India is currently one of the best markets for mobile game development: PGConnects Bangalore Day 1

Reliance Games kicked off its second edition international mobile gaming conference – Pocket Gamer Connects in Bangalore with great fervour.

Pocket Gamer Connects, this year had on offer over 5 tracks, 60 plus speakers and 600 plus attendees participating and saw Indian gaming industry turn up in great numbers.

PGConnects Mobile games universityA first of its kind conference for the mobile gaming fraternity PGConnects 2016, saw participation from developers, Indie superstars and global giants including Google, Samsung, Zynga, EA, Rovio, Microsoft; Chinese superstars NetEase&iDreamSky, App Store hit makers KetchApp (Paris) and FlareGames, venture capitalists such as Accel Partners as well as Indian stalwarts – Robosoft, Junglee Games, Nazara and Reliance.

The first day of the conference focused on tracks like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Mobile Games University’ providing essential hands-on advice in the art of making and marketing your mobile games.

Some of the key highlights of ‘Mobile Games University’ track include sessions on Building and establishing a monetisation strategy using ad products, Taking gaming to the next level, Improving user engagement through Google Play Games services, Monetisation strategies that game developers should use in 2016, Effective tips to get your game published and much more.

PGConnects Indie academyIn the ‘Make in India’ track, the panel discussion focused on themes like India’s Future in the Mobile entertainment industry, Innovation in Indian gaming, India opportunity and trends, Growth hacking for games, and Raising funds for games.

The tracks included a wide range of speakers like Robosoft, CEO, Rohith Bhat; Nazara Games, CEO, Manish Agarwal; Games2Win, CEO, Alok Kejriwal; Dhruva Interactive, CEO, Rajesh Rao; and Rovio, country director, Anurag Sacheva.

One of the biggest highlights of the day, was the presentation of an exclusive study on “Unveiling the new era of gaming in India”, which showcased the opportunities for game developers to capture the fast growing domestic gaming market.

Other attractions included, the Indie Showcase of more than 70 Indie developers showcasing their creative geniuses along with a session on ‘Making global hits from India’ by Reliance Games, CEO, Amit Khanduja, which drew on best practices of how game developers in India can draw on success mantra of top publishers to develop global hits.

An interesting discussions which ranged from Gamification by a Dutch Delegation represented by Nasscom to talks on mobile marketing and new tools of the trade by InMobi, Applift and a host of workshops on perfecting your game development by Intel, Microsoft, Samsung and Akamai were all part of the day.

The first day of PGConnects Bangalore ended with six games being nominated from 70 games which were part of the ‘The Very Big Indie Pitch’ and are to give a presentation in front of a live audience later tomorrow. The winner is set to win cash awards.

“We have received a phenomenal response on our first day with wide participation from developers, gamers, media and global speakers. With a razor sharp focus on ‘Make in India’, this year Reliance Games aims to extend India’s competitive edge in gaming,” said Amit Khanduja about the first day of PG Connects Bangalore. “Our investments in the Indie start up ecosystem and the workshop driven tracks this year are meant to fill the gaps in the industry on design, marketing and monetisation.”