early and have it installed on my PS4 ready to play, which makes me very happy. I wish you guys all the best with your venture and I want you guys to succeed and flourish so that we can enjoy gaming with a little less burden on our pockets. And I also wish your store opens up in Bangalore,” - Hemanth Reddy, Bangalore revolutionized the industry by bringing a business model that levels the playing field for each and every gamer.

From One Gamer to Another

The community provides a culture that brings together like-minded individuals who share the same passion and gaming has enabled them to flex their problem-solving muscle, to be challenged creatively, and to get rewarded for it at the end.

While gamers who are friends with other gamers can often exchange their completed game, the same cannot be said for the whole industry. Gamers often have to deal with game rental companies, or online platforms where game exchange takes place between two

completely unknown users and there is no assurance about the quality, functionality or the price of the game.

Considering how expensive all the PS4 games are and coupled with the financial limitations, not every gamer has the liberty to enjoy all the PS4 games. They have no other means to get their hands-on small and AAA (triple-A) titles which cost about four-digit currency numbers.

Gameaholic was founded to help the gamers in this very situation. It is India’s premier and first flat-fee PS4 game exchange platform. It has

We’ve established that Gameaholic is a game exchange company, but what makes it stand out, or what is its competitive benefit? To this, Sagar Sadhwani, the Founder of the company comments, “We founded Gameaholic because as gamers ourselves we were fascinated at the possibility of launching a platform that would ease the game acquisition experience of any Indian gamer.”

With the rising cost of console games, many gamers cannot afford to play the latest PS4 games when they first come out in the market because they are simply too expensive, Gameaholic offers its customers a wide variety of games

Gaming is a threefold entertainment medium – interaction via virtual reality, participation via console gaming, or as simple as just viewing,” shares Mr. Sadhwani.

for exchange at an affordable price.

The company continuously strives to ensure that all game enthusiasts are able to enjoy the newest PS4 games without the expensive price tag.

Sticking Out in a Mile Despite being new in the market, this company’s popularity has grown in folds, and to know the reason behind it we have to understand ‘why’ the company does what it does.

“My wife and I are avid gamers. While I am a loyal fan of PS4 games, she loves Nintendo Switch games. We play all kinds of games ranging from the old classics, thrillers, to sports.

“While other countries have quickly accepted the gaming wave, India has only recently got its boost. It was this scenario that motivated us to try and dynamically change the Indian gaming scenario by helping the gamers flourish, without them having to think about the rising costs when it comes to purchasing a game,” he adds further.

Success Stories “I thank the team for helping me out in getting the game disc delivered as promised. The freight company was delaying the delivery by 1 day and a simple tweet to you guys, fixed it, and had my game delivered in no time. Kudos to your effort,” - Nikhil Suhas, Hyderabad

games will then be sent out for delivery the very same day and delivered right at their doorstep.

Gameaholic provides services and delivers games in approximately 2208 cities, including major rural areas.

Additionally, to ensure the quality of the games being exchanged on its platform, the company has enabled a ‘Gameaholic Guarantee’; a certification that every single PS4 game offered is of the highest calibre.

Now arises the question of how does Gameaholic operate, and how do gamers receive their desired games? Gameaholic’s exchange process is very simple as it wants users to spend more time playing.

The quality and functionality of every game is verified so users can be rest assured that they will receive high-quality games only. All one needs to do is look for the ‘Gameaholic Guarantee’ logo at the top right corner and they can instantly know that the game is in perfect condition.

Gamers can log onto the platform and select up to five different PS4 games that they would like to get in exchange for their used ones. After placing the order, they need to courier their games to the company at its registered office address.

The company’s stock of games comprises of new as well as preowned copies but a majority of it is new. Furthermore, while placing the order, the customer will be able to see whether he/she is getting a new or a pre-owned game in exchange.

The Gameaholic team will verify the quality of games and the requested

The most prominent aspect of Gameaholic is that the exchange

This is How Gameaholic Works

takes place directly with the company, unlike other platforms wherein the exchanges happen between two unknown users and there is no way to ensure that the gamer(s) will receive the game, let alone be in a working condition.

