How this young studio is climbing from a little Indonesian town to international acclaim

“We were colleagues in a game studio before all of us quit, but everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked,” says Steven Aang. Then he adds: “just kidding.”

23-year-old Aang isn’t the Avatar. Rather, he’s part of the four-man Firebeast Studio based in Medan, Indonesia. Firebeast Studio, co-founded by Steven Aang, Bob Chou, Hartono Peng, and Hanrianto, is best known for browser games like Mighty Knight and Zombo Buster Rising, and has slowly been shifting its focus from browser games to mobile apps.

The privately-funded team took shape when Aang and his three other co-founders spoke one day about making a living from developing games without interference from superiors at work. They were all colleagues at a local game studio called Origaming.

“The four of us knew the risk of going indie instead of sticking with an established studio but we were so eager and ready to take the risk,” Aang says. The young team, aged between 22 and 25, took the plunge – but they didn’t tell their parents until they started making money.

All things considered, that moment came pretty quickly. Their first game for the browser, Marco’s Panic, received sponsorship from distributor FGL.com, enough to cover development costs. And just days later, Firebeast Studio was formed.

Developing talent

Aang says Firebeast started with browser games as the team was only experienced with Flash at that time. “We’re self-funded and to learn mobile development means months of no revenue for us, and this is dangerous for indies. We decided to only learn mobile development when we have enough funds to cover our ‘break’ from working on our existing games.”

All of Firebeast’s games have been for the browser so far, yet they’re far from being simple in spite of being on a more established – and now often forgotten – platform. Mighty Knight has garnered more than 2.5 million plays at Armor Games and was in the running for the site’s game of the year award for 2014. It ended up in a modest second place.

Zombo Buster was nominated at Casual Connect Asia 2014 for the Indie Prize’s best PC game, while Evilgeddon Spooky Max was featured in TV show ESPN Game and nominated for best shooting game in Armor Games’ game of the year award in 2012. Firebeast’s games generally come with depth, and include character levels, upgrades, and tons of stages.

They are also published with sponsorship terms, which typically means getting paid a lump sum by platforms or distributors in exchange for being able to host the game. Sponsorship terms typically disallow in-app purchases and advertisements. Still, Firebeast has become a self-sustaining studio. Aang calls it a “long and tough process.”

The team managed to reach self-sustainability by creating a “save box” from which they dipped into for expenses like internet connectivity, electricity bills, and more. The box is funded by everyone putting in a share of his income. “We are still running this way even now because we are self-funded,” Aang adds.

The mobile route

Ironically, it wasn’t the frugal save box that let Firebeast get started on mobile development. The team ported Outer Invasion and Bois D Arc for a publisher who wanted mobile versions of the games so badly, it was willing to fund development in spite of the team’s lack of experience.

“It was a good chance with the least risk: we were funded to learn mobile development. So why not?” Aang says. Firebeast jumped at the chance, and discovered that it was not simple. Programmers needed to learn C# to rebuild the game’s Flash-based code, while artists had to re-export all graphics because Unity doesn’t support frame animating the way Flash does. Firebeast also had to consider screen resolution settings for multiple devices, performance controls, touchscreen game controls, text configuration, and more.

“There were a lot of adjustments in getting our game from Flash to mobile. It was a tiring job, but that’s the point of learning, isn’t it?” Aang says.

Today both Outer Invasion and Bois D Arc are available on Google Play. The publisher wanted a 100 percent carbon copy of the Flash version with no in-app purchases, so it’s tough for the games to compete with others out on the market, but it’s a good start for the studio.

Firebeast is now targeting multi-platform games for 2015, aiming for PC, browser, and mobile. Aang says that his co-founders and him dream of bringing back the games they loved as children, but enhanced with new innovations they have in mind. He cited games like Pokemon, Harvest Moon, Final Fantasy, and Metal Gear Solid as some examples.

Still, true to its roots, Firebeast’s first game for 2015 will be for the web.

Hometown heroes

In spite of its accomplishments, Firebeast Studio still has trouble getting recognition, or even respect in its hometown of Medan. “Most people here are still not familiar with the game development industry,” Aang says. “When someone asks what we do, they assume we work at game retail shops or even as cyber cafe operators.”

“It’s not a big deal. The real tough part comes when a fellow developer makes a hit with their game and we know that we are left behind. Gotta chase them,” he says.

See: Dynamic world pixel-art RPG from Indonesia will hit you right in the feels

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How this young studio is climbing from a little Indonesian town to international acclaim