Wan Hazmer, lead game designer of Square Enix Japan, came to Limkokwing University to give students a talk about the industry on 30 Aug.
Square Enix is a Japanese video game development and publishing company formed from the merger of video game developer ‘Square’ and publisher ‘Enix’ on 1 April 2003. The company is famous for its role playing video game franchises which include: Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts series.
Of its properties, the ‘Final Fantasy’ franchise is the best-selling, with total worldwide sales of over 100 million units. The ‘Dragon Quest’ series has shipped over 57 million units worldwide and is one of the most popular video game series in Japan, while the ‘Kingdom Hearts’ series has shipped over 12 million copies worldwide.
Before heading to Japan the 36 year-old Malaysian was a lecturer at Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT) and The One Academy.
Hazmer’s studio, ‘Easy Only Games’ won third place with ‘Ballistic Wars’ and won first prize for ‘The Last Canopy’ at the 2007 Casual Game Design Competition.
Hazmer worked for Square Enix Japan since 2010. He was one of several game designers on Final Fantasy Type-0 (2011) and one of the lead game designers on Final Fantasy XV (2016).
During the talk Hazmer shared his experience in the gaming industry, tips on how to become a successful gamer, emerging game trends and his recent projects. Trailers for Hazmer’s game projects were also screened.
“The game industry is forever changing, so it is important to always be updated to easily adapt to the demands of the market. As the new generation you have to change the norm as there are always opportunities to innovate,” advised Wan Hazmer.
He also said to be a successful gamer one has to possess excellent team working skills.
“I manage a team of over 50 people and they come from all walks of life, it’s important that I understand every one of them; how they work, how to address them and so on. This is how I surmised that team working skills and being culturally savvy are of utmost importance; not only in the gaming industry but in any industry today.”
For Petrishka Deborah, a semester 5 Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Games Art Development student, the industry talk was particularly more interesting to her because she always wanted to learn more about Japanese games.
“I was very amazed and learned a lot, most of the time we discuss and have case studies on western games, but it was so refreshing to learn something new, and this will map a clear map for my research,” she said.
Alexander Garry Sutantya in semester 4 acknowledged that industry talks are a vital aspect of learning as they bring new insights on what is trending in the industry. He also said that learning through experts will enhance their skills base making them more marketable after they graduate.
