http://pk.ign.com/ign-pakistan/2242/feature/meet-the-team-behind-pakgamerscom
MEET THE TEAM BEHIND 'PAKGAMERS.COM'
They always had a game plan.
BY NOMAN ANSARIBased out of Karachi, they started nearly a decade ago in 2007 as a community for gamers, and today boast over 90,000 members from all over Pakistan. Let's find out who Team PG is and what makes them tick.
Who are the people steering Pakgamers.com?
PG is self-financed and operated by Bilal Shahab (iNF3RN0), who is the founder/President and manages the technical side of things.
Bilal aka iNF3RN0Wajhi Jafri (NaNoW) is the team leader. He is responsible for content, publishing, forum management, and development.
Wajhi aka NaNoW
Junnaid Sikandar Khadbai (Jshak) manages the team's operation and the marketplace.
Junnnaid aka JshakSo what games do you guys personally play?
(Wajhi) I can talk about myself here, and I don’t really judge a game by genre. These days I am into Uncharted 4, Counter-Strike Global Offensive, and am looking forward to Overwatch.
Why was PG started?
Bilal, being a gamer himself, noticed that there was a very real need for a local community and support for gamers. In Pakistan, we have always had video games and machines to play them on, one way or the other. But there has been no way for gaming enthusiasts, from within and outside the country, to communicate. To solve this, PG was born. In essence, we wanted to make PG a focal point for gaming in Pakistan and provide an active community for the like-minded.
Did you ever think you would have over 90 000 members one day?
We always knew that there were many of us. Our unbiased but strict moderation is the core element behind our success. The problem in Pakistan (and a lot of other countries) is the stigma attached to the words games and gamers. So while you won’t meet a lot of people loudly identifying themselves as gamers in public, their online personas will be totally opposite. While we are humbled and honored that 92,000+ users deciding to spend time at PG, we are aware of this market being much larger in Pakistan, considering that “gaming” is getting cheaper and easier to access and Pakistan has a large youth population.
Tell us more about the stigma attached with gaming locally.
Psychology, we have to take gaming as a medium seriously. This means playing them without judgement and also encouragement their development as well. Majority [of Pakistanis] thinks of games as something children do and adults grow out off. What we fail to realize is that gaming is an instinctive and primal part of all of us.
What other projects aside from the forums is PG involved in?
We are into technology and gaming media. We also do our own podcasts and we are looking further into twitch and YouTube integration.
What else do PG members talk about?
We have various discussion sections covering all sorts of interests (entertainment, photography , sports, etc.) Our diversity makes the forum colorful and entertaining, but our core passion for games keeps us united.
In your view, what do local gamers need?
Gaming is a perfect example art meeting science, and it is something we need to encourage in our youth. We need much better support; basic amenities, such as reasonable internet speed, [less] load shedding, availability of parts, manufacturer’s service and support, and better import and export terms are all desperately needed.
Can you tell us about the PG meetups?
Our meetups are epic. We have an on-going friendly rivalry between cities, where every city tries to outdo the other. A number of us have developed proper friendships based on these meetings, which is quite exciting to see.
You guys have been around for so long. What changes have you observed?
Internationally, gaming has evolved quite a lot and gone mainstream. It has moved from the bedroom and basements to the center piece in your lounge and in your hands. The "nerds" and "geeks" of yesterday are entrepreneurs and influential figures of today. Science has clearly given evidence of higher performance of gamers and gaming is now bigger than any other form of entertainment in terms of revenue. In Pakistan, gaming has become quite popular, and piracy has lessened, but the stigma attached to the word “games” still haunts us. So even though you will see everyone playing games in one way or the other, people will never admit it. Your uncle will be sending you Mafia War invites, your khalas will be hooked on Candy Crush, and your nieces won’t be getting enough of Angry birds or Minecraft, but mention the word "games" and be prepared for some raised eyebrows.
What does the future hold for PG?
Right now, we want to continue providing a platform for our youth to grow and flourish in this field. Since PakGamers.com is managed by volunteers, Team PG. and the community, expansion is difficult with limited resources.
