Over the past year, Sony has connected with talented game developers from across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) through the PlayStation MENA Hero Project.
And now the Japanese company announced the first cohort of four titles supported under the project, said Hector Fernandez, head of GTPR business development and strategic initatives at Sony Interactive Entertainment.
In an interview with GamesBeat at the Next Generation Sports Conference in Riyadh, Fernandez said the initiative has the simple goal of identifying and supporting original voices throughout the region. It’s a third-party project for Sony’s game business.
On stage, Toshimoto Mitomo, chief strategy officer of Sony, said that Sony anounced the MENA Hero Project on stage a year ago and received more than 200 applications from MENA game makers, a sign of the enthusiasm for games in the region.
The program is a follow-up to the PlayStation Hero Project that Sony did in China to encourage game developers to make regional content over the course of a decade. The idea is to empower creators from emerging regions to tell their stories through games. Sony also has supported India devs who will start publishing their own titles next year.
“The Hero Project is a incubator program, which started in 2017 in China. It was really to be able to go out there and essentially help developers to see value on publishing games on PlayStation, especially in mobile, PC strong markets,” Fernandez said. “We’ve done this in India now for the last few years. We have seven titles that are coming from that region right now, first of which we’ll be starting to release at the beginning of next year. And so with MENA today was we announced our first cohort of titles, and those are the four games.”
Today’s group includes Red Bandits, a title from developer Team Agenda in Saudi Arabia.
Red Bandits is a fast-paced robbery action game set in a hyper-capitalist age where one company rules the world through complete monopoly. In this world, a newly formed thieves organization known as the Red Bandits, emerges to challenge the system and spark a rebellion. You play as Stutt, a seasoned old thief with a stuttering condition and a mysterious past he can’t fully remember.
Break into the company’s fortified floors, take down the powerful board of directors, and bring back a de-monopolized world order. With a dynamic cover system, evolving heists, and a vibrant comrades’ hideout, Red Bandits blends fast, stylish action with a deeply personal story of rebellion. The game will be robbing its way to PS5 and PC.
Another title was Enci’s Solution from developer Dark Emerald in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
Exiled by humans centuries ago, the Aeons are confined to the desolate underground. Their village is safe, but beyond the gates, danger lurks at every corner, and not everyone can be trusted. No one has left the village before, except for Ji’we.
Inspired by techno-dystopian aesthetics, Enci’s Solution is a hand-painted, 2.5D narrative platformer following the story of Ji’we, a young Aeon venturing out into the unknown in an attempt to save his dearest friend. Stumbling upon Enci, a lost encyclopedic robot who finds himself far from home, the two form an unusual bond and set out together to the surface of planet Regalia.
Play through 40+ levels with increasing difficulty and explore uncharted territories. Find collectibles and uncover the secrets they carry about the world and its odd inhabitants. Keep an eye out for hidden levels and challenge yourself to think outside the box.
Next is The Perfect Run from developer Lanterns Studios in Tunisia.
Save the world or blow it up yourself, one loop at a time. The Perfect Run is an action-adventure RPG game where the player controls Quicksave, a time-traveling hero caught in an epic struggle between supervillain gangs, marketed superheroes, and a powerful mega corporation for the control of the city of New Rome.
With three days to decide the city’s fate, the player can go back in time to decide their perfect ending… if they have the skill to do so! Interact with NPCs and unlock new dialogue options thanks to information collected in earlier loops, join a faction in one route and fight them the next, bend time itself in epic battle against superpowered bosses, collect the best upgrades before the reset, and unlock the city’s secrets in this memorable superhero adventure. It will be on PS5 and PC.
The last title is Cat’s Manor from developer Happiest Dark Corner from Bahrain.
You awaken trapped in a house infested with spiders and inhabited by an eccentric family. At the end of your tail, you discover a crudely stitched hand. With no memory of who you are or how you got here, you let curiosity guide you forward.
A Cat’s Manor is an atmospheric adventure that blends puzzles, combat, crafting, and rhythm-based music challenges. Use your wits to escape the manor. Investigate your surroundings, solve puzzles, fight your way through deadly encounters, or outsmart your foes and avoid trouble.
Inspect, observe, listen, and feel your surroundings for clues and cues, immersing yourself with 3D audio and PS5 DualSense controller features. Uncover the secrets of the manor and unravel what the family is hiding. It will be on the PS5 and PC.
The MENA Hero Project
The MENA Hero Project is the newest chapter in SIE’s global Hero Project family, joining India and China in its mission to discover and nurture the next generation of original game creators. We believe that great games can come from anywhere. Through the MENA Hero Project, we’re committed to unlocking the region’s creative potential, supporting locally inspired experiences with the power to captivate players around the world.
“The way it works is we put out a call for submissions, and then anyone can apply for it. And once we receive the applications, a person on my team named Sujith Sukumaran (senior program manager, India/MENA Hero Projects) calls everybody, speaks to them, and essentially helps them provide information, as well as a build for us to play. And we have a committee that essentially plays all the games, and then we stack rank them based upon everyone’s individual opinion. And then we select the ones for financing. So these are the ones that were the titles that we felt were the best games,” Fernandez said.
Sony does work such as actual training and the education to be able to deliver the games. Hero Project now operates in 12 countries. The company received more than 200 applications this time.
He added, “I’m very fortunate that our company, at a Sony Corp. level, understands that in order to basically create new IP, you need to empower new voices, and in order to do that, you have to invest. You have to you have to do it every day.”
“We’re really looking at this as a great opportunity for us to be able to empower the next voices of game development from parts of the world where people may have never experienced their culture or had a sense of what their ideas could be in a game. We think this gives us the opportunity to do that and make great games for global gamers,” Fernandez said.
Disclosure: NGSC paid my way to Riyadh.