Seongnam, South Korea – August 16, 2025 – IndieCraft 2025, Korea’s leading indie game festival, successfully hosted its IR Demo Day on August 13 at the Seongnam Global Convergence Center, offering selected indie developers a valuable opportunity to present their games to domestic and international investors.
Hosted by Seongnam City and co-organized by the Seongnam Industry Promotion Agency and the Korea Mobile Game Association, the event was designed to support developers in crafting investor-ready pitch decks through lectures and 1:1 mentoring, culminating in a live presentation session.
Out of the Top 50 selected IndieCraft developers, 10 studios took the stage to showcase their projects and business strategies in front of investors, each delivering an 8-minute presentation followed by a 7-minute Q&A. Participants included Netstream, The Cove, Writers Games, Luminous Tales, Mayfly, By Witchlight, Studio Doodal, Irondir Games, Ilwol Studio, and Playday, representing a wide range of genres and creative approaches.
A panel of nine industry experts and VCs, including representatives from Low Partners, Prodigy Investment, SV Investment, Smilegate Investment, Laguna Investment, Mirae Asset Capital, Neowiz, Korea Value Investment, and Com2uS Platform, evaluated the pitches to ensure a fair and professional review.
The Grand Prize went to Writers Games for THANKS, LIGHT., a first-person puzzle adventure that uses light and shadow mechanics to seamlessly shift between 2D and 3D perspectives, blending puzzle-solving with thriller elements. Judges praised its originality and immersive design.
Excellence Awards were presented to three studios:
- The Cove for Shell Bless the Faithless, a 1–4 player action roguelite shooter combining runes, magic, and shotguns in a Viking saga of saving nine kingdoms.
- By Witchlight for The Magus Circle, a drawing-based “Bemsulike” with an innovative magic system and rich narrative, which has already surpassed 20,000 Steam wishlists.
- Mayfly for Project Revenant, a precision aim-and-shoot run-and-gun inspired by John Wick, is currently in development for PC and consoles with planned Early Access in late 2025. The studio has already secured publishing partnerships with PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox, demonstrating its proven capabilities.
Lee Deok-hee, Director at the Seongnam Industry Promotion Agency, stated:
“We sincerely thank all the developers for their passionate presentations. Seongnam will continue to support indie creators through IndieCraft.”
Hwang Sung-ik, Co-Chairman of IndieCraft, added:
“All 10 teams showed impressive talent and potential. Regardless of the awards, we hope they will continue pushing forward for the growth of Korea’s indie game industry. IndieCraft will stand behind them with ongoing support.”
Looking ahead, IndieCraft 2025 will showcase selected titles at Gamescom 2025 in Cologne, Germany (August 20–22), and host a large-scale offline exhibition during Seongnam’s biggest cultural festival, GXG 2025 (September 19–20). Last year’s GXG attracted more than 30,000 visitors, and this year promises an even larger lineup of games and content.
