Malaysia’s Deputy Digital Minister Datuk Wilson Ugak Kumbong said strengthening the country’s video-game industry would do more than expand entertainment: it would help develop the technical and creative capabilities needed across the wider digital economy. He made the case during his opening speech at Level Up KL 2026 in Kuala Lumpur on 16 October.
What the minister said at Level Up KL 2026
Level Up KL 2026 took place on 15–16 October and was organised by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), bringing Malaysian and international game developers and publishers together. In his opening remarks, Ugak described game development as a combination of technology, storytelling, design and innovation.
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His argument was that those disciplines produce transferable capabilities. Programming, technical art, production management, user experience design, narrative development and problem-solving can support work beyond games, including other digital-content and technology businesses. The minister framed games as part of Malaysia’s broader economic-development strategy rather than as an isolated entertainment segment.
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A cross-disciplinary production process
Making a commercial game requires teams to coordinate software engineering, visual design, audio, writing, animation, quality assurance, project management and business operations. That mix gives workers experience in both creative production and technical delivery. Ugak said the industry therefore helps develop talent that Malaysia needs to compete in a rapidly changing world.
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Jobs are an intended outcome, not a measured result yet
The speech connected industry support with high-value employment, but the report of the event does not provide an independent baseline for current game-industry jobs, revenue or skills. The relationship between a stronger games sector and broader talent outcomes is the deputy minister’s stated rationale, not an independently measured impact in the speech report.
Malaysia’s 2030 digital-creative targets
Ugak linked the games agenda to the Digital Creative Ecosystem Roadmap, whose targets are set for 2030:
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| Target | 2030 figure | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Digital-creative industry revenue | RM9 billion | Government roadmap target |
| Exports | RM6 billion | Government roadmap target |
| Strategic investment | RM6 billion | Government roadmap target |
| High-value jobs | 10,000 | Government roadmap target |
These figures describe the ambition of the roadmap; the event report does not establish how much progress has already been made or attribute a particular share of each target to video games. Ugak said the policy goal is to accelerate growth, attract high-value investment and help Malaysian developers compete internationally while positioning the country as a global digital-creative hub.
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Productivity and cost opportunities
MDEC chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah said artificial intelligence could improve productivity, accelerate development and help studios manage costs. Potential uses in a production pipeline include assisting with repetitive development tasks, organising assets, supporting testing and speeding up parts of content creation. The statement did not specify particular tools, adoption rates or measured savings for Malaysian studios.
Keeping people, originality and rights central
Ugak also presented AI as a policy challenge. He said innovation must keep human talent, originality and creative ownership at the centre of the industry’s future. In practical terms, that means studios and policymakers need to address who owns AI-assisted output, how training and production data are handled, how contributors are credited and paid, and how distinctive human work is protected. He called for intellectual-property protection, respect for creators’ rights and long-term industry sustainability.
Possible shared-compute support for smaller studios
Bangah said MDEC is examining whether the National AI Compute Exchange (NACX), which pools computing power and demand, could give studios more affordable access to computing resources. The proposal is still described as an examination, not a confirmed programme or guaranteed subsidy. If implemented, shared access could narrow the resource gap between small studios and larger companies, but its effect would depend on eligibility, pricing, available capacity and the services supported.
What Level Up KL and MDEC contribute to the ecosystem
Level Up KL functions as a meeting point for developers, publishers and other industry participants, while MDEC is the government-linked organisation behind the event and a central institution in Malaysia’s digital-economy ecosystem. Events of this kind can connect local studios with international partners and expose developers to production, publishing and investment opportunities. The report, however, does not claim that the event itself has delivered a quantified number of jobs, deals or exports.
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What the policy approach must balance
- Talent development and investment attraction: training and career pathways need to grow alongside efforts to bring capital and international projects into Malaysia.
- Domestic capability and global competition: local studios need sustainable home-grown skills while meeting international production and publishing standards.
- AI productivity and creator protection: faster, cheaper production cannot come at the expense of originality, ownership or fair treatment of workers.
- Large-studio capacity and small-studio access: shared infrastructure such as the proposed NACX model could matter most if smaller teams can use it on workable terms.
What readers should take away
The deputy minister’s message is an economic and skills argument for supporting games: a successful studio ecosystem can require and develop programmers, artists, designers, writers, producers and other specialists whose capabilities are useful elsewhere. Malaysia’s stated 2030 roadmap sets ambitious revenue, export, investment and employment goals, while officials acknowledge that AI policy must protect human creativity and intellectual property. The available account records those objectives and proposals, but not an independent assessment of results so far.
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