Google Indie Games Accelerator 2022: Helping Developers Do Better

Google apparently currently has a program that helps small developers to become advanced and bigger. The name of the program is Google Indie Games Accelerator. For 2022, this event will be held on Google Asia Pacific HQ Singapore on December 13, 2022. Of course, developer Indonesia is an important part of this program.

At this one event, it was only attended by media from Indonesia. Unfortunately, the media from South Korea were unable to attend and only joined together online through Google Meet. This event was held on the 3rd floor, namely Developer Space which was specifically made for developers. Of course, one of the characteristics of the Google office is the number of snacks and meals served to its guests.

Google Play's Indie Games Accelerator (IGA) program is an annual program that provides mentorship, training, and advice on product, design, and monetization. The program started in 2018 and recently held a Demo Day to give developers the opportunity to present their games to investors and game publishers.

On the first IGA Demo Day of 2020, 40 developer who took part in the event raised more than US$65 million from game publishers and investors.

Sami Kizilbash as Global Head Accelerators and Google Experts said that Indonesia is a market Gaming largest in Southeast Asia. This is due to the interest in eSports and users mobile gaming. In 2027, the Asia Pacific region is predicted to be the largest market share for mobile gaming. But for now, China, Japan, South Korea and India still lead in Asia.

Since everyone likes to play games, of course this can be used for monetization. Sami said until now people would like to download free games and developers could earn money from advertising. This of course requires infrastructure built by the local government so that it can develop more. This can be seen from South Korea, where the implementation of 5G and 4G is the most developed.

Sami also describes the characteristics of gamers from each country. China, for example, is para Gamershe plays an average of 19,2 hours per week and this is the highest in the world. Meanwhile, Japan is the country with the most users willing to pay, around US$ 300 per player in 2021. And the country with the most young players is Vietnam.

The IGA from Google Play will provide online training and will be guided by industry experts and mentors from around the world for 10 weeks. To enter into this program itself, the developer must own a game, whether it's a finished product or still in beta stage. Of the 30 game studios invited, Eternal Dream Studio and Rigged Box Softworks from Indonesia were the ones who successfully graduated in 2022.

For developer from Indonesia, one of whom is Satriyo Aji Nugroho, CEO, Rigged Box Softworks feels he has learned many things while attending IGA. This includes gaining knowledge and smart strategies to complete a game. And indeed, indie game developers still need to be given many opportunities to introduce their games to many people, both at home and abroad.

Hopefully, there will be many more developers from Indonesia who will comply gameon Google Play in the future.