Amin Abbas
DUBAI: Established in 2019, Dark Emerald Studios is an Emirati indie-game publisher with a mission of creating fantastic and exciting worlds for the players to explore as they bring characters to life through immersive gameplay.
Ahmed Al Hamed, CEO and Managing Director of Dark Emerald Studios, told Arab New Japan that his love for video games began when his mother gifted him a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) with the game Megaman on it.
Say hello to the Team!
The creative force behind Enci’s Solution!
Here’s a small behind the scenes of our day to day routine. #darkemerald #encisolution #indiegames #indiegamestudio pic.twitter.com/iCiULxJ39N— Dark Emerald Studios (@DarkEmeraldME) August 30, 2024
Dark Emerald Studios was first known as High Ping Entertainment and consisted of passionate gamers and streamers. “(It was) a place for creative people to gather and share their experiences,” Al Hamed told Arab News Japan. “I always spoke about starting my own gaming company one day. That’s when High Ping Entertainment became a gaming development company. We then changed the name to Dark Emerald. The best part about starting the way we did is that we already had the support and love of the community before we even started.”
The gaming studio started working on Enci’s Solution five years ago, which is their first official project since their establishment. The game is a 3D platforming game that ties fast movement, planned execution, and tight mechanics with rich narratives and visuals.
“It was hard (working on the game) since we had to learn a lot of things from scratch. Our lack of experience did make the process a lot harder, but we were able to get through that with a lot of trial and error,” the CEO shared.
“It was supposed to be a simple mobile game where you need to jump and get as high as you can, inspired by games like Jump King and getting over it. The scope kept growing as we added more ideas, and it became the game we know,” he added.
Here’s a sneak peek of our game Enci’s Solution! 🙌🏼
Visit our booth in MEFCC 2024 from Feb. 09-11 and try our game!
Booth#: H8-Z60
See you guys there!#DarkEmerald #Encissolution #indigames #mefcc #mefcc2024 pic.twitter.com/2FtNBlpeq8
— Dark Emerald Studios (@DarkEmeraldME) February 8, 2024
“The game follows the story of a little stone boy named Ji’we who leaves his village that was exiled underground to find something he desperately needs. Despite all his people warning him and telling him not to try to climb to the surface as there are dangers when going against the exile, he still left. We then get to join him on his adventure as he finds Enci, together they would embark to the surface but would never have expected what they would then find,” Al Hamed explained.
He shared that the game has received positive feedback so far. “We are happy with the support from the community and the feedback they give us. The team experience now is quite on a high level and I’m proud of all of us for the knowledge that we accumulated over the years.”
Dark Emerald Studios will be part of Tokyo Game Show 2024 that will take place from 26 to 29 Sept. at Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba. “This is the first time we’re participating in an event of this scale,” Al Hamed told Arab News Japan. “We are very excited to be part of it and hope for the Japanese and everyone worldwide to enjoy our game. It’s not an easy game and those who like a challenge could like what we created. We hope to reach as many people as possible who might enjoy our style of game.”
A demo for Enci’s Solution is available now on Steam till Sept. 30.