iCandy’s subsidiary bags US$1.2 million from the German government for its metaverse game
Flying Sheep Studios, a subsidiary of iCandy Interactive (iCandy), is being supported by the German government for its metaverse game, Star Life.
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action will be funding Star Life with approximately €1.1 million (approximately US$1.2 million).
“This funding demonstrates the federal budget for video games working as intended, fostering the development of cutting-edge technical know-how ‘made in Germany’ and creating and securing jobs,” said Thomas Rössig, the founder and managing director of Flying Sheep Studios.
Founded in 2014 in Cologne, Germany, Flying Sheep Studios uses HTML5 to build mid-core mobile games. It has worked with brands such as LEGO, Barbie, and DreamWorks.
Meanwhile, its parent company, iCandy Interactive, is a Melbourne-headquartered game company with a sizable footprint in Malaysia. In 2021, it acquired Malaysian startup Lemon Sky Studios for RM135 million.
Lemon Sky Studios, in turn, has worked on many well-known games such as The Last of Us Part I, Forspoken, Diablo II: Resurrection, and more.
Other than in Malaysia, iCandy also has bases in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Germany, employing more than 700 full-time game developers, artists, and engineers.
The rise of the metaverse
A free-to-play social massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, Star Life is described as a metaverse game with high accessibility, meaning it’s playable from any browser on any device without needing downloads, installations, or high-end technology.
According to the press release, the game prioritises diversity, offering players various options for character creation, shopping, and community-driven events, such as concerts and exhibitions.
As a metaverse game, Star Life unsurprisingly plans to incorporate optional blockchain-enabled items, or more simply put, NFTs.
From Malaysia to the metaverse
When iCandy acquired Lemon Sky Studios in 2021, both teams had shared that they were confident the move will help the group push towards building the extended metaverse.
They weren’t able to share any teasers on what they had in store with regard to the metaverse, but iCandy’s COO, Desmond Lee, told Vulcan Post there were already a few plans in the pipeline.
Neither team has elaborated on the progress of any joint metaverse efforts since then, though.
In any case, the Malaysian government has also been very supportive of the local gaming scene, with the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) having created and hosted events such as LEVEL UP KL.
MDEC has been supportive of the metaverse, saying that the recently launched metaverse creation platform, Mitoworld, aligns with MDEC’s vision of fostering digitalisation and enhancing the competitiveness of local businesses.
With these things in mind, perhaps we’ll also see a new metaverse game in Malaysia soon, one worthy of support from local players as well as the government.
Also Read: Navigate hybrid work’s pain points like productivity & security issues via this webinar
Featured Image Credit: iCandy Interactive
What kind of role do ChatGPT and generative AI play for S’pore creative professionals?
From holding conversations to creating art, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more and more human by the day – at face value, at least.
Tools like ChatGPT are ushering in a new era of the internet by disrupting its most fundamental program: search engines.
Powered by AI technology, ChatGPT can provide detailed answers to search queries, write content based on prompts, and even fix faulty lines of code. While it’s not always accurate – its ‘knowledge’ comes from text found online, including books, blogs, and Wikipedia pages – it can be a lot more efficient and resourceful than traditional search engines such as Google.
When it comes to visual content, programs like DALL-E 2 enable the creation of pictures based on textual prompts. DALL-E 2 is trained using existing image banks and can create artwork, composites, and even mimic the style of known artists.
There are also AI programs which can create music, mimic voices, and generate videos. Notably, DJ David Guetta was seen using AI-generated vocals – which sounded like the rapper Eminem – in one of his songs. Rapper Kendrick Lamar also worked with AI studio Deep Voodoo to create a music video where his face morphed into other celebrities including Will Smith and Kanye West.
It’s apparent that AI technology has the power to disrupt a wide range of creative fields, and here’s how it could impact Singapore’s creative professionals in the near future.
Unlocking new creative avenues
For many, AI simplifies the process of turning ideas into reality. It acts as a substitute for the hundreds of hours of training which an artist or musician might usually put in.
Art forms such as painting and photography get replaced by prompting – describing what you want to see visualised, and allowing the computer to take care of the rest.
