A Coming-of-Age for Filipino Games
An evolution of Pinoy creativity through three games.
Disclaimer: Parts of this article, especially pertaining to Terrawars: New York Invasion, include fragmentary archives and references to de facto “lost media”, due to the loss of online and published Filipino gaming sources from the 2000s. Conjecture is minimized as much as possible.
Video games transcend borders, and the Philippines is no exception. From the Famicom to the Nintendo Switch, Counter-Strike to Valorant, Filipinos have left a sizable footprint in gaming. Whether as gamers or characters and references in various titles, it’s near-unavoidable. Nowhere near as discussed, however, is how this goes beyond esports or a consumer base encompassing rich and poor alike, towards Pinoy creativity, as some try their hand of making games of their own. Though not the most well-known, the local gaming industry gives a colorful portrait of a country that, in spite of myriad challenges, is making its way into the future.
Getting an accurate picture, granted, is easier said than done. Based on Statistica, the country’s market had been projected to reach USD 2.12 billion in revenue by 2024. Much of this is attributed to mobile games and PC-based downloadable titles, attested to by both the widespread use of smartphones across demographic lines, and the persistence of Internet cafes (or “comshops”) in major cities. Meanwhile, on top of how gaming tends to be mistaken with gambling, especially among older generations), contemporary discourse around homegrown development is framed along the lines of esports promotions and outsourcing for foreign companies. This is particularly seen in how the February 2024 GameDev Summit - an initiative launched by live service firm GameOps Inc., the Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP), and various governmental partners - put more emphasis on the role Filipinos play among international companies than anything else. While institutions like the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) offer grants of up to PHP 1.5 million (USD 25.6 thousand) for established studios and PHP 300 thousand (USD 5.1 thousand) for independent startups, it’s not well-promoted in practice.
Nonetheless, Filipino games have come a long way from the days of homebrew Solitaire modifications, shaped as much by socio-economic circumstances as genuine passion. Their evolution, and through them, a snapshot of what their creators were doing, can be seen through three games. However niche, if not obscure, these might be compared to more established producers, there’s still much to delve into. It’s a coming-of-age that has been years in the making.
Genesis - Anito: Defend a Land Enraged
As noted by freelance analyst Cesar Tolentino in 2008, the seeds of the local gaming industry could be traced back to 1992, when Japanese publishers began setting up small studios to create exclusive content for consoles like the SNES and PC Engine. Many of these, however, either shut down amidst the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, or fell apart amidst the dot-com burst a few years later without much to their name. One notable exception, as recounted in author Ezra Ferraz’s 2017 book The Finishers, is Anino Games. Established in 2001 by Niel Dagondon (then a graduate from De La Salle University) with a handful of staff, the upstart studio faced an uphill battle, especially when aspiring game designers were more likely to try their luck in Tokyo or Los Angeles. In order to survive, and despite the developers having no prior experience, they sought to make themselves stand out before the nascent local market. The result of that hard work was Anito: Defend a Land Enraged, released on November 22, 2003 for Windows PCs. This RPG would not merely serve as the company’s maiden launch title, but also a setpiece of “Pinoy pride” by virtue of being the first game to be made entirely by Filipinos.
Set on the fictional Marokan islands in the 16th Century, Anito follows the Mangatiwala tribe as its people deal with both colonists from distant Senastille and internal unrest within their own ranks. As war between the natives and newcomers becomes all but inevitable, the great peacekeeper Datu Maktan goes missing. It’s thus up to his children - the powerful warrior Agila, and his mystically-attuned sister Maya - to find him, sparking a quest to save their people before it’s too late. Beyond recreating the early stages of Spanish colonialism (complete with analogues to Christian missionaries and Chinese merchants), the game wears its cultural imprint on it sleeve. Be it the inclusion of indigenous kris swords alongside muskets, or the way “chakra” magic and certain enemies like the half-horse Tikbalang are based on precolonial mythology, there’s an attention to detail while alluding to various bits of native folklore. Combined with visuals that meld tropical hyperrealism with the ethereal and how choosing between which protagonist to play offer different approaches (and perspectives) to an otherwise linear story, and the end result’s a fascinating romp that is distinctly homegrown.
Being the studio’s maiden title, however, it doesn’t take long before the limited resources behind its production make themselves felt. Though the tribal-inspired music and audio effects stand out - all the more impressive when these were done by one man - the presentation’s held back by limited voice-acting and dated graphics. The combination of adventure game mechanics with an interface reminiscent of Diablo II and FPS-style movement in combat proved clunky in practice. Meanwhile, as intuitive as combat and exploration were found, the questlines weaving the various chapters and maps together can come off as convoluted, especially for those unfamiliar with the material they take inspiration from. As Dagondon later admitted in 2017, if given the chance to do it all over again, he would had taken more time to make a better game.
