Google Launches Indie Games Accelerator for Asian Markets Including Pakistan

Mobile gaming is a major phenomenon. It now accounts for a large number of gamers around the world and is one of the biggest sources of revenue for the gaming industry.

According to Google, developing nations account for 40% of overall game installs from the Play Store. Smartphone adoption is also on the rise in emerging markets like ours, which presents an opportunity for game developers to tap into.

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With that in mind, the search engine giant has launched an Indie Games Accelerator in Asia, focused on “helping local game developers from these markets achieve their full potential and make the most of this opportunity”.

The Indie Games Accelerator will support startups from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The Program

It will be a 4-month program which will help you get up to speed with current gaming trends and furnish you with a comprehensive gaming curriculum under the mentorship of the best mobile gaming experts.

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Experts will include but are not limited to: Noah Falstein (Ex-Chief Game Designer at Google), Mark Skaggs (Maker of Farmville and Cityville on Facebook) and Shainiel Deo (CEO Halfbrick studios, the studio behind Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride).

There will be three main points of focus for the accelerator:

• Game Development: Design best practices, Google Platforms (Android Studio, AR Core, Firebase, Google Cloud, Instant Games), Unity.
• Business Development: Google Play Console, YouTube Gaming, User Acquisition best practices, Monetization models and more.
• People and Team Culture Development: Hiring the right people, building company culture and leadership development.

What You Get From The Program

Here’s what you will get from the Indie Game Accelerator:

• Invitation to attend 2 all-expense-paid gaming bootcamps at Google Asia HQ in Singapore
• Personalized mentorship from top experts from Google and the gaming industry
• Opportunity to be showcased on Google Play
• 1 Google Pixel phone for product testing
• US$ 20,000 in Google Cloud Platform and Firebase credits, with training and support
• Invitation to attend Google Playtime 2018 in Singapore. Playtime is an invitation-only event for top apps and games developers on Google Play
• Delegate pass to Google I/O 2019
• Invitation to a Unity “Unite” event of your choice in SEA or India

Google will pay for air travel, hotel, and meals for the duration of the bootcamps. Note that the delegate pass to Google I/O will only let you enter the conference, travel and other expenses for the dev conference will not be paid for.

Eligibility Criteria and How to Apply

You must be over 18 years of age and must have a game currently under development to apply. You can also include your previous games in the application form.

Also, applicants will have to submit a playable demo of their latest game under development or their most recent game on Google Play.

Google will announce the developers selected for the program on 8th August. Once selected, you will need to have 2 major execs available to attend the two programs in Singapore.

All you need to do is fill out and submit this application form to apply for the program.

Key Dates

• 31 July – Form submission deadline
• 8 August – Announcement of 1st batch
• 24 – 28 September – Program bootcamp 1 (Singapore)
• 27-29 November – Graduation bootcamp (Singapore)

Click here to find out more.