Clutch Play We can now conclude that Gameaholic is on a trajectory of tremendous success and continued growth as the gaming industry continues to expand. “When we launched Gameaholic, our main goal was to create a vast, trusted online community where gamers can easily exchange their existing stock of games with us in return for a set of new/pre-owned games which they do not have. Today a year later, our goal remains to continually expand this community and give the players around the country a lucrative gaming experience,” comments Mr. Sadhwani.

Gameaholic’s immediate plan is to add PS5 games to its game collection and to be the first platform to exchange Nintendo Switch & XBOX ONE games in India.

To further ease out the exchange process, the company is planning to collaborate with a reputed logistics company to enable a scheduled pick-up of games from its customers’ address of choice.

It is also looking at launching the mobile application for Gameaholic that will be available for both android & IOS users. Additionally, it is also planning to open branches of Gameaholic in different cities, starting with the metro cities.

Gameaholic is set to evolve more as a trusted name in the gaming

industry that is both represented and influenced by gamers.

“Youngsters in our country have always idolized an actor or a sportsperson but we think that the day is soon going to be here when they will idolize a professional gamer.

In the long run, we look at making the most of this huge monetizing giant that the gaming industry is, all the while creating unique opportunities for Indian gamers. #Stay Addicted because after all its in the name,” concluded Mr. Sadhwani.

Success Stories “I would suggest Gameaholic to all my friends. Great service.

Even though I had couriered my game after the deadline, the customer support helped me a lot. I would like to thank you for the great service. Well done guys. Keep going,” - Akash Kannan, Cochin

Siddhi Pujara

Co- founder

Sagar Sadhwani Founder

Subscribe Today Stay in touch.

Subscribe to Insightssuccess Get Insightssuccess Magazine in print, & digital on www.insightssuccess.in

www.insightssuccess.in

Cheque should be drawn in favour of : INSIGHTS SUCCESS MEDIA AND TECH PVT. LTD.

CORPORATE OFFICE Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. Off No. 22 & 510, Rainbow Plaza, Shivar Chowk, Pimple Saudagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411017.

Phone - India: 020- 7410079881/ 82/ 83/ 84/ 85 USA: 302-319-9947 Email: info@insightssuccess.in For Subscription : www.insightssuccess.in

18 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS | OCTOBER 2020

Trend Setters

T

he gaming industry in India has been seeing a surge from the past few years. The mobile gaming technology has taken up people’s lives strongly. Every person having a smart phone plays at least one game on their mobile phones. Studies show that the average time spent on non-voice content in mobiles has increased five times in the past few years. Lately, it can be said that people are spending more time on their smartphones for playing games.

The mobile gaming industry has earned large sums of money since the past few years. The main reasons for mobile gaming being such a hit is that it is portable. It is also considered as

one of the best forms of entertainment anywhere at any time. The gaming industry as a whole has seen a rapid growth due to the entry of new technologies. Here are a few of the prevailing and upcoming gaming industry trends.

Rise of Mini Games Mini games have become the latest trend of the gaming industry. These are the small games that make up larger games. These are similar to the regular games on the basis of installation and sometimes of similar sizes too. Such games motivate the spirit of competition and sharing amongst friends. These games increase the user engagement and retention.

Real Money Gaming The real money games are becoming very popular with time. With the Indian Premier League, fantasy games have been doing the rounds. There are games that involve betting of real money that have high cashback in form of returns. With the entry of fantasy games, giving betting a legal status, several Indians spent money on these games.

did not have the option of playing anywhere they wanted. There are more flexible options available.

Age-Friendly The incorporation of mobile games has brought in a variety of games for all age groups. There are games available indifferent genres also like puzzles, adventure, racing, brain games, etc.

With flourishing technology, people of all age groups are becoming tech-savvy and have the urge to explore the gaming world. Agefriendly mobile games have become a new trend to keep all age groups entertained.

Cloud-based Games The development of cloud-based games is on the rise. Small and large gaming companies are wanting to invest in this technology. Cloud-based games improve the visualisation of games, social media integration and competitive playing elements.

High-end game engines can draw the power of cloud. The major achievement of using cloud is that it takes care of most of the grunt work in the development process of mobile games.

