Applications for ‘2026 Indiecraft,’ co-hosted by the Seongnam Industry Promotion Agency and the Korea Mobile Game Association, closed on May 11, breaking the record for the highest number of applications ever.
The 2026 Indiecraft Organizing Committee announced on the 13th that a total of 417 companies applied for this recruitment, setting an all-time record since the rebranding in 2019. By category, 295 companies participated in the Domestic/Community sector and 122 in the Challenger (University Student) sector. This represents an increase of approximately 90 companies compared to the previous record of 326 applications in 2024.
The organizing committee cited increased prize money and practical support programs focused on business linkages as the key factors for this year’s success. The grand prize this year was expanded to 40 million won, more than double the amount from the previous year, and support for offline exhibitions linked to ‘GXG,’ Seongnam’s representative game culture event, It is analyzed that the establishment of a support system through the ‘Connect Fair – K-Game Export Consultation’ also influenced the expansion of participation.
Document screening of submitted games will be conducted until May 21, and the final list of the top 50 domestic companies and top 20 challenger companies selected to participate in the offline exhibition is scheduled to be announced at the end of May. Selected developers will be provided with the opportunity to participate in export consultation meetings, along with training in AI-based platform data analysis programs.
In addition, commercialization benefits from sponsors will be provided, such as free usage credits for Umodeler’s AI 3D solution ‘Peacocky’ and the provision of in-game fonts by Morisawa Korea. At the offline exhibition linked to ‘2026 GXG’, held from September 11 to 12, the final top 3 developers will be selected and awarded based on the evaluation results of approximately 100 user evaluators.
Lee Deok-hee, Head of the Strategic Industry Division at the Seongnam Industry Promotion Agency, stated, “This record-breaking number of participants demonstrates that Indiecraft is establishing itself as a platform that supports the growth and market entry of indie developers, going beyond a simple game contest,” adding, “We will continue to actively support the global market entry of domestic indie developers based on Seongnam City’s excellent game industry infrastructure.”
Hwang Seong-ik, Chairman of the Korea Mobile Game Association, said, “I am deeply moved that many indie developers participated despite the challenging environment for the game industry,” adding, “We will do our utmost to discover globally competitive K-indie games through fair and rigorous evaluations.”
The final selection results for Indiecraft 2026 can be found on the official website of the Korea Mobile Game Association (www.k-mga.or.kr) and the official website of Indiecraft (www.indiecraft.or.kr).
