* Held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) for three days from the 5th to the 7th, a diverse lineup including 30 global indie games will be unveiled.
Smilegate Future Lab Foundation (Chairman Kwon Hyuk-bin) announced on the 5th that the indie game and culture festival ‘BEAVEROCKS 2025’ will be held at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) Art Hall in Seoul from the 5th to the 7th.
The largest ever, with 363 development teams participating.
Now in its fourth year, Beaver Rocks is the largest in its history, with a total of 363 indie game development teams participating, including 82 offline and 281 online. The event’s name has been changed this year to reflect its mission: “A festival where passionate indie game creators rock the world.”
Beaver Rocks, which has established itself as Korea’s leading indie game festival, has shown steady growth, recording over 28,000 cumulative visitors over the past three years.
A slew of new indie games are gaining attention.
This event will showcase a plethora of new indie games spanning a diverse range of genres, each brimming with personality. In particular, “The Witch’s Garden,” a new game from Smilegate Membership (SGM)-born Team Tapas, winner of the 2023 Korea Game Awards Indie Game Award for “Yongsa Restaurant,” has been unveiled for the first time, garnering significant industry attention.
In addition to these, games that stand out for their novel attempts will welcome visitors, such as ‘Video Editor’, a puzzle platformer with a unique concept inspired by video editing tools, ‘Suspicious Convenience Store’, which utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) technology as a key fun element of the game, and ‘XX Logistics Center’, a socially critical work that depicts the reality of labor at a logistics center through a game.
A leap forward as a global indie game festival
Beaver Rocks is expanding beyond Korea to become a global indie game festival. This year, 30 games developed by overseas development teams will be showcased online and offline to Korean users.
Representative games attracting attention include “Yolk Heroes,” a digital pet training game that challenges players to raise elves from eggs to heroes, and “SKY THE SCRAPER,” an action-adventure game about a window cleaner chasing his dreams. This event is expected to serve as a platform for exchange within the global indie game ecosystem, providing opportunities for direct communication between overseas developers and domestic gamers.
Naver Webtoon Collaboration Prototype First Revealed
There will also be a variety of side exhibits and events. Future Lab will unveil the results of its game development program “BEAVERJAM,” conducted in collaboration with Naver Webtoon last October, for the first time at Beaver Rocks. Experience prototype games developed by creators based on popular webtoon IPs firsthand, providing an opportunity to explore the potential of webtoon and game convergence.
Additionally, a special booth was set up for the domestic experimental game festival ‘Out of Index (OOI)’, which showcases original and experimental games, and the horror adventure game ‘Sannabi’.
Special lectures and various on-site events
Various stage events will also be held for visitors. Anthony Lai, CEO of “Good Pizza, Great Pizza,” the mobile game with over 100 million downloads worldwide, will be the featured speaker. He will share his global market entry know-how and success strategies with Korean indie game developers.
Additionally, a lecture by Seunghyun Yoo, CEO of “Sannabi,” the developer of the game that has surpassed 1 million cumulative players and ushered in a new era for Korean horror games, is scheduled. A variety of events, including autograph sessions with game influencers, are also planned to encourage direct communication with fans.
Introduction of a visitor-participatory ‘Quest Book’ system
This year, Beaver Rocks is providing all visitors with a physical “Guide & Quest Book” to enhance their immersion. The Quest Book contains exhibition route information, game descriptions, and various missions.
The festival was designed so that visitors, regardless of their gaming skill level, could naturally experience indie games and complete missions. Upon completing quests, they could receive various prizes, such as limited edition Beaver Rocks merchandise and goods from Smilegate’s popular game “Lost Ark.” The festival’s unique feature is the introduction of gamification elements, allowing visitors to enjoy the festival itself as if it were a game.
Viewing Guide and Ticket Information
Beaver Rocks 2025 will be held for three days, from the 5th to the 7th, at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) Art Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul. Tickets can be purchased on the day at the on-site ticket booth in DDP Art Hall 1. Detailed program schedules and information on participating games can be found on the Beaver Rocks official website and social media channels.
Hwang Ju-hoon, team leader of Smilegate Future Lab, said, “Beaver Rocks will be an opportunity for creators to grow while interacting with the public, and a festival for visitors to discover the unique charm of indie games.” He added, “We hope that you will enjoy the joy of indie games and creative culture at Beaver Rocks, where you can experience games and various contents from passionate creators.”
