Game development is a long and arduous journey, and the path to becoming established in the industry takes both effort and experience. For Malaysia-based Dreamonaut Studio, what started out as a student project for their final year project at Asia Pacific University eventually took shape once the graduation caps went flying.
Their ambitious co-op firefighting game, FiresOut!, has earned Dreamonaut Studio the Best Student Game Award and Audience Choice Award nominee at Level Up KL’s SEA Game Awards 2025. The game is also heading towards its first Steam Playtest this February. Last month, we had the opportunity to speak with Brenden Tan Poh Guan (Kudoshi) and Amirrul Rasyid from Dreamonaut Studio about their journey so far.
Developing a multiplayer game as a student project is quite the undertaking. What was the story behind that initial decision?
Kudo: Well, it’s crazy… FiresOut! started out as our final year project. For the FYP, we were more focused on building something fun, something that we can play together and multiplayer was the way to go. Thank God we got an ‘A’ for that subject.
As student game developers, what were the biggest challenges of developing a game like FiresOut?
Kudo: Time and experience were our biggest challenges. All of us basically had to learn strong production discipline early on to ensure the milestones were met, especially now that we’re constantly sharing FiresOut! to publishers and press agencies.
Also, multiplayer designs are not easy at all. We’re constantly learning from mentors about programming, production, etc., and are thankful to Jon (Metronomik), Alex (Hidden Chest Studio), and Sabine (Metronomik) among many other mentors for sharing their experience and advice.
How was the experience winning Best Student Game and being nominated for Audience Choice Award at the SEA Game Awards 2025?
Kudo: It was incredibly validating. Sometimes, we feel like we need reassurance that our vision for FiresOut! resonated beyond our immediate friends and APU students.
Amirrul: The Audience Choice nomination was especially meaningful, for sure. It means that our fans genuinely felt we were somewhat on par with other amazing, legendary studios out there – Metronomik, Weyrdworks, Gamecom. I also hope we made Malaysians proud of us and that we can grow further and achieve what these studios did.
From student groupmates to starting up your own company, how has that transition into the workforce been treating you?
Kudo: In short, it’s exciting and rough at the same time. Thankfully, I have Amirrul to manage the business and marketing side of things, but even so, managing a university project and managing a commercial project are two different things.
What are some of your favourite moments from developing and promoting FiresOut! so far?
Amirrul: We definitely look forward to showcasing events, big or small. FiresOut! and co-op games are very personal to us. Kudo bonds with his sister playing Overcooked and I have countless sessions with my then girlfriend (now wife) playing Stardew Valley during the lockdown.
So, just seeing players whether they are mother-son , boyfriend-girlfriend, or even total strangers, just bond over playing our game, that reminds us of why we made FiresOut! in the first place.
What differentiates FiresOut! from the other co-op party games in the market?
Amirrul: A lot of players describe our game as Overcooked but firefighting, and I love that! I’d say that the goal was to design a game that feels immediately familiar to fans of chaotic co-op games while still carving out a distinct identity of its own.
In Overcooked, you and your friends split into different roles to achieve a shared objective (fulfilling orders). Whereas in Moving Out, cooperation is more obvious (and not subtle like Overcooked) where you work together to move furniture under time pressure.
FiresOut! sits somewhere between those two experiences. Players can choose to work together on the same task — such as carrying Mr Glug Glug, the toilet fish to extinguish fires — or split responsibilities, with one player clearing obstacles while the other handles firefighting. This flexibility lets players communicate with each other, verbally or non-verbally, and decide how they want to approach each level rather than forcing a single correct strategy.
What can our readers look forward to next from FiresOut! and Dreamonaut Studio?
Amirrul: We’re planning an upcoming Steam Playtest on February 4th, 2026. We’d love to invite everyone to playtest FiresOut! and share their thoughts about the game in our Discord channel.
Wishlist FiresOut! on Steam and follow Dreamonaut Studio on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
