On 27 May 2010, the National Sports Council of Malaysia had decided the Sukma Games would be held annually, with the National Sports Council holding the games every odd year in Kuala Lumpur, and the state holding the games every even year. It was also decided that the odd year Sukma Games would only feature optional sports while the even year Sukma Games would include 19 core sports and 5 optional sports.
The 2011 Sukma Games, officially known as the 14th Sukma Games, were held from 2 to 12 June 2011 and featured 19 optional sports, whereas the 2012 Sukma Games, officially known as the 15th Sukma Games, were held in Pahang from 9 to 16 July 2012 and featured 24 sports.
The 15th Sukma Games had 19 venues for the games, 17 in Kuantan and 1 each in Temerloh and Pekan respectively. while the 14th Sukma Games had 13 venues for the games, 7 in Kuala Lumpur, 5 in Selangor and 1 in Putrajaya respectively.
The Logo of the 2012 Sukma Games is an image of the elephant, a symbol of Pahang. Besides representing Pahang, the elephant represents the welcoming of the arrival of all participating states from Malaysia. There are five colours on the logo, the black and white represents the state of Pahang, the red represents the fighting spirit of all participating athletes in achieving victory, the blue represents the sporting and unity spirit of all Malaysians and the yellow represents Pahang as a sovereign constitutional monarchy and the pride, the cheers and the honour of all people involved in making the 2012 Sukma Games a success. Overall, it represents the prosperous Pahang and the welcoming of all participating states and Malaysians to Pahang as host of the games.
The mascots of the 2012 Sukma Games is a group of four elephants together as a family namely: Tahan (Father), Puteh (Mother), Rajah (Son), and Teku (Daughter), the four elephants are named after respective mountains found within Pahang. The adoption of elephant, the state symbol as the games' mascot is to promote the state's eco-tourism.
Meanwhile, the mascot of the 2011 Sukma Games is a Malayan tiger named Harimau Muda (Youth Tiger).
The theme song of the 2012 Sukma Games is "Satu Tujuan" (One Aim).
Radio Televisyen Malaysia was responsible for live streaming of several events, opening and closing ceremony of the games.
The 16th Paralympiad Malaysia was held in Pahang from 9 to 14 December.