While I entered the premises ITC Windsor Manor in Bengaluru to attend the first AVGC B2B Summit, I wasn’t sure what to expect from it. Reasons being, this was arguably the first of its kind in the country and secondly, I had never been to a B2B market dedicated solely to the AVGC sector earlier.
Keeping an open mind to whatever may be the experience, I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. I was not from the fraternity of buyers, sellers or the organisers, albeit, I had a good time in conversing, observing and sitting through some really interesting sessions.
Here are a few things I took away for the event:
Rise of Indian IPs
India still lags far behind in terms of original content or IPs, or I thought so at least. The event brought together a really passionate set of sellers, 110 to be exact, who pitched their original ideas to the international buyers who had converged at the event. From games to movies to animated series, the gamut of offerings consisted of everything and the buyers, all of whom were pretty experienced ones, seemed to love them as well. So, given the enthusiasm of the indigenous pitchers, it would be safe to say we’re on the right track on becoming a formidable name in the original content market. Slowly but surely.
They want more!
This applies for both the sellers and buyers. As you would expect, the sellers wanted more events like this in the country to share their work for opportunities; the buyers wanted more Indian content as well. Apart from stating the same, formally, on the stage, the buyers I spoke to in between breaks showed their interest in more home-grown content from the country.
Indian content is on a par
This not my personal opinion at all. The buyers from the likes of Turner, GDAA and Mighty Serious said the content that they were exposed to in the two days was pretty much on a par with the overseas counterparts. They urged the sellers to keep faith in their work and keep pushing forward, instilling a hint of confidence among the enthusiastic crowd.
The event was well organised
Again, this is not only my personal observation; pretty much everyone present at the event reached the same verdict. The event was crisp, with almost the perfect number of sessions crossed with pitching sessions. With meeting time slots seemingly seamless, it pleased both the buyers and the sellers. How do I know, you ask? Well, they told me.
It was a learning experience
Just like it was my first time to an AVGC B2B event, for many of the sellers, it was the first time they were pitching their products to a diverse set of international buyers. When I spoke to them about the experience they had, almost everyone in some way said that they learned quite a bit from the pitches. They got tips from the veterans about how to push the potential of their IPs and their pitching skills as well.
ABAI seems to be doing a pretty good job
This fact should be clear by now, the organisers made the event what it was. From keeping a tab on what is going on to pulling off this event successfully in a comparatively short time, the organisation seemed to be doing its job pretty well. They vowed to try and come back with an even better edition next time and also signed an MoU with the Game Developers’ Association of Australia to create a gaming corridor between the two countries. They are quite literally looking to push the boundaries.
The Govt. of Karnataka is leading by example in the AVGC sector of the country
Karnataka has been leading the charge in the AVGC sector of the country for some time now. The IT BT and Tourism minister of Karnataka, Priyank Kharge himself graced the event on the very first day and addressed the attendees. The international buyers expressed that they appreciate the govt. support that was being provided and how it was a good sight to see. The minister gave a green light to a few more requests from ABAI, including infrastructure and policies regarding the AVGC sector, additionally announcing a string of funding for start-ups, original content creators and educational initiatives for the sector.
Overall, the first edition of the AVGC B2B Summit of Bengaluru was a great experience for the attendees as well as me, and I am positive that all of them would look forward to a bigger second edition!