- Seongnam Indiecraft Successfully Concludes Networking Day with Indie Game Developers
- 1HP Studios & Team Leftova Selected as Representative Developers for Indiecraft 2026
- Game companies, experts, and partner organizations all come together to lay the groundwork for the global expansion of submitted works.
The ‘2026 Indiecraft Networking Day,’ hosted by Seongnam City (Mayor Shin Sang-jin) and co-organized by the Seongnam Industry Promotion Agency (Director Lee Ju-yeon) and the Korea Mobile Game Association (President Hwang Seong-ik), was successfully held on June 19 at the Gravity Chosun Seoul Pangyo Autograph Collection Space Ballroom.
At this event, a total of 72 indie game developers and industry professionals gathered in one place, including 52 companies from the domestic and community sectors and 20 companies from the challenger sector selected for Indiecraft 2026.
Major game companies, including Korea’s leading app market ONE Store, Nexon, NCsoft, and Netmarble, joined forces at the event.
In addition, specialized companies in various fields, such as Dobrunner, Umodeler, Anchor Node, Changjo Gongjakso, Anders Interactive, and T&K Factory, participated as sponsors, solidifying a strong support foundation for Indiecraft.
The event consisted of an Indiecraft business briefing, an industry expert semi-conference, and a 2026 Indiecraft TOP developer selection ceremony, focusing on practical exchange among developers and guidance on commercialization support benefits.
A total of eight in-depth lectures were held at the semi-conference.
Practical guides on the adoption of the latest AI technology and marketing followed, including [Creating a Worldview – Methods for Creating a Worldview through the Fusion of Settings] by CEO Bok Gyu-dong of Gentle Maniac, [Mobile Game Trends and the Rise of Reward Marketing] by Team Leader Jeong Hoon of TNK Factory, [Creating Game Assets Alone with AI] by CEO Hwang Jae-sik of Umodeler, [Game Development with Local LLM] by CEO Kang Baek-ju of Must Games, and [Strategies for Utilizing AI Companion SLM] by CTO Choi Young of Warp Space.
In particular, the special session titled “[Copyright Stories in the AI Era]” by Attorney Baek Kyung-tae of Shinwon Law Firm received a great response from participants by clearly presenting intellectual property protection strategies necessary in the development field.
In addition, 1HP STUDIO CEO Lee Jeong-hoon and Team Leftova CEO Choi Seung-hyeok, who received favorable reviews from the judges at this Indiecraft, took the stage as speakers to share their thoughts on being selected and their vivid game development experiences.
At the subsequent TOP Developer Selection Ceremony, the two teams that had previously given lectures took the stage. In the Challenger category, ‘Team Leftova,’ which developed the action-adventure game ‘Lemy’ featuring a unique mouse control system set in the afterlife, and in the Domestic/Community category, ‘1HP Studio,’ which presented the high-speed action platformer game ‘Inari’ based on an Eastern fantasy worldview, were honored as representative developers.
Lee Ju-yeon, Director of the Seongnam Industry Promotion Agency, emphasized, “Indiecraft has grown into such a large event in just nine years, starting as a small competition with 26 companies in 2017. The developers from the 72 companies selected out of 417 applicants this year are the very protagonists who brought about this change.” She added, “Indiecraft aims to serve as a stepping stone for those who feel lost in the face of funding and distribution barriers despite having good ideas. As we have prepared everything this year—including commercialization support, export consultations, exhibitions linked to GXG, and lectures on AI data analysis—we will stand by the selected developers until the very end to ensure their passion leads to global expansion.”
Co-organizing Committee Chairman Hwang Seong-ik stated, “I am very pleased that we were able to successfully conclude the Networking Day amidst the enthusiastic response from the 72 selected developers,” adding, “In particular, I am confident that this semi-conference was of great help to the developers, as it consisted of practical content that can be immediately utilized in the field, such as AI solution application, worldview planning, and copyright. We will thoroughly manage the remaining support programs to drive the growth of the selected developers.”
Indiecraft plans to continue engaging with users and industry stakeholders through key follow-up programs, such as offline exhibitions of outstanding indie games. Further details can be found on the official Indiecraft website.
