Codemasters Malaysia steps it up on Dirt 2

     MALAYSIA: Formed in early 2006, the Malaysian facility of gaming major Codemasters is currently abuzz with action as the studio is working with a full focus on the very successful rally racing game Dirt-2.

    Even as work for this game is simultaneously on at other locations internationally, including the main studio in Southam in England, the Malaysian facility is involved in producing the highly detailed rally tracks and environments that will raise the bar for realism.

    The full involvement of the Malaysian facility on Dirt 2 comes on the heels of the studios work on the 2008 BAFTA Award winning game ‘Grid’ (on which it worked on the Cars and Tracks). In addition to that the studio also worked on parts of “Dirt” and “Operation Flashpoint 2”.

    Codesmasters Malaysia is a joint venture between Codemasters and Vision New Media, with each parent company owning equity stakes. Currently the team strength is 85 artists.

    Speaking to AnimationXpress Asia Pacific, Codemasters Malaysia Chief and Vision New Media MD, H Seong Low shared, “The successful establishment of Codemasters in Malaysia has proven that there is enough talent in this country to do work at a very high quality and skill level. Developing assets for 3rd generation games is very challenging and the success of “Grid” and the soon-to-be-launched “Dirt 2” will show just how far Malaysia has come in the area of graphic asset design and development. This means that Malaysia has world class talent in the area of animation. But we can still broaden and increase the depth of that talent pool as the demands from the CG industry (not just games) continue to grow.”

    “The bulk of our people are involved in CG development. We have just started moving in the direction of programming. This is the long-term plan for both the studio as well as the game industry in Malaysia.” He added.

    The Vision New Media Group was established in 1985 and is an integrated provider of new media content and services including distribution, digital production, post-production, interactive services, animation and media sales. Vision’s animation wing has two full fledged animation studios Persistence of Vision and Fat Lizard addressing the 3D and 2D animation spaces respectively for outsourcing services as well as IP creation.