Muhammad Ishaq Patni travelled from Karachi, Pakistan to Cyberjaya, Malaysia for one reason: to make his dreams of making a career out of his passion for gaming, people and technology come true. It started off with the Animation programme at Limkokwing University and today, he is the Head of Games department at Innovative Network Pvt. Ltd. and Co-Founder of ViCP Games.
Founded in 2016, the company has vast expertise in offering a wide variety of services to a portfolio of worldwide clients majority from US/Canada and UK, many of whom are industry leaders. Working with such a wide collection of customers, each with its own set of unique and rigorous criteria, INPL has evolved its employees and facilities to satisfy the needs of practically any data or resource-heavy project.
ViCP Games has one mission: to become a successful product based game studio in Pakistan that elevates the games market further through its standards and practices. The company aims to empower and enhance the skills of local artists and developers using international industry practices and the latest tools.
“We contributed to the growth of Pakistan’s game development industry and IT exports exponentially by catering large scale projects nationally and internationally specially during COVID-19,” Ishaq shares. “The company also acted as an institution to groom and mentor upcoming developers, artists and facilitated them with opportunities.”
At ViCP, Ishaq and his team started a programme that allowed people with passion for the industry to join the company and get on the job training programme until they are professionally qualified to work anywhere around the world.
“I used to play quite a lot of video games in my childhood, so the spark was always there. However, I didn’t pursue it till the 10th grade,” Ishaq says. “When I discovered Autodesk Maya, I got hooked into the world of CG. I loved every aspect of it from concept art, modelling, texturing, and animation.”
Ishaq graduated from the Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Animation programme at Limkokwing University. “It was an amazing experience studying at a multicultural university. I had some industry experience prior to joining Limkokwing, however studying there definitely groomed my skills and helped me envision my career goals,” he says.
Today, Ishaq’s company is working with IGN Pakistan on an initiative to support and elevate the Pakistani games industry and provide incubators for aspiring artists and developers alike. “I am working with a reputed client for an interesting meta verse project which will revolutionise the e-commerce industry,” he adds.
One of the most interesting projects Ishaq has worked on is AR Alive, a multiplayer game based on AR technology. “I like the challenges it came with such as creating a stable multiplayer field on a marker-less technology while keeping it playable and maintaining the maximum visual quality,” he says.
That’s not all. “Aligning the in-game camera and device camera in reference to on screen controls was also a huge challenge. I learned a lot working on this project as Generalist & Game Manager,” he adds.
Ishaq has won an award for being the best game strategist; received the Shield and Roshan Statue from Valve for creating in-game assets for The DOTA2 International 2018 (esports Tournament); and the list goes on.
ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/mipatni/albums/all
ALIVE-AR Game (App Store): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/alive-ar/id1598010288
ALIVE-AR Game (Google Play): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Cmolds.Alive&hl=en&gl=MY
