India Game Developers Conference 2019 concluded today. Key highlights include discussions around the rise of previz, VFX, esports and interest from major game development studios expressing interest to tie up with educational institutions to foster talent in India.
Read the complete press release below
This year at Indiajoy, Gaming and Entertainment Festival is definitely is a special year for VFX and gaming industry as they saw the convergence of the two, in terms of both sharing each other's market and technologies. The 4-day event attracted thousands of big players from the industry and a huge contingent of International and domestic delegates.
Did IndiaJoy and Indian Game Developer Conference 2019 bring together both the industries under the same roof have played a role?
Rajesh Rao, Chairperson of IGDC said “Indiajoy indeed played a big catalyst role in raising the awareness and growth of the sector in a big way. “It is exciting to note the momentum the game development industry has gained over the years, with support from Government of Telangana in State coupled with its vision of creating the biggest Image Towers to promote VFX, Gaming and Animation industry in the state. Also, their plan to help UK universities build their off-campus sites in Telangana to educate more people about gaming will certainly bolster industry and attract gaming industries to establish their presence in a big way.” Rajesh added.
Expressing his happiness to witness a great turnout for the event from various parts of the globe, Rajesh Rao, Chairperson of IGDC, had said, “This is a conference that has been put together by the gaming industry- for the people, by the people. Over 25-30 top gaming companies, who have changed the face of the industry, have made this event one-of-a-kind. This is a not-for-profit event and we’re glad to be receiving great support from sponsors and gaming enthusiasts from various corners of the globe.”
On the VFX front, finally, we see the rise of Previz being a standard in the Indian film industry thanks to game engine technologies empowering VFX. Previz is a rough version of the movie used to plan out the actual shoot and its technicalities even before shelling out the money, a process that has been common only in Hollywood films until now.
Also, seeing Indian VFX studios rising up the creative ladder bolsters the huge potential for the sector to grow bigger. India was known for its less creative VFX that is intense in manpower and craft over creative technicalities, which has seen a notable change past year with our studios' filling their portfolio last year with CG creatures and entire CG intensive advertisements.
This opens up an entirely new tier of VFX service opportunities for India. All signs point out to an optimistic future for the Indian entertainment industry in the global arena.
Gaming a big leap year
Indian parents thinking of gaming as a hobby is starting to become a thing of the past with dozens of school and college students showcasing their game projects to veterans in the industry from all around the world.
Seeing three large eSports stages raised by ESL, Electronic Sports League, Nodwin Gaming for gamers to compete professionally for trophies and prize money, it seems safe to say, when Olympics counted in eSports, India will be ready with its champions to compete on the global arena.
Epic Games, the creators of arguably the most popular and powerful Unreal game engine, presenting the IGDC event, is a clear sign of rich game development talents available here. Unreal Engine’s Quentin Staes-Polet expressed surprise of India’s talent availability and community exceeding their expectations, shared by many of international delegates and game developers at the Indiajoy, India Game Developer Conference. He also said Unreal Engine focus in India is to partner with education institutions to create a pool of quality game developers and game architects.
CEO of Kabam Games Tim Fields on his second visit to India and at Indiajoy, IGDC expressed the need for indie game developers to think about user engagement and user retention by developing games that is lasting by making the user fall in love the game with the first 10 seconds.
Miniclip Anh Luong said the company is really excited by the passion of Indian Game Developers and mobile users who continue to grow and consume quality games.
One of the Italian delegates expressed his delight about the growing game development community in India and also the rise of game development that is happening in India.
The biggest spotlight was to see the great executions of VR technologies by Indian developers and students in spite of VR hardware being unavailable to India. This is a clear indication of how tech-hungry and on the cutting edge our youths are in spite of all the odds, all they require is to know that their parents are proud of the feats that they are accomplishing, and as always, more funding never hurts.
The investor publisher connect attracted 50 active investors and 60 gaming start-ups to tap potential investment and publishing opportunities. IGDC has seen a record 100% increase in number of global and local investors and startups at the gaming startups conclave – Investor-Publisher Connect.
Nazara Technologies, a leading interactive gaming and sports media company, stated it would invest up to $20 million in 2020 in startups and the CEO mentioned that his company is keen to expand its portfolio in India.
This year’s edition attracted some top names in the global gaming industry. The list includes Walter Devins of Imangi Studios (the TempleRun developer), Time Fields of Kabam Sudios, Anh Luong of Miniclip, Unreal Engine’s Quentin Staes-Polet of Epic Games and Anish Aravind, of Tencent Games (creater of Pubg games).
With several talks, workshops, panel discussions, esports tournaments, the two-day conference at IGDC has everything to ensure an adrenaline rush to its attendees.
Indiajoy 2019 had a power-packed line up of 9 world-class events that include IGDC (India Game Developer Conference), Desi Toons, VFX Summit, InfluencerCon, Investor-Publisher Connect, E-Sports, OTT Pulse and the Indiajoy Music Fest.