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Manila Bulletin devider Technews devider RIVRS, pioneer in UGC gaming, expands to Asia and invests $1M in the Roblox ecosystem

RIVRS, pioneer in UGC gaming, expands to Asia and invests $1M in the Roblox ecosystem

Published Oct 20, 2025 09:38 am
At Gamescom Asia in Bangkok, RIVRS announced the opening of a development studio in Vietnam, a regional publishing headquarters in Hong Kong, and appoints the former Managing Director of Ubisoft Asia Pacific to lead RIVRS Asia.
Founded in 2021, RIVRS embodies French expertise in UGC (User Generated Content) gaming. A leading European player, the company designs, acquires, and publishes innovative games for the world’s major sandbox platforms. Combining creativity, publishing expertise, and support for partner studios, RIVRS builds and nurtures large-scale communities.
RIVRS takes a new step in its international expansion with the launch of its Asian operations: the company announces the opening of an in-house development studio in Da Nang, Vietnam; the creation of a regional publishing headquarters in Hong Kong; and a strategic $1 million investment to grow the Roblox ecosystem in the region.
3 Major Announcements
A strategic $1M investment in the Roblox ecosystem
RIVRS is dedicating $1 million for a Creator Fund to support creators and studios developing on Roblox, the world’s most dynamic gaming platform with 380 million monthly active users.
The “Creator Fund” aims to:
Acquire games and accelerate their growth,
Finance teams in Southeast Asia and help them enter the UGC market,
Encourage the emergence of innovative content created in the region.
"With this $1 million investment, RIVRS is reaffirming its international ambitions in Asia," said Romain Hubert, co-founder of RIVRS. "We’re combining French know-how with local expertise to create a unique UGC developer community. From Vietnam to Indonesia, we’re giving Asian talent the means to design innovative and ambitious gaming experiences."
A new in-house development studio in Vietnam – Da Nang
This new studio is designed to become an innovation hub. From the start, its production pipeline will be built to take advantage of AI technologies, combining proprietary tools with existing solutions.
Staffed by seasoned industry professionals, the studio will:
Create original content with the goal of placing several productions in the global UGC top 100,
Leverage regional expertise in data to reinforce a data-driven approach to live game management and optimization,
Develop internal tools for the RIVRS developer community to accelerate innovative game production.
This model allows each production unit to grow at its own pace and with its own methods, while fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing across RIVRS.
"I’m honored to take the helm of RIVRS Asia," said Aurélien Palasse, Managing Director of RIVRS Asia. "Our ambition is to bring forth new gaming experiences created in Asia but destined to shine worldwide. Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia are lands of immense opportunity. We also want to leverage Roblox’s openness and its community’s adoption of generative AI to push the limits of what’s possible in terms of production pipelines."
A regional publishing headquarters in Hong Kong
To strengthen its expansion, RIVRS is also opening a regional headquarters in Hong Kong to centralize a wide range of strategic services.
The office will be responsible for:
Analyzing markets and trends to identify new opportunities,
Developing and engaging a community already made up of more than 400,000 Roblox and Discord followers and 20 million cumulative visits across all RIVRS games,
Accelerating strategic partnerships and business development.
"Asia is home to exceptional talent," said Loïc Deffains, Co-founder of RIVRS. "With RIVRS Asia, we are not only creating a new studio but also a strategic hub that centralizes tools and services for our growing production teams. This is a decisive step in structuring our growth and giving our creators the means to go even further."
RIVRS: By Creators for Creators
With this announcement, RIVRS is also evolving its brand identity. The company is shifting from its historic slogan From Players to Players to a new promise: By Creators for Creators, highlighting creativity and collaborative innovation as the core of its DNA.
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