The Smilegate FutureLab Foundation announced on December 5 that BEAVEROCKS 2025, Korea’s leading indie game & culture festival, has officially opened at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) Art Hall in Seoul. The event runs from December 5 to 7.
A Historic, Record-Breaking Lineup: 363 Indie Teams
Now in its fourth year, BEAVEROCKS celebrates its biggest edition yet, featuring 363 participating indie development teams — 82 on-site exhibitors and 281 online exhibitors. The festival also revealed its renewed name and branding, symbolizing “passionate indie creators rocking the world.”
Having attracted more than 28,000 cumulative visitors over the past three years, BEAVEROCKS continues to cement its position as Korea’s premier indie game festival.
A Wave of Fresh, Standout Indie Titles
BEAVEROCKS 2025 showcases a wide array of inventive and genre-spanning indie games. Among the most anticipated highlights is “Witch’s Garden,” the new title from Team Tapas — creators of “Hero’s Restaurant,” winner of the 2023 Korea Game Awards Indie Game Prize.
The lineup also features:
- “Video Editor” – a puzzle platformer inspired by video-editing tools
- “Suspicious Convenience Store” – an AI-driven gameplay experiment
- “XX Logistics Center” – a socially reflective game depicting labor at distribution centers
These titles demonstrate the festival’s strong focus on originality and creative risk-taking.
Scaling Up to a Global Indie Festival
The festival is increasingly expanding beyond the domestic indie scene.
This year, 30 titles from overseas developers will be showcased both online and on-site, providing Korean players with the opportunity to engage directly with global creators.
Spotlighted international titles include:
- “Yolk Heroes” – a digital pet-sim where players raise elves from eggs to heroes
- “Sky the Scraper” – an action-adventure game following an ambitious window cleaner chasing his dreams
The event provides a rare opportunity for cross-cultural exchange between international indie teams and Korean gamers.
Naver Webtoon Collaboration Prototypes Debut for the First Time
BEAVEROCKS 2025 also hosts a variety of side exhibitions and special events.
Among them is the first public unveiling of prototypes developed through BEAVERJAM, a collaborative game development program held in partnership with Naver Webtoon. Visitors can try experimental prototypes based on popular webtoon IPs, highlighting new possibilities in webtoon–game convergence.
The festival also features a showcase from the experimental game festival Out of Index (OOI) and a special booth dedicated to the horror-action hit “SANABI.”
Special Talks and On-Site Events
The main stage will host a range of developer talks and community events.
Notably, Anthony Lai, CEO of the globally successful mobile game “Good Pizza, Great Pizza” (over 100 million downloads), will deliver a keynote sharing insights into global market strategy for indie developers.
Yoo Seung-hyun, director of “SANABI”, will also present a developer session. Additional events include influencer meet-and-greets and fan signing sessions.
Gamified Visitor Experience: The BEAVEROCKS Questbook
To deepen immersion and ensure all visitors can engage with the festival, BEAVEROCKS 2025 introduces a physical “Guide & Questbook” for every attendee.
The Questbook includes:
- Festival map & curated game descriptions
- Missions and challenges are designed as lightweight gameplay
- Reward stamps are redeemable for special items
Completing quests allows visitors to earn exclusive BEAVEROCKS goods and merchandise from Smilegate’s Lost Ark.. The goal is to make the entire festival feel like playing through a game itself.
Visitor Information & Tickets
BEAVEROCKS 2025 runs December 5–7 at the DDP Art Hall in central Seoul.
Tickets are available for purchase at the on-site ticket booth (Art Hall 1).
Full schedules and participating game details can be found on the BEAVEROCKS official website and social media channels.
Smilegate FutureLab Team Manager Hwang Joo-hoon commented:
“BEAVEROCKS is a space where creators grow by engaging directly with players, and where visitors can discover the unique charm of indie games. We hope everyone enjoys the creativity, passion, and culture that define this festival.”
