Press play on SE Asia: Ex-Square Enix, Capcom artists build Malaysian game studio Metronomik with global ambitions (VIDEO)

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — Malaysian game developers Wan Hazmer Wan Abdul Halim and Daim Dziauddin have set out to create a studio that can showcase Southeast Asian culture to players worldwide. Wan Hazmer, the chief executive officer and co-founder of Metronomik Sdn Bhd, spent eight years at Square Enix working on Final Fantasy XV.

His cousin, Daim, serves as co-founder and creative director, having worked on Street Fighter V and contributed as an illustrator for Street Fighter IV. The pair launched Metronomik in December 2017, sharing a vision of creating music-based games that appeal globally while introducing Malaysian and Southeast Asian cultural influences.

Speaking to Bernama at LEVEL UP KL 2026, Wan Hazmer emphasized their goal of achieving worldwide sales and incorporating Southeast Asian identities into their future games to familiarize international audiences with the region's culture. Metronomik's debut title, No Straight Roads, a music-themed action-adventure game, debuted in August 2020 and helped introduce the studio's approach internationally.

The company followed up with No Straight Roads: Encore Edition in 2021, with its sequel, No Straight Roads 2, currently in development for release in 2024. By November 2024, No Straight Roads had amassed over 500,000 worldwide players, including 42% from the United States and Canada, 35% from Europe and Africa, and a mere 5% from Southeast Asia.

Gamalytic estimates sales of No Straight Roads: Encore Edition at around 101,500 units on Steam. Metronomik's success illustrates that games incorporating Malaysian and Southeast Asian cultural elements can captivate audiences worldwide, as witnessed during livestreams where non-Malaysian players enthusiastically shouted "Ewah!"