“I feel like AI-generated content has created a world of opportunities for music, art, fashion, design and literature,” says Singaporean musician and artist Jaye Foo. “It has enabled me to come up with more ideas at a rapid speed and I am now able to create content with prompts.”
“Because I have this powerhouse of a tool working with me, I am able to embark on more projects and focus more on vision,” Foo continues. “Personally as an artist, I feel empowered.”
After hearing many creators praise the effectiveness of AI tools in their creative process, I was inspired to try it out for myself.
My experience with AI in music production was incredible – I experimented with creating a hip-hop song using AI assistance to generate lyrics and create a rap that sounded like [rapper] J. Cole. The use of AI proved to be an invaluable tool that helped me overcome creative obstacles and bring my vision to life.
– DJ Lethal Skillz
Creators are able to push boundaries with ease, in less time and at little cost.
For an entrepreneur, this could mean putting together branding and a mission statement without any outside help. For agencies, it could mean time saved writing emails, press releases, and other communications. With the groundwork out of the way, there’s more room to focus on ideas and the bigger picture.
As Joy Ling – former editor at a local publication – explains, “AI could help elevate the job scope [for journalists], positioning them to edit rather than write [from scratch].”
Ling believes that, in the near future, AI tools could become increasingly adept at putting together news stories – especially short-form pieces. Instead of writing, journalists would need to learn how to best optimise the AI to write for them.
“The labour is in phrasing the questions to best achieve the results you want,” she adds.
No art without artists
On the other hand, AI technology has its fair share of sceptics and doubters as well. While its ability to generate text and images is impressive, the process through which they are generated raises concerns.
For example, ChatGPT is only as reliable as the sources it draws information from. “I have deep reservations about ChatGPT’s credibility since it primarily draws data from the internet, which is already riddled with misinformation,” says Singaporean author and editor Rachel Tey.
Similarly, AI image generators are problematic because they often repurpose copyrighted material when fulfilling prompts and putting together composites. The original creators don’t receive credit and may find their work being used without permission.
Deepfake videos and AI audio replicating people’s voices also raises ethical concerns. It paves the way for the spread of misinformation, especially as these programs become more sophisticated. With little to differentiate between real and AI-generated content, the credibility of information being shared online takes a big hit.
Even for purely creative endeavours, AI tools might not be the best fit. For instance, as an author, Tey believes strongly in a human touch when it comes to creative writing. ChatGPT may be able to whip up a story with ease, but perhaps, writing a story isn’t meant to be easy.
The creative process is difficult, but struggling to put words and ideas onto a page is an essential part of the writing journey.
In any story, readers aren’t looking for perfection, much less so the predictable spin of AI. They want a thoughtful and authentic voice and point of view. It’s the humanness and accessibility behind the words that connect the author to the reader and unlock the imagination of both.
– Rachel Tey, Singaporean author and editor
In journalism, news organisations have been experimenting with the use of AI for almost a decade. While such tools have proven capable of producing straightforward reports – such as financial earnings and sports results – their use in editorial content isn’t as widely accepted.
“If it was written by an AI, it’s probably not worth reading,” says Emilie Cunnington, contributing writer at Vogue Singapore. “At most, I might use ChatGPT to put together an email – never for a news story though.”
Featured Image Credit: OpenAI / Unsplash
Also Read: Automate mundane tasks: Microsoft unveils AI-powered Copilot to Word, Excel, Outlook and more
Sea CEO Forrest Li assures employees that the worst is over, but their “job is not yet done”
Sea Ltd. has announced that it has completed major changes to its business structure in order to deliver long-term profitability, according to a memo by its billionaire founder Forrest Li.
The announcement comes as the company recently reported its first-ever quarterly net profit, marking a turning point for the firm.
In a 700-word internal memo seen by Bloomberg News, Li assured employees that the worst is over, and that the company has a stabler footing with fewer inefficiencies. He also warned that the company needs to prove that it can sustain a profit and that it has more work to do to achieve long-term success.
“I want to assure you that, assuming no major shift in our external environment, our large-scale changes are complete, and we do not foresee further major changes,” he said.
“The world will be watching to see whether this quarter’s result is just a momentary blip or the start of a long-term trend. Our job is not yet done.”
