Keeping the flag of Indian Gaming Industry high, Nasscom is now calling registrations for its Gaming Forum Mumbai Meet Up, which is set to take place on 25th January in Andheri at Mumbai.
AnimationXpress.com had a quick conversation with Shruti Verma- Lead Gaming Forum, NASSCOM, to know about the insights of this meet up
Hi Shruti, before moving onto this edition of NGF, can you brief us about the past editions?
The NASSCOM Gaming Forum is a common platform to share best practices and knowledge both from a business and development perspective. To build India’s position as the hub for gaming, improve industry-government interface and enhance international outreach and access, the NASSCOM Gaming Forum has organized 6 city chapter meet-ups in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad. All city chapters are volunteer driven that meet once a quarter in each city. The Mumbai chapter has done 4 meet-ups so far.
What is the main focus of this edition?
The main focus of our city chapter meet-ups is to get the game developers in the city to meet on a regular basis and network. The edition is also aimed at providing emerging game developers in India a platform to participate with international players and other industry veterans. The speakers from emerging and established companies from India will be discussing opportunities and challenges of the gaming industry.
Please share the names of the experts who will be conducting the sessions?
In this meet up, Ninad Chhaya of 99Games would be talking about the company’s new game “Dhoom 3”. The session will also have Apoorva Joshi, runner up of the NASSCOM Gaming Forum Student Game, talking about his winning game “Socioball”.
Why do you think these topics that the experts will speak need to be spoken on?
The Indian game development industry has spread its influence across platforms, evolved new business models and emerged as the prominent sunrise industry in the country. A considerable amount of increase in the number of overseas expansion of Indian companies, introduction of new technologies in the gaming circuit and investments from private equity funds have been major reasons for the experts to highlight these trends through their sessions. Sessions such as these focuses on how the gaming industry is evolving with the introduction of new technologies, resulting in demand for new innovations from customers, and also provides a platform for the gaming fraternity to share their success stories and best practices.
What are the upcoming events of Nasscom for the gaming aspirants?
NASSCOM recognizes the gaming industry as one that is a significant user of technology and can further showcase India’s well established credentials in the technology and service offshoring space in addition to playing a seminal role in developing India’s gaming industry. However, being at a nascent stage of development, it is critical for the industry to nurture its talent for it to be able to compete at a global scale. As a part of NASSCOM’S initiatives to promote the growth of the gaming industry in India, it will continue to strengthen the city chapters across the country and emerge a strong base for the game development across the world. The NGDC editions are also a step towards that. NASSCOM will also plan to step up by engaging with Govt at various levels for inclusion of the industry.
Would you like to give a roundup of how was 2013 for Nasscom Gaming Community?
It was a good year with a consistent rise in the quality of games coming out this year. NASSCOM announced its first edition of the NASSCOM Gaming Forum Awards and we received an overwhelming response and witnessed many gamers sending in their entries. We also released two whitepapers in 2013, Games on Mobile with AppAnnie and Gaming Laws in India with Nishith Desai Associates. The 5th edition of the NASSCOM Game Developer Conference witnessed over 1300 delegates attending the conference which included many enthusiastic young game developers. The world is beginning to see the immense potential for games in India and there is an increased participation of high profile industry leaders not just from India but from around the world.
How can one register for the event and is it free to attend?
It’s a free event and more details are available on the NASSCOM Gaming Forum Group on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/nasscomgamingforum/?fref=ts