2025 Speakers
Zainuddeen Fahadh, Studio Owner & Director, Ogre Head Studio
Zainuddeen 'Zain' Fahadh is the founder of Ogre Head Studio, an independent video game company based in Hyderabad, India. He spent his childhood immersed in games, movies, cartoons, and drawing. His doodles of original characters and fantastical worlds were inspired by the works of Tolkien, the Warhammer universe, and Indian myths. After earning an Advanced Diploma in 3D and Cinematics from the Maya Academy Of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) in 2009, Zain was fortunate to secure a job in the video game industry at the age of 19. Though he aspired to be part of a team that created epic games, he soon realized that the Indian gaming industry was primarily service-oriented. Companies were either catering to international clients or producing cricket and Bollywood games, neither of which fulfilled his creative desires. While many games draw inspiration from Western or Far Eastern mythology, Zain's aspiration was to create games inspired by Indian myths, with his unique perspective, ensuring superb quality and polish. After five years of industry experience, Zain left his job and co-founded Ogre Head Studio in his apartment with a friend and a colleague. Their goal was straightforward: to create original games inspired by Indian myth and folklore for a global audience, and to establish a company where talented individuals could collaborate, create great games, and enjoy their work. Their first project, Asura, an Indian mythology-inspired hack-and-slash game, was released in 2017 and garnered multiple recognitions and accolades worldwide. Currently, Ogre Head Studio is hard at work on their next title, Yodha, an Indian deck-builder with rogue-lite mechanics. Although there was initial skepticism about Ogre Head's mission, the studio has received incredible support globally for its efforts. Zain is confident that with their games and passion, they will be able to transform the Indian games industry by demonstrating that it can produce amazing, original, and high-quality games for a worldwide audience.