Sea is now in a much “stronger position”
Sea Ltd. has faced a difficult year, with rising interest rates, accelerating inflation, and geopolitical tensions impacting its business. The company has lost approximately US$160 billion (S$214.7 billion) of market value since its peak in October 2021, which has led to thousands of job cuts and the freezing of salaries to convince investors of its profit-making ability.
The company has also made major changes to its operations, shuttering its operations in India and some European and Latin American markets to trim costs and reach positive cash flows. This is a stark contrast to years of prioritising global expansion.
Regardless, Li praised the company for taking “major action early in the crisis”, which he says has put Sea Ltd. in a “stronger position today”.
Sea Ltd. has been in the news recently for its e-commerce unit, Shopee, which cut about 500 jobs in Indonesia this month, just days after the company reported its surprise first-ever quarterly profit. The company has also slashed more than US$700 million from quarterly sales and marketing expenses to improve profitability.
Despite the challenges Sea Ltd. has faced, it remains the largest internet company in Southeast Asia, and its recent quarterly profit suggests that the company’s major changes are starting to pay off.
Sea Ltd. was briefly the world’s best-performing stock and has a market capitalisation of around US$121.9 billion. The company operates three main businesses: digital entertainment, e-commerce, and digital financial services. Its e-commerce platform, Shopee, is one of the largest online shopping platforms in Southeast Asia.
Featured Image Credit: Guru Gamer / Sea
Also Read: Less is more as Sea Ltd finally posts a healthy profit despite a drop in core businesses
New mobile RPG Valiant Force 2 got 1mil pre-registrations, but was it worth the hype?
I’m a sucker for a beautiful game, so when I saw Valiant Force 2’s anime-looking artwork, I immediately wanted to play it.
Launched just last month, Valiant Force 2 is a strategy mobile roleplay game.
As the “2” in its name suggests, it’s the second instalment of the Valiant Force franchise created by XII Braves, a Singaporean AAA mobile gaming company.
For those who never played the original game (like me), fret not. The game opens with some reintroduction (voiced in Japanese, like the rest of the game) into the world both instalments of Valiant Force are set in.
And the plot thickens…
The game opens with a fight scene with the Red Witch, who appears to be the main villain of the game. It wasn’t clear at first, but these scenes are actually recapping events from the original Valiant Force.
After the opening sequence, an intro plays, briefly explaining the current state of Arathos.
Leon, the main protagonist also known as the Crystal Bearer, has suddenly departed to Feldria. Because of this, Arathos is now rife with chaos and vulnerable to unknown dangers lurking beyond its shores.
Many seem to hate Leon for leaving and dooming the realm, but some others believe in him still and wait for his heroic return, along with the four Valiants who aided his quest. (Valiants are essentially the heroes in this world.)
Valiant Force 2 follows three young knights—Elise, Felix, and Maeve—who are expected to rise up and keep the peace and maintain order.
Elise seems to be the main character of this game. According to Valiant Force 2’s website, “Saving the realm will demand great things from Elise, who must weigh all that she holds dear in her quest—not merely to be a hero, but to always do the right thing.”
There’s also a story trailer for the game up on YouTube that explores Elise’s background. Apparently, she looked up to Leon when she was growing up, which encouraged her to join the knights.
Leon’s departure thus felt like a betrayal, and she must now go up against her hero.
After a few levels, another cutscene plays, explaining how two years have passed and Leon is expected to make a reappearance. From there, the story continues to develop.
Going into the game blind, though, I honestly felt really confused in the beginning. While I will always choose subtitles over dubbing, all the narration and texts in the opening made my head hurt.
The complex fantasy names threw me off (what’s a Feldria and who’s a Leon Daracan?) and made me annoyed, to say the least, and it took a while (and some Googling) to really understand what’s going on.
So, those who love a rich plotline and want to understand better what’s going on should definitely check out the game’s story trailer online.
Adorable anime-inspired artstyle
As mentioned, I was drawn into the game mostly by its anime-esque art style. I love the costume designs, finding the ornate style to suit the fantasy world well.
I already expected this much, but what I didn’t expect was that most of the game actually plays out in 3D chibi characters. I find this to be positively adorable, though some (cough, my managing editor Sade, cough) don’t find it as charming as I do.