While receiving accolades from homegrown magazines like GamesMaster Philippines, a lukewarm reception from foreign reviewers (exacerbated by limited access to North American markets) and local sales being hobbled by rampant piracy, Anito nonetheless manage to earn a cult following locally and abroad, including in Eastern Europe. Notably, it not only became a finalist in the 2004 Independent Games Festival, but managed to win the award for Innovation in Audio. Moreover, the attention garnered by the title’s release helped open doors for the developers, from partnerships with telecommunications giant PLDT to a seat in the Philippine branch of the Independent Game Developers Association (IGDA) and later on, the GDAP. Since then, the game has occasionally popped up in academia as a case study for its continued relevance in conveying both indigenous culture and local programming. Dagondon himself would go on educate the next generation, while many of his fellow founding members have similarly found success as developers in various fields.
Though Anino Games itself used its newfound support to expand into mobile games, resulting in RPG spinoffs such as Anito: Call of the Land and Anito: Tersiago’s Wrath, the studio - known as Anino PlayLab since 2014, following its acquisition by Thailand-based entrepreneur Thomas Andreasen - has long pivoted toward third-party outsourcing and casino slot apps. Yet it couldn’t be understated how significant this step, however small, had been in showing the potential for Filipino gaming. Though in hindsight, it would take a long time before such promises could be remotely realized.
False Pride - Terrawars: New York Invasion
By the mid-2000s, the budding domestic industry was beginning to gain traction, with myriad mobile projects in the works while publishing house Level Up! Games was pioneering the local online gaming scene just as much as it helping popularize it. Among the most peculiar studios from this era was Ladyluck Digital Media. It was founded in 2004 by Luis Mañalac and sought to capitalize on offshore work for Western companies, owing to the Philippines’ lower cost of development. Though little remains available outside archived fluff pieces, it notably operated offices situated above what was then the Philippine Stock Exchange Building, and had aspirations to go beyond just outsourcing. Their first foray into full-fledge games was Terrawars: New York Invasion, released for PCs on July 6, 2006 and published by Tri Synergy. Promoted by news outlets and the likes of GamesMaster Philippines as an exemplar of Pinoy pride, it’s anything but.
Originally intended as an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ seminal classic The War of the Wars, this sci-fi shooter following the adventures of John Armstrong, a medical student-turned National Guard grunt who’s sent to Manhattan to help stop an alien onslaught in progress. As far as the player’s concerned, that’s about as much of a story as it gets, with missions set in the nooks and crannies of New York (based purportedly on thorough research), while collecting vials of “biomatter” along the way for upgrading weapons. From enemies resembling Covenant knockoffs ala Halo: Combat Evolved, to attempts at Half Life-style tension with the bleak levels, it’s though the developers were trying whatever they could to emulate as many Western titles as they could to be as broad-reaching as possible, especially when compared to Anito. This also extends through the use of the dated, yet flexible LithTech engine (iterations of which were used for the No One Lives Forever series), allowing the action to be playable anywhere, whether at comshops in poorer Filipino communities or in high-end builds in Western gaming circles. Thus, on paper, Terrawars would be a win for all involved, and at fraction of the cost.
Once the game came out, it became clear almost immediately that what had been advertised. The visuals do the LithTech engine a gross disservice, with bland graphics and poor textures making a chaotic alien invasion look as lifeless as possible. Tinny sound effects and grunting fail to compensate for the lack of music, while the voice-acting - which included GMA Network newscasters Vicky Morales and the late Mike Enriquez delivering poor facsimiles of American accents, apparently cashing in on local fame - comes off phoned-in, at best. Which is not getting to the shoddy design, at times making levels near-unplayable with inconsistent hitboxes and glitches galore. That the developers claimed it took two years to finish this project, as one recorded news report put it, makes the ensuing dysfunction on display all the more flagrant. It’s little wonder, then, why it was ruthlessly slammed by foreign reviewers as one of the worst titles of its generation, and still remains a subject of ridicule long after being relegated to bargain bins.
Amidst the negative coverage, the GamesMaster Philippines review on August 2006 stood out as practically the only exception with its high rating, comparing it to Valve’s Half-Life 2: Episode One. Yet behind the grandstanding about Pinoy pride, even if only preserved in fragments, there were myriad claims of collusion and conflicts of interest. The editors not only had reportedly close ties with the studio, but also gave out signed copies of Terrawars as prizes around its launch. While it’s no longer possible to discern how severe the backlash was, as the magazine’s forums are no longer online, the following - and as it turned out, final - issue spotlighted a letter from a reader scathingly criticizing the coverage, which the staff subsequently responded to by publishing his personal email address. On top of foreshadowing the decay in games journalism covered in the Airplay documentary by almost a decade, especially those responsible have since washed their hands as though nothing had happened, this only served to undermine confidence in future Filipino games, which would foster cynicism for years after.
While Mañalac in 2007 eventually admitted that Terrawars was a “learning experience” and announced plans for an online multiplayer-based sequel (alongside myriad other titles down the pipeline), Ladyluck Digital Media would erase all traces of such projects from its website by April that year. The studio never made any further forays into homegrown development, fully pivoting toward outsourcing for the likes of EA, Ubisoft and Sony. Little else is known of what happened to it after doing “external art development” for The Sims 4 in 2014, with some of its former staff moving to greener pastures. It wouldn’t be until much later that the spark would be rekindled.