Decline of Gaming Consoles Some gaming consoles are upgrading and improving with every new release.

Even with the improvement of these devices, the sales seem to be declining.

The reason is not the quality of the consoles, but because they are being replaced. The cheaper and multipurpose option instead of these devices are mobile phones. With the entry of mobile games that can be played by people at anytime and anywhere, the gaming consoles were found to be less feasible. Even after spending high amounts of money towards the gaming consoles, people OCTOBER 2020 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS | 19

Games help people with various things.

Everyone has their own reason to play games like entertainment, leisure, love for it, earning, passion, etc. Whatever the reason may be, there is always at least one game that each person plays.

With the improving technologies, companies are also exploring more into the gaming sector.

- Shreevarshita Gupta

INDIA'S LEADING

EXCHANGE COMPANY

TO WATCH

Shott Amusement LLP Your Favorite Destination for all things Fun

example and expanded it to be one of the best not only in Gujarat but the whole of India.

Rishi Shah, Founder

G

ujarat always had its share of charms for those with a sense of zest and plenty of energy.

These days it’s gone quite a few steps ahead and caters to even those bored doing mundane things. One entity which can partly be attributed for turning the scene in place including Surat, Ahmedabad - SBR and Ahmedabad - Maninagar from year 2014 into the present and all times to come, and which has raised people’s spirit is SHOTT Amusement LLP. The brainchild of Rishi Shah—the Founder of SHOTT Amusement—a young entrepreneur with a mission to take forward the legacy of his family, has ventured into a sustainable, futuristic, and creative business making it the most iconic, snazzy and energy-infused ever. Energetic being his style and perseverance being one of his USPs, he has led the venture by

In Rishi’s own words, it’s a one-of-a-kind gaming destination for families to extend their entertainment experience at a premium level. By providing a seamless entertainment experience, they aim to elevate the fun quotient in life and enable audiences to take a break from their busy lives, and enter a never-before-experienced super-high energy zone.

Speaking of Shott Amusement, for a start it is a FULL-SCALE GAMING HEAVEN in every sense of the term which brings out the players in all of those who enter its haloed precincts.

Games people play. Some smooth, some rough and some play it in the mind. But, play we all do.

Shott Amusement is then for everyone who is a worshipper of games, physical or mental and has its doors open for the better part of the day with their iconic and fearless mascot, Captain Shott welcoming everyone with open arms and a positive “can-do” attitude.

In case you do not know, he is SHOTT Amusement’s icon and India’s action-packed gaming genre’s first fearless superhero who believes it’s everyone right to play be it man, woman, child or elder. For the fit and 20 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS | OCTOBER 2020

willing, Captain Shott is there to help become a winner right from the first shot! Most humans from 3 to 70, are players. Leisure games, fun-filled jaunts or adrenalin over-drives, you get a shot at all these at SHOTT Amusement with its loads of fun games, out-door, indoors, board and card games. And after you are through with your instincts to indulge in sports, you can just sit around, relax and….EAT! SHOTT Amusement has some of the biggest and most spread-out of menus to choose from!

Mukesh Nayak, one among many of SHOTT Amusement’s satisfied customers has the following to say about Shott Entertainment: A one of its kind gaming zone with over 50 different game options, Shott is perfectly poised as a place for family entertainment and lasting memories birthday parties for kids are also arranged here. Food court inside serves various food items. Kids can easily spend 3 to 4 hours playing their favourite games and have fun!

These days, their most known and admired offerings in gaming and entertainment to denizens of Surat and Ahmedabad include the following: Go Karting With an international Go-Karting circuit right in the centre of the most happening place in the country, one can

experience the rush of blood right from the time one steps into the best Go-Karts which come customized from the best in the world, SODI karts. They may seem small but once strapped, even the most genteel turn into fearsome racing hotheads ready to go against any competition. Over week-end these are packed to the rafters with people trying to outdo each other on the tracks. A pure adrenalin rush this!

Kumar Abhinav, a regular Go-Karting junkie at Shott Entertainment says: The tracks are well defined and well maintained. The racefacer app which logs in your race timings lapwise is a great way to analyse your timing and progressions. It even has all your previous racetimes so you can always compare it with your friends. The go-karts are well maintained and properly equipped. A real go-to place overall!

