In the midst of all the bad news we’ve been getting recently, gamers can at least rejoice. We can expect a new game company to crop up in KL with Lemon Sky Studios (Lemon Sky) and iCandy Interactive’s (iCandy) joint venture.
Calm your excitement though, as the company has yet to even be named, though both parties shared that it’ll be announced soon.
According to Lemon Sky’s press release, the joint venture will be exploring the mobile game market.
It will focus on developing 3D mobile games with cross-platform potential and of AAA quality, and will also be developing its own line of game titles.
Just for a refresher, Lemon Sky Studios is a CGI art and animation studio whereas iCandy is a video game development and publishing company.
Lemon Sky was founded in 2006 as an art outsourcing company for video game and animation industries. They have 300 talents tailoring custom visual art solutions for their clients and partners.
Lemon Sky’s clients for the past 10 years include Bandai Namco, Microsoft, Disney, and Nickelodeon, to name a few.
iCandy on the other hand has a community of over 350 million mobile users worldwide with over 500 million downloads.
In March 2015, they were incorporated as a public company in Australia as an investment holding company.
They’ve won awards in the International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA) and are investing in studios like Appxlore (Malaysia), Inzen Studio (Singapore), and Joyseed Gametribe (Indonesia).
Why This Joint Venture?
Over the years, Lemon Sky has worked on AAA game-titles like Marvel’s Avengers, Warcraft 3: Reforged, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Final Fantasy VII Remake and more.
As iCandy intends to step into developing 3D games with AAA visuals and animation, this will mark their debut in the development.
iCandy’s BOD shared in a press release that this joint venture is meant to allow both companies to leverage each other’s strengths to expand their product offerings.
Lemon Sky can bring its world-class animation, digital art skills and business connections with the global gaming industry, whereas iCandy can offer its large gamer community and experience in mobile gaming and eSports.
Where They’re At With This Joint Venture Now
Currently, the initial capital contribution will be RM1 million, and it will be 50:50 from both companies.
Should they need further funding, it will be an equal contribution or opening up any investment opportunities to third-party investors.
The financial planning and budget will also be set annually to be approved by the BOD of the joint venture, which each party can nominate 2 representatives to.
Once that is settled, the BOD will be appointing the management committee of the joint venture, who will plan and develop the business and product plans for the new company.
They will also be appointing a General Manager to oversee the day-to-day operations.
As for talents, they will be hiring a completely new pool of team members instead of sourcing from their own companies. However, Lemon Sky and iCandy will assist in the recruitment of this new team.
“We are actually at the very early stages of the joint venture. This is a relatively new initiative for both parties and we are learning and determining things as we move forward,” concluded Ken Foong, CCO and COO of Lemon Sky.
Editor’s Note: We’ve reached out to both Lemon Sky and iCandy with a few more questions about the new company, and will update the article with their answers.
- You can learn more about Lemon Sky here and iCandy here.
- You can learn more about other digital news we’ve written about here.
Featured Image Credit: Wong Cheng-Fei, CEO and Ken Foong, CCO and COO of Lemon Sky Studios
