Dear Singapore games community, 

We would like to provide an update to the Singapore Games Association (SGGA) website and membership program. 

Since taking office in July 2024, the newly appointed SGGA Exco has been focused on two key priority areas. The first is ongoing advocacy and partnerships with key groups to drive more marketing, possible funding and awareness-building support for Singapore-made games and game developers. This has led to opportunities like the IMDA Prototype Grant, SGGA Pathway initiative, trade delegations to events like G-Star and Tokyo Game Show, and also representation at Gamescom Asia. We’re excited to continue pursuing efforts in this area, and will have more to share soon.

The second area is in overhauling our key touchpoints with the Singapore and wider game community. The website was previously built on a custom solution that combined various functions and resulted in high ongoing maintenance costs which makes it unsustainable. While it has long served SGGA’s needs, and we thank the previous excos for their work in maintaining the site, the revamped site and backend will allow for more efficient control of admin functions such as newsletter delivery, membership management, events, calendars, and more - all in a unified database. 

For a brief overview of the website overhaul - please click here.

The second, and more important aspect to this - is an overhaul of our membership program. In truth, our membership numbers could do with a boost and while the previous exco has done a fine job of bolstering the SGGA coffers, we are in need of new sources of funding before we run dry and are unable to financially support any ongoing efforts for the community as a trade association.

We recognize as an Exco that we must provide value for the games community if we are to expect/receive any material support from the people we serve. We think an overhauled membership program will allow us to plan for better support and service to members, and also hope to capture a wider population of the community - the majority who are currently not registered SGGA members.

Here is a brief overview of the revamped membership program.

There will be five tiers of membership:

Tier 1 is Associate at 5 SGD, which gives members at this tier access to invitations to key events and workshops, our monthly newsletter, exclusive pricing/discounts to SGGA and partner-led events, discount on tools and software, and access to an all-new jobs and internship portal. We think 5 SGD is a reasonably low enough cost to hope that most people, including students and early-in-career developers looking to participate in our community, can benefit from this and support us in return.

Tier 2 is Professional at 100 SGD, ideal for solo devs, industry professionals, and possibly hobbyists, looking to elevate their craft, as well as networking and growth opportunities. In this tier, in addition to access to everything from the previous tier, members at this tier will also receive voting rights for future SGGA elections, focused updates on industry news and opportunities, and eligibility to SGGA’s entitlements like booth opportunities at Taipei Game Show/ Doujin Market SG.

Tier 3 is Indies at 300 SGD, and is tailored to our community’s indie teams that are registered studios, and are working on commercial games, original IP, special projects and more. In addition to all the above, you will have guidance and facilitation to navigate government and other bodies support schemes and programs. In addition, we aim to leverage SGGA’s channels and networks to help drive awareness to SG-made games and teams.

Tier 4 is Corporate at 1,200 SGD and is designed for the larger, established gaming organizations that bring at least a million in revenue or more annually. These organizations have a significant presence and contribution to the local and global industry, and can greatly impact the direction of Singapore’s ecosystem. For this tier, in addition to all the above, they will have access to full industry reports as they are produced, as well as reserved VIP slots for SGGA- and partner-led events. 

Tier 5 is Champion at 20,000 SGD and this was designed in partnership with industry leaders who are committed to shaping and growing our ecosystem alongside SGGA. During opportunities to participate in dialogue and lobby for the success of our industry, we hope to include these champions, along with select members at all tiers, to represent in totality all the voices in our industry. 

Just to help illustrate the changes, here is a side-by-side graphic showing the new membership program.

While these changes are substantive, we recognize that there’s still much work to be done for SGGA to best serve the games community and deserve your support. We welcome any feedback and are open to discussion with regards to the membership changes as well as the site update, if any. Please reach out to us at hello@sgga.org.sg with the subject [RE:membershop], and we also are happy to speak with you all at the next SGGA Drink Up, scheduled for 10 April 2025.

We plan to implement these changes by 17 April, 2025.

We will provide more updates soon, but for now, we hope these changes are understandable and clear. As always, the SGGA Exco is here to represent our community, and we welcome any feedback or inputs. 

Thank you, 

Jun Shen

Vice-Chair, SGGA

On behalf of the SGGA Exco 2024 - 2026 term