Bowling The best equipment from Brunswick of the US are to be found only at SHOTT Amusement! With music going full blast, it’s time for the player to pin down competition by hitting every pin on the other side. Adding to the environment besides the music are the UV-Lit Bowling Alley with matching bowling balls that really light up the spirts and lighten the mood!

Rope Course If you think monkey business is easy, try your luck here. Despite the protective gears and pleasant environment with all the encouraging responses from the staff, you would know in time how tough it is to haul yourself against gravity even on a carefully laid out stretch! But once you reach the top, know for a fact that most climbers come right back for more!

The feeling of being there and doing it, is something you get only at SHOTT Amusement!

360 Cricket India doesn’t need to be told about cricket! We play it all the time. And, we enjoy it immensely! That’s till you hit 360 Cricket at Shott Amusement!

Players who have played here say it surpasses playing cricket on the ground the normal way. Its’s USP? You get to bat with bowling by cricket legends like Sachin, Malinga, Murali, Akhtar and many more. They throw their best and you ought to hit them right to score more. Ready?

Kids City Cities cramp our kids’ playing styles!

They also need the right setting to play and learn in a safe environment meant especially for them. In Surat and Ahmedabad, you get those only at Shott Amusements which has special play areas for small children to have unlimited fun. These are clean, safe, colorful and climate-controlled for the little champs to enjoy their favourite games. Coming here, you get to listen to their giggly laughter as it fills the air.

Customized party packages From teenagers wanting to celebrate their birthdays or outings or simply play and enjoy in their own groups to ladies wanting something special from their kitty parties to corporates looking for special settings for training and team building exercises, each of these and more are possible at SHOTT Amusement. With specially trained staff to handle each such settings in order to give it the best while making it most entertaining and fruitful, you get what you pay for in a safe and sanitized setting. Besides the ambience which remain authentic and true to OCTOBER 2020 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS | 21

form, the food and beverages, as expected is the best in class!

SHOTT Amusement has shot the concept of amusement and entertainment right through the sky!

What it means is that besides the usual, there are still others such as • • • • •

Laser Wars Gaming Arcade Kids City Zipline Rope Course

Life and entertainment go hand-in-hand. In fact, there’s no life worth speaking of without entertainment which the Covid 19 pandemic has laid bare We envision to before us, have majority of couped-up the market share at home as with more than 12 we are. Yes, centres opened Shott across India, Entertainme by 2025. nt was indeed hit by the pandemic given that social-distancing norms and the scare in general has seen business take a hit. But with things slowly opening and the vaccine likely to be released in the foreseeable future, Shott Amusement justifiably expects things to look up shortly with patrons and all well-wishers expectedly coming back to play games and indulge in their favourite games and sports.

“

”

With things looking good, which they will, it can be expected of Shott Amusement with a fair sense of certainty to cater to majority of the gaming markets’ needs with over 12 more centres coming up all over India!

Year 2025, their time like today, would be a decisive year!

INDIA'S LEADING

EXCHANGE COMPANY

TO WATCH

Zvky Design Asia’s leading Game Art, Design and Mobile App Development Studio

Abhishek Subramanya

L

et’s pick some of the games we all love and enjoy playing for endless hours: Call of Duty – Black Ops, Game of Thrones – Slots Casino, Final Fantasy, Farmville, Mobile Strike, Sea-fight, and the list goes on.

Developing such high quality, high engagement, content heavy games that appeal to large group of audiences, can take months or even years. It requires game design, concepts, visualisation, wireframes, mock ups, 2D and 3D art assets, animations, level design, sound design, programming, scripting, testing and many more departments. To accelerate production time and to achieve great quality, game developers / publishers outsource chunks of work to acclaimed vendors in the industry like Zvky Design Studio.

Zvky (pronounced as Zvee Kee)

Design Studio has been in the gaming industry for over 10 years now. The age itself speaks for its profile and journey to become one of the top 2D and 3D Game Art & Development Services Studio in Asia.