Another very anime thing—when unleashing ultimates, a very anime-like 2D video plays, which honestly made me laugh the first time I saw it. But, hey, it lends itself to the whole “epic” vibe the game is going for.
Since it’s a gacha game, creating interesting and attractive characters is of key importance. There are six classes of characters—Guardian, Champion, Ranger, Shadow, Mystic, and Healer.
They’re further classified into tiers S, A, B, and C.
So far, I like the characters a decent amount, though none of them have really caught my attention that much.
A lot of them have pretty barebones characterisation, relying mostly on their visuals to appeal to players rather than their personalities, which is a bit of a shame.
(I was going to say, why are all the ladies so unrealistically voluptuous? But never mind, I believe I know the answer…)
Detailed gameplay mechanics
The actual gameplay of Valiant Force 2 is pretty straightforward, at least at first glance. A turn-based, online strategy gacha game, Valiant Force 2 progresses through levels where you’ll have to defeat the enemies.
Each level starts and ends with some plot development, but you can always skip these scenes if you don’t care for the plot.
Movement in the battle is limited by the tiles. The battle map starts with 18 tiles but expands as you progress through the story.
The game features something they call an aura system. All the technical terms such as aura bearings, linked units, and aura triggering can be really confusing at first, which might even deter some from playing.
But once you understand that it really just comes down to compatibility between characters, you’ll find it to be quite an interesting mechanism.
Combat includes elemental strengths and weaknesses, so that’s an added layer to the gameplay.
Other than the main quest, there are also other things to explore within the game, particularly within the Academy.
Worth the hype?
Going into the game, I admittedly expected something quite derivative, but was pleasantly surprised by the detailed storyline.
Even though the playable characters have not appealed to me much, I do appreciate the work that went into designing them.
Valiant Force 2 might feel a little hard to get into at first, especially if you’re not really into strategy type games, but it’s such a rewarding experience once you pick it up. In that sense, yes, it’s worth the hype.
It’s on the slower-paced side, though, so if you like a more action-packed game, this might not be the one for you.
Rather, those who want a game they don’t feel guilty for skipping a day or two of every now and then will find Valiant Force 2 right up their alley.
In short, Valiant Force 2 is a cute, fun, and interesting game. It’s not my favourite gameplay-wise, but it’s fun enough that I’m willing to keep going to explore more of the story.
Also Read: 6 ways to manage and protect your precious banking access from online hacks or scams
As MalaysianPAYGAP keeps fighting for pay transparency, it aims to start a job site & summit
It’s been a little over a year since MalaysianPAYGAP (MPG) got its start.
For those who don’t know, MPG is an Instagram account—that now also has a YouTube channel—that advocates for wage transparency.
It’s best known for posting anonymous Malaysian employees’ wages and job details online to give others a clearer picture of what the standards are like in the industry.
Other than just continuing to broadcast anonymous Malaysians’ wages, though, MPG has quite an assortment of ambitions it plans to act upon in the near future. Its creator, Prestine Davekhaw, made this clear in a recent interview with us.
Here’s a glimpse into some of its upcoming projects that the platform aims to undertake.
It’s a numbers game
Having collected a wealth of data, MPG began to showcase its findings on a Google Looker Studio dashboard sometime last year.
This dashboard compiles and presents information about the median gross salary in Malaysia across different states as well as racial and educational backgrounds.
While insightful, an issue that has come up is that of having a sample bias. The kind of people who end up submitting their information and salaries to MPG are typically English-speaking and work in MNCs.
This issue is something that Prestine acknowledges and plans to address.
“We’re going to have another round of data collection coming through next year, that’s when we’ll activate more power on the ground to reach out to people who are not the majority of our audience.”
Believing that MPG is inadvertently ignoring a huge part of the population that’s more comfortable conversing in Malay, Prestine hopes to get a Malay producer for the YouTube channel, and further diversify the team from there.
This will help them reach out to different parts of the public and complete the data collection process.
The data dashboard aside, Prestine shared that many have asked MPG to publish an official report. However, that will be a challenge in itself.
“When we are collecting that data, we don’t have the infrastructure to support payslip verification,” she pointed out. “So, we are unable to verify that this submission is 100% true on that dashboard. It’s not sufficient enough to come up with a report.”
