Interview: Xbox’s Commitment to Indie Developers in Asia and Other Emerging Markets
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Following the second Xbox Developer virtual session, where five standout indie games from Asia were spotlighted — I had a quick but insightful chat with Jun Shen Chia from Xbox’s Strategic Markets team. The atmosphere was promising and optimistic as we discussed his team’s work, the evolving indie scene in the Philippines, and the growing opportunities available to standout titles from our region.
The Global Expansion Initiative
It was a quick and straightforward interview, and I started our talk by asking about his team’s involvement in the region. His team’s work marks the first real presence from Xbox in terms of communicating with local developers across various regions—not just to give them opportunities to get their games the support they need, but also to provide key knowledge that can give their projects a stronger chance at success. That’s what the Global Expansion team is all about, and Chia has been part of it since it started in 2022.
It’s a small team of just six people, but they’ve been all over Asia attending shows and giving talks to share what kind of support Xbox can offer to selected projects. Chia shared that the team was recently rebranded to Strategic Markets, but the mission remains the same: to reach out to underrepresented markets in Southeast Asia, India, Africa, Korea, and now China.
“We are constantly trying to figure out—what does a country like the Philippines need? How can we give them the resources to succeed as an ecosystem? That’s our role as the Strategic Markets group,” says Chia.
Nightmare Circus, currently in developement at fairplay studios based in Thailand.
Xbox’s support can take many forms. Chia explained that a project can be backed through actual development funding, marketing support to give the game a platform, or technical assistance—such as helping a game get certified on Xbox platforms.
Since its inception, Chia’s team has seen over 100 games and worked with countless developers from all walks of life. Encouragingly, the number of titles being developed in our region continues to rise each year—a sign of the market’s potential and growth in Chia’s eyes.
As the region grows, so too does Xbox’s way of supporting it. What began with online developer talks has now expanded to include new types of marketing support. They’ve launched creator tabs on the Xbox dashboard to showcase games from our region. There’s also Indie Selects, a new program that highlights promising indie titles to Xbox players every month.
He also brought up the Xbox Play Anywhere program—another tool for developers that supports cross-progression and cross-play across devices and Cloud gaming. This allows users to pick up where they left off on any supported platform, at no extra cost. He noted that games supporting Xbox Play Anywhere see 20% more hours played than those that don’t. While XPA isn’t required when Xbox supports developers, it’s an option for those who want to take that route.
Beyond funding and technical help, Xbox’s efforts go beyond the dev toolkit—they’re also uplifting gaming communities across Asia.
They’ve been hitting conventions across Asia. Chia and his team have been on the ground at regional cons and dev events, including his visit to the Philippine GameDev Expo (PGDX) in 2024—not only to give talks about Xbox’s offerings and what devs need to succeed, but to also walk the indie floor and check out the projects being showcased. I asked if he planned to drop by this year’s PGDX in July, but he couldn’t promise, noting that July is packed with events across Southeast Asia.
That same year, Xbox doubled down on its outreach efforts by launching its first-ever Xbox Game Camp in Asia, with Ranida Games from the Philippines as one of the attendees. One PGDX 2024 highlight was Xbox hosting sessions with the Game Camp participants.
The first Xbox Developer Session took place the same year, highlighting Asian indie games to the media and creators. Notably, it featured Fallen Tear: Ascension—a Metroidvania action-platformer by CMD Studios from the Philippines, which Xbox is helping fund.
And most recently, the second Developer Session happened in April 2025, showcasing five titles: Kriegsfront Tactics, Vapor World: Into the Mind, Nightmare Circus, Agni: Village of Calamity, and 13Z The Zodiac Signs.
You can check out the preview and what we think of each game featured in the show:
Previews
Fallen Tear: The Ascension, a metroidvania platformer currently in development in the Philippines
About the Philippines — How Can We Stand Out?
I asked Chia, “How can the Philippines stand out in the global market?” A question, he joked, that had just been asked by other local outlets that interviewed him prior to our talk.
Unsurprisingly, there’s no magic formula—and that’s to be expected. In any field, breaking through is hard, especially in today’s crowded digital space.
“Hone in on the passion of what you care deeply about making,” Chia suggests. “Whether it’s narrative-driven, a platformer, or a first-person shooter—whatever it is—go deep in that genre that you’re passionate about and find that audience.”
Finding that audience is easier said than done. As Chia noted, there’s no secret sauce. It comes down to putting in the work and reaching people—whether through social media, online communities, or other platforms. Building a community around your game makes a big difference. He also emphasized that opportunities like Xbox’s developer sessions can help devs reach a wider audiences.
“Marketing and business need to go hand-in-hand with development,” Chia adds, stressing that developers need to dedicate just as much time to those areas to truly stand out.
The Biggest Challenge Every Developer Has in Common — Budget
With Chia’s extensive experience meeting developers across Asia, I asked about the biggest challenge they face. I’ve asked this before when speaking with other indie devs, and, unsurprisingly, the answer hasn’t changed: budget remains the biggest hurdle.
I asked again, hoping for some hidden factor that might be unique to Southeast Asia, but according to Chia, it’s the same story across the board—finding the funds to bring a project to the finish line.
Xbox sees this firsthand. Chia shared that they get countless inquiries from developers seeking funding for their projects. One path to securing that much-needed budget is being picked up by an international publisher. And Chia says that more publishers are starting to attend events like PGDX and Gamescom Asia. The interest is growing.
One standout example Chia mentioned during our talk was Until Then, a narrative-driven game developed by the Philippine studio Polychroma Games. It was picked up by international publisher Maximum Entertainment and has found success on Steam, where it currently boasts an Overwhelmingly Positive rating with over 7,000 reviews.
“We’re going to see more games from the Philippines getting picked up by publishers,” says Chia.
indonesia’s toge productions is working on its next title kriegsfront tactics.
The Tough process of getting funded by Xbox
When it comes to actual funding from them, Xbox’s process is far from automated. Each proposal is carefully reviewed by a team of real people—no algorithms involved. That’s why, even now, it can take up to three months or even more before a developer hears back.
“We want to make sure we accurately reflect the diverse player base we have, and the only way to do that is by having people who reflect those gamers curate the games that come to our platform.” says Chia.
They’re committed to offering the best games and carefully curating the submissions they receive. Getting a title into Game Pass is an entirely separate opportunity—and a longer process—but once a game is in the system, it can be passed around to different internal teams. The ideal scenario? Getting funded and being part of Game Pass—something that, as far as I know, hasn’t happened yet for a project from Southeast Asia.
A promising future
Xbox has been making noticeable moves in Southeast Asia’s indie scene. This small team that Chia is part of has already opened doors for many developers, and hopefully, that continues through the rest of 2025 and beyond. I left the interview feeling a bit more optimistic about our place in the global developer scene. Companies like Xbox are taking notice—and, more importantly, investing resources to nurture these regions. And it doesn’t look like that momentum is slowing down anytime soon.
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