Zvky Design Studio has talented workhorses in Art, Animation, Design & Development who are gamers at heart and specialize in augmenting and helping clients realize their vision from inception to a high-quality product.

The Gaming Powerhouse

A Trusted Brand

Over the years, Zvky Design Studio has emerged as the ultimate design and development powerhouse in delivering superior quality work and value to all its clients and consumers globally.

With over a decade long experience and a broad spectrum of services ranging from Art / Animations to Mobile / Web Development, Zvky has now become the go-to company for several Tier 1 Mobile and Casino game publishers and developers, Media & Broadcast companies, Travel Industry, E-commerce and more.

Consider Game Art & Design - a significant component in games which requires professional artists and creative minds to craft amazing artwork and design memorable characters, props, environments and whole new world for you to experience. To imagine and create such living – breathing world with characters we love / play with needs a solid team of skilled & veteran artists and designers who can pull this off in tandem.

Similarly, when it comes to building the game itself – we will need developers who are adept in various technologies and game engines to decide the right tech stack to develop the game and to program every single module and game system in a scalable and highly robust fashion.

24 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS | OCTOBER 2020

Today, the firm stands out with its exclusivity as a company that delivers exceptional quality with customer centric focus.

Leading studios such as Activision, Zynga, Aristocrat, Ubisoft, Machine Zone, IGT and many more engage Zvky as the primary Art and Development partner, which speaks pages about the trust and reliance developers have on Zvky and their quality of work.

The Nimble Creator and Designer The words, “We are a ‘Quality First’ studio” has been imprinted within every employee of this company,

adhering to the vision of Abhishek Subramanya, the CEO and Founder of Zvky Design Studio. Upholding Mr. Subramanya’s vision, every member of his team focuses their passion, energy, and skills to deliver exemplary next-gen art and development for gaming on multiple platforms.

Mr. Subramanya heads the business development and operations at Zvky Design, building an impressive team of artists, designers and developers to cater the needs of the gaming industry.

The company’s veteran artists have helped to build the best AAA quality products by delivering top-notch art assets, innovative designs and scalable code.

“We always focus on delivering top quality work on time and this strategy has helped us to work on top game titles like Call of Duty, Final Fantasy, Game of Thrones Slots and more. Our production experience has also helped us become one of India’s leading game art & development service studio and a renowned outsource player for the casino and mobile gaming industry,” quotes Mr. Subramanya.

The Journey Ahead Zvky has provided Art and Development services for over 120+ clients, delivering over 300+ games.

And what makes Zvky standout in the market is its associations with brands that aren’t just international but also popular worldwide.

Its work profile has stars not just for providing one service but many services. These also vary in number as much as they do in nature. Needless to say Zvky has been most studio’s first option in every endeavour!

The company is constantly growing its team and acquiring more skills and

experience to cater to wide gamut of services required by game developers.

“In the next 3 years, we aim to become the No. 1 game art & development service studio in Asia. We intend to work on many more top performing game titles in the gaming and casino industry. One of our major plans going

forward will be to build an iGaming platform for the casino industry,” concluded Mr. Subramanya.

From the Client’s Desk There is nothing more crucial than satisfied customers as they are one of the major contributing factors that guarantee and drive the success of any company and for Zvky Design Studio, this statement stands true.

“Zvky is a strongly creative studio that delivers high-quality art in record time. Communication and delivery estimation are clear and on-target; so I know that with their wide range of skills, 1 can depend on Zvky to help me make the artistic vision for any game a reality.”

- Margaret Foley Mauvais, Franchise Art Director, Zynga “The Zvky team has been a complete pleasure to work with.

They were our main art vendor and produced breathtaking scenes for our hidden object game that exceeded all expectations. The communication pipeline we had with them was one of the best I have worked with. Even with the large time difference between our two teams, they were always quick to respond to emails and provide quick turnarounds on feedback. I would definitely recommend Zvky and if given the opportunity again, I would work with them without question.”

- John Moruzze, Producer/Product Manager, Disney Interactive “We have worked with Zvky for over 5 years and they always deliver top quality art assets in any style we need.

From Real Time Strategy to Cooking games the team has met the challenge every time, providing characters, props and environments in vivid detail. Their team is fast, professional, and imaginative.”

