Bangladeshi gaming firm among global top 10

A local game development start-up called NapTech Labs, which creates online games for internet browsers and mobile devices, has recently been globally recognised as one of the top companies of its kind.

It has been placed in the ninth position out of 2,535 listed game developers in the rankings prepared by GoodFirms, a US-based think tank focusing on providing business-to-business (B2B) reviews and ratings.

As per the data available with GoodFirms, all of the top eight companies in the rankings are based in the US.

Founded in September 2020, the budding information technology (IT) company is now followed by many counterparts in India and European countries.

GoodFirms also recognised NapTech as the top gaming company among 22 listed Bangladeshi firms.

Currently a member of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), NapTech is the brainchild of Musabbir Hosain, a computer science and engineering (CSE) graduate from Daffodil International University.

"From day one, our vision was clear - to build a future-focused gaming company that creates high-quality HTML 5 games for international audiences while fostering local talent and innovation," he told The Financial Express.

Located at ICT Tower in the capital's Agargaon, the company has expanded its footprints across the globe with its game development prowess.

"We now export to 24 countries worldwide, as well as collaborate with 15 ad network partners and 18 global clients," said Musabbir, who leads the 16-member company as its managing director.

NapTech now provides gaming-related services to local companies, including Grameenphone's Xoss Games, Robi Axiata's Game Baksho, and Teletalk's NapZone Games, while its international clients include India's Reliance Industries and China's Transsion Holdings.

It has so far developed and published over 600 games of different genres that have achieved over 20 million gameplay sessions.

In addition to game development, the company also has its own online gaming platform NapTech Games, which hosts over 40,000 games sourced from the world's top game developers and firms.

Of the total NapTech game users, 52 per cent are from the US, 13 per cent from Germany, eight per cent from Canada, and five per cent from India.

"This platform delivers instant-play, ad-supported games for players across mobile, tablet, desktop, and smart TV, making it one of the largest gaming portals in the region," said Musabbir while sharing his eventful journey.

"We got bootstrap funding from close family members and friends before reaching today's position," he said, adding that his company is now a stable one.

Without elaborating on earnings, he said they could multiply that upon making further investments.

"As a start-up, we have already passed the toughest days of the journey. We now eye a major scale-up by capitalising on our proven track records," he added.

The co-founder of the company, Suzana Haque, said they have also expanded their services for the sake of education with a platform for kids.

"In the educational space, we launched Kidy King Games, a series of skill-based games that help children learn math, logic, reading, and more," she said.

These games help make learning fun, interactive, and impactful for young users, she added.

NapTech's innovation has also drawn attention from major global IT companies, she said, adding that the company was selected for Google's invite-only Accelerator Growth Programme that is offered only to the top 1.0 per cent of their potential clients.

The company has recently received a grant of Tk 1.0 million from the Innovation Design and Entrepreneurship Academy (iDEA) project under the ICT Division.

Earlier, NapTech became a graduate start-up of the ICT Division's Digital Entrepreneurship and Innovation Ecosystem Development (DEIED) project.

DEIED Project Director Monjur Mohammad Shahriar said in addition to being among the top 10 companies in the GoodFirms' rankings, NapTech has also topped the GoodFirms Leaders Matrix.

"This international recognition not only strengthens NapTech Labs as an organisation but also encourages the country's young talents and opens the door to new possibilities for Bangladesh in the international gaming market," he said.

Gaming industry research organisation Newzoo estimates that the global gaming market will reach $213.3 billion in 2027, indicating huge potential for developers.

According to another platform, the global HTML 5 game market size was worth $23.4 billion in 2021 and is estimated to grow to $31.89 billion by 2030.

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