Cambodian software entrepreneurs create fun Christmas apps for the iPhone and iPad

The first Cambodian game development studio has released a trio of Christmas-oriented apps for sale by Apple Inc, just in time for the holiday season.

Osja Studio, located on the third floor of Parkway Square, released SantaFly, SantaDive and SantaRun. SantaFly is the first iPhone and iPad game ever made by Cambodian developers.

The venture was started only a few months ago by a team of eager Cambodians with a special passion for gaming.

Ear Uy, the executive producer at Osja Studio, worked tirelessly with his team to prepare the apps in time for Christmas.

“We’ve spent about two months without weekends to create the games for Christmas. Based on the policy of Apple Inc, we sell each game at USD 0.99 and we get a percentage of [Apple’s] income from the number of sales,” he says.

Each game, as the names imply, takes the player on a dexterous dash to hand out Santa’s gifts.

“It’s Christmas Day, and the kids are expecting their gifts from Santa. Now Santa has everything ready and is on his way to deliver all the gifts to every kid.

“Suddenly, someone snatches all the gifts from his sleigh: it’s Gingerbread Man. Now it’s your job to help Santa get all the gifts back for the kids before it’s too late,” Ear Uy explains.

Although Ear Uy never had formal training in information technology or software development, he gained enough experience for this venture from his past job repairing computers. He has wanted

to develop these apps ever since he first used an iPhone.

Competing in the global market has proved difficult for Ear Uy as a new competitor, however.

“We’ve learned [how to market] by ourselves and from other businessmen. It was complicated to complete forms online and by fax, but it will be easier [with the launch of] our next products,” he says.

24-year-old Yok Chivalry is Osja Studio’s art director. He told the Post that he began learning art and design about five years ago while atending  the Reyum Institute.

Because the school lacked graphic design courses, however, he ended up majoring in banking and finance – a far cry from software development.

Like Ear Uy, he relies on self-study and experience instead of formal training.

“This is my third job creating 2D and 3D games for a private company,” he says.

“And this is the first company [I’ve worked at] owned by Cambodians.”

Yok Chivalry believes Osja Studio can capitalise by grooming other young artists for the modern workplace.

“I expect to train young Cambodian artists who earn money by drawing and painting. I think we can make amazing art products which will be highly valued by other countries,” he says.

Chuor Bunseng, the co-founder and creative director of Osja Studio, takes on a leadership role to keep operations running smoothly.

“I come here generally to help in creative works, coding, and so on,” he says.

“I am sure that they can do bigger projects . . .  [my role] is to gather them to work together.”

Osja Studio’s next plan is to release gaming apps with fully interactive Khmer features.

Ear Uy is unsure of a release date for the first finished Khmer product, but expects it shouldn’t take long.

“As we have a high commitment to promote Khmer identities and culture in the global market, I hope we can submit [the project] soon . . . to promote Cambodia,” he says.

“We also aim to create more applications that are more useful not only for entertainment, but also for knowledge, communication and business management.”

For information and sugg-estions to have more creative applications for your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or Android, please go to www.osjastudio.com, Facebook:  wwww.facebook.com/osjastudio, Twitter @osjastudio or email: [email protected]