- Tim Murray, Creative Director, Gogii Games

OCTOBER 2020 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS | 25

ABOUT THE LEADER Mr. Goyal is the sole founder of the company and has been passionate about games since childhood. His journey as a learner started nine years ago, where he discovered a few bugs in a game while playing with friends. These bugs intrigued him to determine the cause of the bugs.

Taking this as a spark for his career, he decided to go full time in gaming industry. By stepping in the gaming realm, he turned his childhood passion into a profession. Right now, his organization has been able to build a team and a game title that highlights its creative competencies.

Sahil Goyal Managing Partner

26 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS | OCTOBER 2020

WESTVINDH ADORNING PEOPLE’S LIFE VIA VIDEO GAMES Please brief our audience about your company, its values, vision, and mission.

At Westvindh, our games are focused on the mass market. We make adorable graphics that appeal to kids. Although, the game graphics are primarily targeted to kids, but also help adults in relaxation after a day of hard work. We tend to create a game design through which a player can relax their mind and get back to normal work after a few rounds of games.

INTERVIEW

WITH INSIGHTS SUCCESS

I

n the following interview with Insights Success, Sahil Goyal, Managing Partner of Westvindh, highlights the core philosophy embedded in the company, its popular title ‘Pilli Go’ and how the company has managed to establish unyielding roots in the gaming industry.

Following are the excerpts from the interview.

What are the prominent services, products, or solutions that the company offers?

Westvindh is a mobile first game company, focusing on games that people can play in leisure time for short durations. Pilli Go is our first title and we expect to launch two more titles in this financial year. Apart from games, our company also develops IT solutions for enterprises. Having a core expertise in gaming, our team easily understands gamification, app development, networking and, most importantly, user experience.

Brief us about the work culture in your organization. How do you help employees in staying creative and on their toes?

Best creativity never comes from an individual person, but only from team members. At Westvindh, we build office design systems and every policy OCTOBER 2020 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS | 27

in a manner that enhances creativity of our teams. For instance, we have a 100% open culture, where everything is transparent between all the team members. Now, this leads to a work culture that is not indulged in hierarchical orders, but a discussion that creates creative products .

Kindly list the most popular game(s) developed by your company and the reasons for the popularity.

Pilli Go is our most popular title. Why is it so popular? Simply because it is beautiful, addictive, and satisfactory.

The game is built for laid back players, who do not want to pressurize their brain and opt to spend their leisure time via relaxing. To be honest, the people are in love with Pilli - the cat and the main character in the game. We have observed that some people, plainly, can look at our cat for a long period without taking any actions on the mobile screen.

Since the COVID-19 crisis, there have been reports about how people are turning to games to keep themselves occupied. What are your views on it, and how do you plan to keep the trend going?

COVID-19 surely did provide a boost to the gaming market, since it is a good and safe source of entertainment for all people sitting in their homes. These are strange and difficult times for everyone, and we are incredibly happy that our game could entertain people at

“

Utilizing 5G to create next big game for this world

“

For future, we hope that COVID-19 goes away and people get back to their routine life. Our only wish is that we entertain them to relax their brain during small breaks. Always, there should be a work-life balance, as this is in the best interest of both gaming industry and the players.

In order to keep the profits flowing in, we are continuously bringing in new talent to develop more entertaining games for our players.

Already, we have started our research on online games that requires very low latency speeds.

Where do you envision your organization to be in the long run, and what are your future goals?

5G will be a reality soon. This will change the way multiplayer games are played today. At Westvindh, we want to create a team that can utilize this opportunity and give the next big hit game title to the world. Additionally, India has no game that has taken over the world’s gaming industry. We want to create a title that does bring this achievement to India’s and Westvindh’s portfolio.

EXHIBITING EXCELLENCE

this time. However, gaining extra profits does not mean we would like people to spend time only on mobile screens out of boredom.

“The game is amazing and addictive. It is great for kids. It is a great option for adults as well to spend time in quarantine lockdown. #Lovedit”

“The game is much exciting. My children love to play this game in their free time. I want developers to release many more such games.”

