Pakistani game developer joins ranks of Atari and Kabam

White Rabbit Studios is the only Facebook gaming studio from South Asia.

ISLAMABAD:

A Pakistani social game developer is poised to join global gaming giants Atari and Kabam after accreditation from 6waves – the largest Facebook game publisher in the world.

According to a news release issued here, Islamabad’s White Rabbit Studios is the only Facebook gaming studio from Pakistan – and in fact the entire South Asian region – to be featured in the list of key social game developers. As a result of this partnership, the company will gain access to more than 30 million users in 6waves’ gigantic Facebook user network, said the release.

While White Rabbit Studios is a three-year-old game development company, primarily and solely focused on content creation, the Islamabad-based set-up is already considered a veteran in the social gaming scene. It is funded by a prominent Pakistani-American entrepreneur and first came to the fore in early 2010 with the release of Pakistan’s first social game on Facebook – Feline Frenzy – the release added.

White Rabbit’s Facebook partnership with 6waves will lend it an opportunity to become one of the leading content creation companies in South Asia; a rare feat in the services dominated IT sectors of Pakistan and India. “It is very exciting to see our company’s name mentioned along with the likes of Atari and Kabam,” said CEO of White Rabbit Studios Hassan Baig.

“We’re very confident in our ability to compete with the finest minds in centres of innovation across the world. We can do everything they can, and at more favourable economics. We may be considered underdogs at present, but the future, beyond any doubt, will belong to us,” he said.

The multi-billion dollar social gaming industry is reported to be growing at a faster pace than Hollywood, the press release stated; adding that 6waves has previously published several hit games on Facebook, and their partner vetting process is considered one of the most rigorous in the industry.

Overall, White Rabbit’s strategic partnership with 6waves not only bodes well for the future of the IT sector in Pakistan and portrays a new face of the country to the world, but also scripts an interesting new chapter in the history of tech rivalry between Pakistan and India, observed the release.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2012.