Understanding how important and valuable such a report may be, though, the MPG founder hopes that they’ll have a skillful enough person to come in and work on this infrastructure.
“It’s very easy to try to influence culturally, to try to use stories and narratives to change the conversation,” Prestine acknowledged. “But it would be more impactful if we can pair it up with a whole data system.”
A different spin on a job board
Currently, MPG is looking to fill roles for its upcoming project of building a dedicated website. This website will support the whole wage transparency narrative while providing resources for individuals and companies to support and implement that.
The team also wants to create a portal on the website that streamlines the data collection of wages.
Another thing that Prestine wants to accomplish, she revealed, was to create a unique job board.
“For this job portal, I’m not 100% sure if it’s what the community needs, even though it seems like it,” the MPG creator shared. “Everytime we post up something, I will receive so many DMs saying, ‘What is that company, I would love to apply to them’.”
Hearing this, Prestine realised she wasn’t providing them with a straight-cut solution. Thus, she felt like maybe a job board was the answer.
But unlike the usual job board, MPG aims to only list companies with good transparency and perks.
“It’s going to be very selective, so we also have to make sure that we know all of the benchmarks that we’re going to set.”
She added, “And we have to know how to filter companies. We have to know how to talk to companies and understand their pain points too.”
It’s certainly a tall order, but having the established MPG branding behind it would immediately help the job board stand out from others in Malaysia.
Shining a light on corporate heroes
It doesn’t stop there. Website and job board aside, one of the biggest projects Prestine aims to undertake is a job summit.
Planning to call it Corporate Heroes, she likened the future summit to a career conference—but more fun, and only for white-collar workers.
Prestine believes that in terms of conferences, employees only ever get to attend job fairs. Conferences typically only cater to entrepreneurs and policy-level people, not the everyday worker.
Thus, MPG’s summit—to be dubbed the Corporate Heroes Summit—will be a mix between a business conference as well as a wellness retreat. Much like the job board, it will feature a curated cast of employers.
The speakers that Prestine hopes to invite include member of parliament Syed Saddiq, financial blogger Aaron Tang (AKA Mr Stingy), and Khailee Ng, a managing partner of 500 Global.
Workshop themes at this summit include salary negotiation, burnout support, career planning, white collar personal finance development, etc.
Panels might feature discussions around racism in the workplace, whether HR personnel are friends or enemies, managing boundaries in the workplace, and more.
In short, this whole summit is created for white-collar employees, by white-collar workers.
“Policy is going to take a long time to change,” she explained the importance of such a summit. “In the meantime, what we can change is the collective mindset towards work.”
Prestine and her team aim to organise the summit in Q4, but for now, it’s still a huge work in progress. MPG will need a lot of support to make it happen, but the founder seems ambitious enough to hopefully see this movement through.
- Learn more about MalaysianPAYGAP here.
- Read other articles we’ve written about Malaysian startups here.
Also Read: 6 ways to manage and protect your precious banking access from online hacks or scams
Featured Image Credit: MalaysianPAYGAP
Hopping on the trend, this local online brand is pioneering permanent jewellery in Malaysia
If you’ve been on the fashion side of TikTok lately, you’ve probably noticed people overseas welding the ends of their necklaces or bracelets together rather than using a clasp.
This is called permanent jewellery. Essentially it’s exactly what the name suggests—jewellery pieces that aren’t meant to be taken off, at least not easily.
You could even say that permanent jewellery becomes a part of the wearer’s identity.
And since this aligned with Azloft and its philosophy of creating everyday jewellery, the brand decided to launch a permanent jewellery collection, one of the few available in Malaysia. In fact, the brand even claims to be the first provider of such jewellery locally.
From A to Z
The name Azloft might seem a little quirky, but there’s actually a personal story behind it.
Lara, the founder, found an old warehouse-turned-loft that housed a variety of goodies. From antique and modern furniture to vintage clothes and tech, it was a treasure trove.
So they decided to name the brand “Azloft” in the belief that you can find anything from A to Z in a loft. It’s also a take on how their goal is to craft pieces that suit any style, occasion, or mood—matching everything, from A to Z.
“We want our pieces to become treasured heirlooms, passed down from generation to generation,” Lara said. Permanent jewellery seems perfectly aligned with that.
