- Korea AI Game Association operates ‘Indie Arcade,’ a domestic indie game exhibition brand pavilion in conjunction with PlayX4
- Held at KINTEX from May 21 to 24… Indie game exhibition and networking party to take place
- Increased burden on indie game development teams due to the shift to self-payment of participation fees and the need for expanded policy support raised
The Korea Artificial Intelligence Game Association announced that it will operate ‘Indie Arcade,’ a domestic indie game exhibition brand pavilion, in conjunction with ‘2026 PlayX4,’ a global game exhibition hosted by Gyeonggi Province.
Indie Arcade is an offline indie game exhibition brand spearheaded by the association, marking its 8th edition this year following the launch of PlayX4 in 2018. It has established itself as a leading indie game exhibition program by supporting the participation and promotion of domestic indie game developers and teams.
This year’s event will be held for four days from May 21 to 24, 2026, at KINTEX Exhibition Center 1 in Ilsan, and operating hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day.
The exhibition will feature domestic indie games of various genres and unique characteristics, presenting new gaming experiences to visitors and industry professionals. In particular, it will be operated as an interactive program where developers can directly communicate with users and receive feedback on-site.
In addition, the association has organized side events to revitalize the indie game industry and expand industry exchanges. On May 21, the first day of the event, the ‘2026 Indieple Awards’ will be held, and a networking party for industry professionals and participating developers will take place at 7 p.m. on the same day.
Meanwhile, the association also mentioned difficulties arising from recent changes in exhibition support policies. It explained that as participation support, which was previously provided free of charge, has shifted to a partial self-contribution system, the burden of participation has increased for small development teams with limited financial resources.
Given that indie games are characterized by a high proportion of individuals or small teams, concerns are being raised that such cost burdens could lead to reduced opportunities to participate in exhibitions. As this is indeed impacting the scale of applications, there are growing calls for expanded policy support and guaranteed participation opportunities to revitalize the indie game ecosystem.
An association official emphasized, “Indie games are an important foundation driving the creativity and diversity of the domestic game industry,” adding, “Continuous policy support and expanded participation support are necessary so that more developers can obtain opportunities for exhibition and promotion.”