These comments are from players who’ve had a glimpse of the exquisite and addictive gaming experience that Westvindh delivers. As evident, people in India love this game and it is the love of these players that helps the Westvindh team to thrive.

28 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS | OCTOBER 2020

GAMIFYING THE REMOTE WORKPLACE How you can drive teams to be more productive and collaborative in a post-COVID world with gamification

R

ight off the bat, it is needless to say that 2020 has been a dramatic year that has forced us to revisit how we have been doing business so far; the landscape has changed completely. Internet-enabled technologies for communication and collaboration have existed since forever, but they have now become mainstream and prevalent like never before. Everybody is accustomed to Zoom calls, gupshup on Slack, and all electronic modes of collaboration.

“Work from Anywhere” is becoming a norm now.

answer then is purposeful engagement of the workforce. Thankfully, one half of this equation is easily defined by the work that the team is expected to. The other half is built up by how they do it.

This “how” is what has been severely affected by the Work From Anywhere model, as this is now beyond the control of the organisation. But do not despair, there is still much you can do - the answer is gamifying the remote workplace.

It does however pose a grave challenge. There was a certain vibe and sharing of energies in working together in an office, which can never be replaced by the isolation of working from home. The human connection is important. So, the most pertinent question now is: how do we engage our teams better, motivate and inspire them to continue doing their best work, and keep the team spirit and company culture alive during these Work From Anywhere days?

Imagine the most engaging experiences of your life: a road trip, an inspiring course, a deeply satisfying project you worked on - what did they all have in common? They were playful and rewarding. They were a treasure hunt, where each step egged you on to the next one. You had partners along with you through the journey - these journeys would be meaningless without all the memories created along the way. This act of creating a playful and rewarding experience, ensuring that a ton of memories are created along the way is what the process of gamification aspires to.

A company’s culture and team spirit is much more than a physical office space. It is a sum of its vision, purpose, processes and outlook. It sure gets amplified by the office environment but does not entirely depend on it. The

So, what is gamification? It is the application of game-like mechanics such as scoring, rewards, badges and trophies, competition (like a leaderboard) or missions, etc in a non-gaming environment. It helps you

30 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS | OCTOBER 2020

convert traditional processes into a game-like fun and engaging process. It helps increase engagement, satisfaction and loyalty for your audience. It helps form habits and gives positive reinforcement. It can be used to convert any dull process into a high involvement one - one that attracts attention to all the right details. Look at Fitbit, HealthifyMe, CrownIT, most of the Reward Programs for quick examples of how gamification can make engaging activities out of things that most of us dread.

Let us look at an example: In the traditional world, a company hires a new employee and puts them in the team. This team organises a video call and introduces the new member to all the other team members. After a small conversation, the team starts their regular scrum cycles and project delivery. And eventually the new member gels in with the team and forms relationships. In the gamified world, a company hires a new employee and puts them in a team. Their gamified Slack bot connects this new employee with a new buddy every day and helps them have a conversation on three questions about each other ranging from their hobbies and passions to their job profiles and skill sets.

At the end of the month, the entire team gets together and plays a quiz where each question is about a specific trait and each person gets to choose a fellow team member who expresses that trait. At the end of the quiz, the results are published. The team then gets to discuss the outcomes and gets to give feedback to each other.

Not only does this team forge stronger relationships but also helps each other grow faster.

Similar experiences can be made out of the project management practices, HR processes, rewards and recognitions programs, and many more. The “Employee of the Month” program in many companies is a good example of basic gamification practices. A more transparent and objective targets-based-bonus system could be another great example of gamification.

Gamification does not have to be limited to the HR department. Any team leader, in any department can convert (with a little help, of course!) most of the conventional processes into a highly engaging, gamified process. This goes a long way in meeting the organizational goals and objectives. Another great thing about gamification is that it is not dependent on a physical presence.

Since it is how you approach a process, it can easily be customised and implemented for the workplace whether in an office or remote.

Gamification does not need to be highly technology dependent either. It is an application of an action-oriented, outcome-based approach to processes; this can be speedily implemented and executed via technology (Sure!) but can easily be done in a lesser technology-dependent way too.

You just need to approach your gamification design in a suitable way.

