For Sultan Damaki, returning to Bangkok has become something of an annual tradition. Each visit brings new conversations, new projects, and, as he puts it, another chapter in his gradual “descent into hell” , a humorous description of life in the game industry.
Sultan, Creative Director of Red Dunes Games, returned to Thailand this year with plenty to discuss. His company has continued to expand its publishing portfolio, work with developers across Asia, and develop its own games. At the same time, the industry around him is changing rapidly.
Yet one principle remains consistent: build games with purpose, learn from every project, and never lose sight of what you actually want to make.
Learning Through Every Game
Red Dunes Games is still a relatively young company, having been established only four years ago. That youth, however, has also become an advantage.
According to Sultan, the company has been able to experiment, make mistakes, and adapt quickly because of its small size. One example was Princess of the Water Lilies, which became an important learning experience for the team.
Although Sultan remains proud of the game, particularly because it represented his creative directorial debut in the games industry, its release also taught Red Dunes several valuable lessons.
One was timing.
The team learned that releasing a smaller game during Q4, when the market is crowded with major releases, can make it difficult to capture attention. Another lesson was the importance of supporting games across multiple platforms in order to reach a wider audience.
These may sound like straightforward business lessons, but for a young publisher, learning them early can be extremely valuable.
“The good thing is that whatever you learn, it’s always going to be applicable on your next projects,” Sultan explained.
That philosophy appears to be central to how Red Dunes operates. The company would rather make mistakes and learn during smaller projects than discover the same problems after committing to a much larger budget.
A Game Is More Than a Pitch Deck
Perhaps one of the strongest messages from the conversation was Sultan’s advice to developers looking for publishers.
A presentation, concept art, or PowerPoint deck can explain what a game might become. But for a publisher, seeing the actual game — even an early version — can make a significant difference.
Red Dunes has become increasingly selective about the games it chooses to publish. Sultan wants developers to demonstrate that they understand not only their creative vision, but also the business behind it.
That does not mean every developer needs to become a finance expert or professional business executive.
But they should understand their own project.
How much will it cost? What exactly are they trying to build? What resources are required? What is the scope? And, most importantly, can they demonstrate the game they are proposing?
For Sultan, developers are not simply presenting an artistic idea. They are presenting a business opportunity.
That distinction becomes particularly important in an increasingly competitive publishing environment, where publishers see countless projects competing for limited resources.
Don’t Chase Every Trend
The temptation to follow the latest industry trend is another challenge.
Over the years, the industry has seen waves of enthusiasm around NFTs, Web3, AI games, live-service models, and other fashionable concepts. For Sultan, however, chasing whatever appears to offer the fastest route to revenue is not the reason he entered the games industry.
His philosophy is considerably more personal.
He makes games because he loves games.
That means Red Dunes is not interested in simply producing a product designed around the latest market gimmick. The company wants to build projects that it genuinely believes in and can continue developing over the long term.
Sultan even compares his philosophy to Studio Ghibli: consistency matters.
There will always be opportunities to make money by following established formulas. But if a company continually abandons its identity to chase short-term opportunities, it risks losing the reason it existed in the first place.
“Games will always cost money to do,” is essentially the logic behind his approach. If resources have to be spent, he would rather spend them improving the game than spending them on a gimmick designed to generate quick returns.
Red Dunes Is Growing, But on Its Own Terms
The next stage of Red Dunes’ development appears to be considerably larger.
Sultan describes the company as evolving over the next year or two, moving toward bigger, studio-scale productions. But he is careful about the terminology.
“AAA” has become such a broad term that it does not necessarily describe what Red Dunes wants to build.
Instead, Sultan wants to create ambitious games with controlled production scopes, projects that are large enough to deliver a substantial experience without requiring a decade of development or decades to recover the investment.
The objective is sustainability.
Finish one game. Recover the investment. Build the next game.
That creates a continuous cycle in which developers can keep creating rather than spending an enormous portion of their careers on a single production.
At the same time, Red Dunes is already thinking far ahead. Sultan reveals that the company is looking at roughly 10 to 13 games through 2028.
It is an ambitious pipeline, but it reflects another defining part of his personality: he does not want Red Dunes to miss a great opportunity.
Why Southeast Asia Matters
Perhaps the most encouraging part of the discussion for developers in Thailand and the wider Southeast Asian region is Sultan’s view of the region’s growing creative potential.
A significant portion of Red Dunes’ catalogue already comes from Southeast Asian developers. And Sultan is clear that this is not simply because development costs are lower.
The attraction is the games themselves, combined with the culture, sincerity, communication, and working relationships he has experienced with teams in the region.
He sees similarities between Southeast Asian countries not only culturally, but also in their work values. Developers appreciate investment, time, feedback, and collaboration.
That creates a strong foundation for international partnerships.
For Sultan, Southeast Asia is no longer simply a region that offers cost-effective development. It is increasingly a source of games and creative talent that can compete on its own merits.
That distinction matters.
The opportunity for Southeast Asian developers is not to become cheaper alternatives to studios elsewhere. It is to become valuable creative partners whose games stand out because of what they bring to the table.
Staying Human in an Industry Under Pressure
The conversation also touches on one of the industry’s most difficult realities: layoffs.
Experienced developers at major studios have lost their jobs, and many of the factors driving those decisions are beyond the control of individual developers. Economic conditions, management decisions, shareholder expectations, market trends, audience tastes, and corporate politics can all influence whether a project succeeds or a studio survives.
Sultan does not pretend to have an easy solution.
Instead, he emphasizes adaptability.
Developers can improve their coding. Artists can improve their craft. Everyone can continue learning technical skills. But one of the hardest and most important skills is learning how to adapt when circumstances change.
Sometimes that means reinventing yourself.
Sometimes it means starting again.
And sometimes it means being willing to approach a new publisher or investor without relying entirely on your previous achievements.
For Sultan, there is no shame in starting fresh. In an industry that changes constantly, adaptability may ultimately be more valuable than any single technical skill.
Looking Ahead
Sultan’s vision for Red Dunes Games is ambitious, but it is not simply about becoming bigger.
It is about becoming better.
He wants to remain creatively involved, from discussions with creative directors and sound designers to gameplay decisions, both on games Red Dunes develops and those it publishes. He describes himself as wanting to be on the “front line,” close to the creative process rather than operating purely from the business side.
And despite the growing scale of the company, that enthusiasm has not disappeared.
If anything, it may be the thing driving everything forward.
For developers looking toward the international market, Sultan’s message is surprisingly simple: know your game, understand your business, prepare properly, stay adaptable, and most importantly, make something you genuinely believe in.
The game industry may continue to change. Markets will rise and fall. Trends will come and go.
But for Red Dunes Games, the long game is still the game worth playing.