GameEon Studios CEO, Nikhil Malankar talks about studio's upcoming GTA in Mumbai game 'Mumbai Gullies'

India Today Gaming recently had a chat with Nikhil Malankar, Chief Executive Officer of GameEon Studios. He talked about GameEon Studios, and their upcoming game Mumbai Gullies which has been dubbed as the GTA based in Mumbai. Nikhil also shed light on the development process including the use of Unreal Engine 5 for their open-world game. Here is India Today Gaming's exclusive interview with the CEO of GameEon Studios.

For people who don’t know GameEon, could you share a brief on the mission and vision of GameEon?

GameEon Studios is a game development company that I had started way back in 2013 with a couple of my friends. Since then, till now we have grown by leaps and bounds. We started out with an ambition to create an open-world game based in the city of Mumbai and it took us almost a decade to build the right set of infrastructure and skills that have enabled us to create high-quality games. Our mission and vision are to be the pioneers of developing AAA titles from India.

The studio first made the splash with the announcement of Mumbai Gullies, a game dubbed the GTA game based in Mumbai. How is the development coming along for the title? Any initial ETA?

Everyone is excited about Mumbai Gullies, it's great to see the game's announcement being received so positively by all. The project is very much on track in terms of development timelines, and we had announced earlier that the Prologue will be launched by the end of 2022.

Could you share some technical details about Mumbai Gullies? What Unreal version is it based on and what other development apps are currently in use?

When we started development, we were using Unreal Engine 4.27.2 but after Epic Games launched the tech demo for Matrix Awakens that used UE5 we were blown away by it. Therefore, we started doing a bit of R&D on UE5 and now are happy to announce that we have shifted to Unreal Engine's 5.0.0 version.

Would Mumbai Gullies support modding support where one could turn it into Vice City or something similar?

At this moment we are not having any modding support for the game that is built by us.

Epic Games just announced Unreal Engine 5 for game developers. Have you had the chance to try out the latest tools that UE 5 brings to the table? If so, then how could it assist you with the development of your coming game?

Yes, we did, as mentioned earlier we have now migrated our project into Unreal Engine 5 which is actually an engine built to be a powerhouse enabler to create open world games. Our ambitions with Mumbai Gullies are sky high and Unreal Engine 5 is helping us reach our true potential. We are impressed by the traffic system and AI system that has been enhanced and optimized in UE5 and using this version has been a breath of fresh air for us.

A number of players from the Indian game dev industry have been in the space for more than a decade but this hasn’t helped it breach the mainstream. Things have only started to change at a somewhat faster pace in the last 3-4 years. Why do you think this is the case?

I think 2020 was the reason that became a catalyst for the entire gaming system, not just in India but also abroad, to catapult the game development industry to the next level. That and the extended availability of Internet penetration which has enabled aspiring game developers to pick up game development as a skill through various online resources available. Distribution pipelines have also been largely democratized now. All of these factors and to a certain extent also the government support has impacted the gaming industry in India positively.

How has the pandemic changed things for GameEon and the video game development industry in India?

It's a moral dilemma to say this, but the pandemic has been beneficial for the entire game development industry and also for us as a studio. We grew exponentially during the pandemic itself. The growth that we saw during that period is what was responsible for fast tracking our journey to be able to execute on the dream of making an open world game based on Mumbai.

How do you think the recently announced AVGC initiative as part of the Union Budget helps you, GameEon, and the industry as a whole?

Any initiative that sheds a positive light on the gaming industry in India is helpful. Gone are the days when game development used to be looked upon negatively. There were times back in the day when game development was not even considered to be a viable career option. The Union Budget along with a couple of other things have actually helped instil a sense of trust in the community that game development can also be a good career option.

What do you want to convey to the multiple stakeholders of the Indian game development industry to transform and change things for the better?

I want to convey that we are now maturing as a community and there is more acceptance and democracy in the gaming space. Anyone can give it a shot and try to come up with something creative. My message also goes out to investors to say that I strongly believe that the gaming industry in India is set to grow at an extremely rapid pace with such a diversity and flood of great ideas and products shaping up in the market so watch out for opportunities in this space.

What do you want to advise budding game developers who what to enter the space?

For budding game developers my advice would be to be patient and focus on improving your skills. You need not rush yourself in this field, it takes time to make games and along with this there is a ton of hard work that goes into the process so educate yourself as much as you can and keep on upskilling yourself. Enroll yourself in courses, play games, and learn from them.

What do you want to convey to the parents who are rather hesitant about the games industry in India?

Traditional jobs are slowly fading away. In the future, there will be tons of creative jobs that will have more importance and pay than all the traditional jobs that exist today. Game development is one such field wherein you can make a good career. I think the best validation in recent times is Nazara Technologies being listed on the Indian Stock Exchange. Much of the concern of parents is that if their child enters game development then will they be able to earn a good living for themselves? The answer is absolutely yes.

Game development at the end of the day is very much similar to software development. So, if parents can encourage their children to pursue engineering and become software developers then how is game development any different from that? Also, nowadays people are building their careers even by simply just playing games. So the opportunities are endless and there is no need to worry about anything when it comes to the games industry in India. It is growing and maturing rapidly.

How can one join and/or help GameEon in the development of Mumbai Gullies?

We are definitely going to need all the help we can, not just from a development perspective but also from an investment perspective. We have now set out to build an infrastructure through which we can develop AAA titles, so we have opened up our next round of fundraise. So, if any investor is interested in being a part of this growth journey then we welcome them to hear us out. Additionally, we are also building our team so in case you think you have what it takes to be able to contribute to the development of not just Mumbai Gullies but also an assortment of other titles that are under development then reach out to our HR department and we will schedule interviews and take it from there.

What is the one thing aspiring game developers should know before they enter the industry?

One thing to keep in mind is that it takes time to make games. There is a ton of misinformation out there mentioning that game development is easy, and games are very easy to develop. I think one thing everyone must realize is that it is not at all an easy process, however, I do not say this to demotivate people to enter this industry, Game development is one of the most amazing careers out there. But one must know all the aspects related to this industry before they enter game development.

What game are you playing these days? What are some of the titles that really impressed you in the last year?

I have been exploring a lot of AAA games. Recently I finished God of War 4 and am now playing Gran Turismo 7. I am always amazed by the quality of projects being upgraded over the last few years. I am also personally excited for Witcher 4 which was recently announced, and they mentioned that they are even using Unreal Engine 5 for making it so it would be interesting to see how that pans out.