As of now, their permanent jewellery collection called Infinity² is made of durable materials like gold-filled and sterling silver chains. This makes them hypoallergenic and tarnish-resistant with proper care and maintenance.
Dictionary time: Solid gold jewellery is a piece of jewellery made entirely of gold, inside and out. It’s the most expensive and durable among the other types of fine gold jewellery. On the other hand, gold-filled jewellery consists of a few layers of solid gold that are bonded (or pressed) with other metals, such as brass or sterling silver.
How permanent is permanent?
A common concern that people have about permanent jewellery is the inconvenience of taking it off during emergencies. For example, major medical procedures like surgeries require you to be jewellery-free.
In such cases, Lara assured that you can snip the permanent jewellery with a nail trimmer or a pair of sharp scissors. It can then be kept aside and returned to Azloft for re-welding services.
Passing through airport security shouldn’t be an issue either. “Our permanent jewellery won’t set off the metal detector. We’ve tried it ourselves several times.”
To help customers feel more confident and secure in their purchase, Azloft provides a seven-day warranty on the welded jump ring (the connecting ring for both ends of your jewellery). So if anything happens to the jump ring, they’ll re-weld it free of charge.
You’ll have to reach out to the brand with your warranty certificate and a description of the issue, and they’ll get the piece repaired as quickly as possible.
Interested customers can make an appointment on their website to purchase Azloft’s permanent jewellery pieces by choosing their desired locations, dates, and time slot.
Azloft doesn’t have its own retail store yet, but works from booths at different locations.
They include The Waterfront at Desa Park City, Publika, Main Atrium at Fahrenheit88, Intermark Mall, and more. They will also be present at certain events such as Kaloot Raya Fest 2023.
When booking your appointment, there will be a RM50 deposit required to secure your spot. It’ll be deducted from your total bill later on.
If you’re getting it together with another person, then Azloft recommends booking consecutive appointments as they’re only able to accommodate one person at a time.
The whole process typically takes 15 minutes and is assured to be 100% safe and painless by Lara.
Creating jewellery that lasts a lifetime
Having run Azloft for over six years, Lara has learnt a thing or two about what it takes to build a sustainable business.
“One of the toughest challenges we’ve faced is finding that perfect balance between keeping up with industry trends and staying true to our unique style and aesthetic,” she explained.
It can be tempting to jump on the bandwagon of what’s hot and trendy, but sticking to your niche is what sets your brand apart.
Her can-do spirit is also reflected in how Azloft views competitor brands in and out of Malaysia.
“We believe that healthy competition is great for driving innovation and keeping us all on our toes,” Lara expressed. “We welcome other brands to join the game and bring their own unique perspectives to the world of permanent jewellery and add more colours to the industry.”
According to their website, Azloft provides sustainable jewellery solutions with “the lowest environmental impact”.
Lara explained that this is done by producing jewellery that is high in quality and made of durable materials. “Rather than trendy, fast-fashion pieces that are meant to be disposable,” she added.
Besides that, Lara also shared that Azloft is transparent about the brand’s production process and materials, adding, “So that customers can make informed decisions about their purchases and feel good about supporting a sustainable business.”
But having explored their website, I noticed that not all of their product listings actually state the jewellery’s materials. It could be because they’re older listings that haven’t been updated yet.
To increase the trust of customers, Azloft could look into standardising their products’ descriptions, which would also ease the shopping experience.
Ringing in the future
Eventually, Azloft plans to expand the brand’s presence to a physical store.
“We hope to create a space where customers can experience our products in person and connect with our brand on a more personal level,” Lara said.
In the meantime, the brand will focus on diversifying its product offerings.
Lara shared that Azloft will be introducing new additions to its permanent jewellery collection soon, specifically adornments made of solid gold and chunkier designs. They’re also exploring new charm options to further grow the existing collection.
With such plans in the works, it’s safe to say that Azloft could change the local jewellery industry.
Although the concept of permanent jewellery has been around for several years, it’s only recently that it’s gone viral.
So, it’ll be interesting to see how long this jewellery trend would last, and whether it would find a permanent place on the hands of Malaysians.
Also Read: ZCOVA expands to offer lab-grown diamonds with a message that “if you want it, then get it”
Featured Image Credit: Azloft