Coming-of-Age - Until Then
For the next several years, it may seem like more of the same as far as the Philippines’ industry is concerned, be it the continued emphasis on outsourcing and esports, or indigenous promotion of foreign-made multiplayer works like Mobile Legends and Call of Duty: Mobile for smartphones. The prolonged lockdowns in the country as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, meanwhile, had also seen the spread of “play-to-earn” blockchain games in the early 2020s, attracting some with promises of easy wealth despite immense volatility. At the same time, however, the rise of indie development and more accessible programming engines has sparked a fresh wave of homegrown titles of greater variety that what’s plausible in the 2000s, including fighting games like BAYANI and the mecha-inspired Garrison: Archangel. Among the most notable successes among this new crop of developers is Polychroma Games, founded by Mickole Klein Nulud (then a student at the University of the Philippines) in 2016. From humble if now-obscured beginnings, however, the studio’s latest release, Until Then, on June 25, 2024 for Steam and PlayStation 5 (published by Maximum Games) has reignited talk of Pinoy pride, and is a coming-of-age in more ways than one.
Set in an alternate 2014 sometime after a series of worldwide disasters known as “the Ruling,” the game follows the tale of Mark Borja as he navigates through his largely-banal high school existence, only for the arrival of a new student from out of town named Nicole Lacsamana and a strange case of deja vu to turn both their lives around forever. While wearing its influences from Japanese visual novels, slice-of-life anime, and the 2019 indie hit Night in the Woods on its sleeve, unlike Terrawars this adventure game is not ashamed of flaunting contemporary Filipino culture. The main setting, Liamson, is not only a fictionalized version of Metro Manila (the common name for the nation’s capital region), but is sprinkled with nods to both historic landmarks like the Quezon Memorial Circle and popular neighborhood mainstays such as Jolibee. This also extends to minigames based on seemingly mundane things like paying for a Jeepney fare and racing to eat fish balls by a food stand, as well as the way in-universe social media feeds echo what Filipinos would likely see on their phones. All these are brought to life with a crisp blend of detailed pixel art, three-dimensional backdrops, vibrant vistas, and a strong if melancholy soundtrack.
As Nulud remarks in a May 2024 interview with IGN, the developers were initially worried over having the Philippines be a “non-negotiable” factor, particularly when it came making their work resonate with global audiences as well as local ones. Yet as fantastical as Until Then’s plot can be, the underlying motifs of reaching into others’ hearts and growing up are as relatable as they come. Rather than merely being a backdrop or inundating players with trivia, the Filipino aspects shine through in grounding the universality of those experiences. From noisy, trash-strewn streets and karaoke singing, to Catholic trinkets and the magical realism angle, it can invoke nostalgia for some, while providing others an interactive snapshot that encourages repeated runs to see the different endings. That the creators went through the trouble of highlighting certain aspects - be it Katipunan Station (situated near several major schools and universities) being replicated almost to the letter, or choosing between studying for tests and a gaming session at home - based on memories from their college days further adds to that sense of authenticity.
Granted, subsequent playthroughs do suffer from pacing issues, due in part to the rhythm-based minigames being clunky and studio's decision to focus on the script and proverbial vibes first over gameplay, itself a consequence of the title’s development starting as the COVID-19 lockdowns went into effect. Nonetheless, the end-result is a work that hits many of the right notes, winning over local and foreign reviewers alike with near-unanimous praise. Whether for its emotionally resonant storytelling as highlighted by local media site Rappler or providing what Eurogamer called the first full display of Filipino representation since Anito, there’s more going for this than just Pinoy pride. In addition to upcoming localization in Mandarin, Japanese and colloquial Tagalog and having sold about USD 1.8 million in gross revenue, the game has also been shortlisted for “Best International Game” for 2024 by SXSW Sydney.
What this means for the future for the Philippines’ games industry remains to be seen. Maybe the country’s current boom might fizzle out, with many creators still struggling to find enough backing to sustain themselves, while the tried-and-tested path takes precedence just as before. Or perhaps games like Until Then reflect a coming-of-age for a homegrown scene that, despite ignoble lows and seeming neglect, has managed to survive. The spotlight placed on indigenous indies alongside other Asian titles during the July 2024 Philippine GameDev Expo seems to attest to that resilience and desire among gamers and programmers to be more than just consumers in an increasingly global stage. Though there remains a long way to go before they can compete with the giants in sales or visibility, the potential for something greater is there for the taking.
Madami akong natutunan sa post nato, parang Anito lang ang pamilyar ako sa lahat. Sana may magrevive from our local games industry nung Ragnarok Online type of games. It used to be very very popular sa Pinoy kids and adults, and even as an adult now, I still play it with private servers and nakakakita ako ng Pinoys here and there. I'm not looking for something very similar, maybe an improvement with the map continuity, modern graphics etc. Nalaro mo ba yun dati?
I still remember the Terra Wars thing and how it could have been better if the devs are at least honest about it.
It won't sell even on Steam, and rightfully so.