Keep in mind: every dark cloud has a silver lining.

The pandemic and ensuing lockdowns and work-from-home have been unprecedented, and many organisations were caught by surprise.

Organisations that respond to such challenges by being adaptable and flexible, create an innovative work culture that not only successfully engages their remote workforce, but also inspires them to continue doing their best work.

Kinshuk Sunil Founder & CEO

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kinshuk Sunil is the Founder & CEO of Hashstash – a premier game development studio that helps customers to effectively communicate and achieve business objectives through games.

Over the years, he has worked with clients like Byju’s, Glance, and Vodafone Foundation.

He is, also, the Head of Technology at MyyTake – a new-media startup formed by a stellar team with over 20 years of media experience.

At MyyTake he is building the next-gen platforms for the digitally young. For comments and feedback, you can reach the author on kinshuk@hashstash.in.

OCTOBER 2020 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS | 31

32 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS | OCTOBER 2020

Playing to Learn

Cognitive Effects of Gaming on

Kids E

ver since the long awaited birth of the digital age, digital masterminds and game developers have gifted everyone with video games to keep them occupied and entertained for hours on end. Not just that, but also, studies and research had found that playing video games have long-term eects on one’s psychological behavior.

OCTOBER 2020 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS | 33

With latest advancements and technological developments, video games have been becoming more and more realistic. Such video games inturn fuel the need for gamers to continue to buy ever better hardware to play said games. Most of the gamers have mastered the art of how to build their own PC and thus, with their transgressed new rigs, the PC Master Race was born.

Having said that, the ever growing body of research through the years suggests that playing video games is actually beneficial after all and below mentioned are few of the reasons.

1. Improves coordination It has been noticed that when an adult or child is playing a video game, he or she is not only staring at the computer inactively. The process of gaming involves activities and actions on the screen provide with a lot of mental stimulation. So as far as this goes, for one to play, he or she will need to coordinate their visual, audial and physical movement.

2. Improves problem-solving skills All of the games and video games involve certain rules. These rules provoke the player to think carefully before making any move to ensure that they stay within the required rules of that particular game and also that the player needs to make quick decisions that would then determine whether or not he or she will advance to the next level.

3. Enhances memory It has been studied that playing one’s

favorite video game may require both visual and audial memory. The player is most certainly required to read or listen to the instructions which might only be provided at the beginning of the game, thus the need to remember them throughout the entire game. One has to be able to master the keys on their keyboard so as that helps you easily move your characters in the game. This sort of a discipline helps improve your memory, whether short- term or long-term.

4. Improves attention and concentration Intense video games and especially action games, have proven to be able to capture the player’s attention for the entire period of the game. This ability has been brought about by the player’s need to achieve certain objectives within the game, and be able to progress to the next level.

There have been recent studies that have been completed by several noted research and scientific organizations have proven that playing video games could help improve the quality of life for the disabled and mentally ill.

A research study about video games, conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Charité University Medicine St. Hedwig-Krankenhaus in Berlin, Germany, found that playing video increases grey matter (the size of your brain) and helps refine learned and hardwired skills.

Another underrated advantage is that playing video games can improve your eyesight. A study conducted by the University of Rochester had proved

34 | INSIGHTS SUCCESS | OCTOBER 2020

video games improve vision by making gamers more responsive to different shades of color. A similar study funded by the National Eye Institute and the Office of Naval Research, found that players of action games mostly like first-person shooters, had better perception of color contrast.

Along with the above mentioned benefits, video games have been proven to improve fine-motor skills in preschoolers, and a study published in the medical journal PLOS One found that surgeons who played video games, more specifically, the wii game Nintendo Wii, somehow became better surgeons by playing this game. These games drastically improved their hand-eye coordination and precise muscle movement both essential skills for their practice.

Well to state the least, if you are a parent who has been limiting your child’s computer play because of the claims you have read of harmful effects, the research summarized here on video gaming might give you pause.

The majority of the described research suggests that the claims about negative effects of video gaming are largely myths and that there are real scientifically proven positive effects.

These kinds of developed and adapted mental skills that video games help to develop may be increasingly important in today’s world.

- Vedika Mansukhe Content Writer