The India Game Developer Conference (IGDC), India’s premier event for game developers, wrapped up its 13th edition, held virtually with more than 5000 people including game developers, publishers, investors, and gaming enthusiasts came together between 16-18 November. Global speakers who have made games like Minecraft, Borderlands, Doom and Fortnite were a part of the conference. Unreal Engine, MPL, Junglee, AWS, Glance, YesGnome, Lakshya and Gametion, among others, were also proud sponsors of the event.
“This was our second year hosting a virtual edition which helped us see amazing participation from India and abroad. We were able to bring various notable speakers from across the globe to participate in the event. It was great to witness so many people exploring the different aspects of the gaming industry and the opportunities it has to offer,” said IGDC convener Rajesh Rao.
“We are grateful for their participation and elated by this year’s response to our line-up, workshops, and the various opportunities presented at IGDC which has motivated us to keep hosting more such events in the future. As we wrap up this year, we are hopeful that this year’s success will result in boosting the overall growth of the gaming industry and more success stories come out of it,” Rao added.
The event featured speakers that ranged from researchers, game programmers, toy and game designers, concept artists, product and design directors to CEOs of leading gaming companies, investors, and publishers. Some of the notable speakers who participated and shared insights at the conference were Minecraft Creative Director Torfi Frans Olafsson, Romero Games CEO & BAFTA Award winner Brenda Remero and Benjamin Ellinger, VP at Digipen, a premier college in game development.
From the Indian gaming industry, Junglee Games founder and CEO Ankush Gera, Nazara Technologies CEO Manish Agarwal and PlaySimple Games co-founder Siddharth Jain were also present.
The participation this year was on par with the previous edition with almost 100 sessions and panels taking place during the event. The event featured a breadth of topics encompassing- Applied Games, Art, Business & Product Management, Career, Design, Esports, Hyper-casual, Production and Technology. Attendees were able to experience cutting-edge technology in the gaming ecosystem and network with industry leaders and investors.
The Annual India Game Developer Awards were also a part of the conference with the winners being felicitated on 16 November, the first day of IGDC. This year, IGDC saw a record 150 entries for the awards which were the highest ever received.
Some of the individuals recognized for their talents across multiple fields were Tuttifrutti Interactive for Studio Game of the Year, Playbae for Indie Game of the Year, Weloadin Studio for Hypercasual Game of the Year, RockLobster Games for Upcoming Game of the Year and Brahmos Interactive for Student Game of the Year. In the past, many winners have also gone on to achieve several international accolades. Along with exciting cash awards, all the winners and runners got two IGDC tickets for next year’s event as well.
This year, IGDC also marked the return of BYOG (Build Your Own Game) – India’s oldest game jam, seeing game developers across the country compete together to make a game within a limited amount of time across various themes.
The India Game Developer Conference is a one-of-its-kind “by the industry, for the industry” initiative that does a tremendous job in supporting and empowering game developers with insights, upskilling and networking opportunities.