IGDC 2025: Leveling Up in India’s Gaming Scene
- Abhi Mitra
- Nov 15
- 3 min read
I just got back from IGDC 2025 and wow, it was epic. IGDC (India Game Developer Conference) is the country’s premier event for game creators and industry pros, and this year it brought everyone together in Chennai. I hung out with designers, programmers, artists, animators and the whole creative crew. Gamers, content creators and developers were everywhere – it felt like a huge community reunion. It was so cool catching up with old friends and making new ones in our gamer/dev squad.
Key Takeaways
IGDC was packed with talks and booths, but the biggest moments were the aha’s that I jotted down. Here are my top learnings from the conference:
Gaming = Mainstream Career: No doubt, gaming and game dev have blown up into a legit career path now. Industry reports back this up – for example, Meta’s India lead said the gaming market is set to be worth nearly $7.5 billion and create 250,000 new jobs by 2025. As one expert put it, “Gaming is no longer niche. It is mainstream, inclusive, and dynamic”. In other words, all those hours we spent gaming? They can turn into real careers, from design to coding to esports. IGDC showed that everyone (students, coders, artists) can jump in and level up their skills for the gaming industry.
Indie Dev is Totally Doable: We heard a lot about how indie game dev is thriving because of accessible tools and marketplaces. Nowadays even a small team or solo dev can build something great. Engines like Unity, Unreal Engine or Godot give you powerful building blocks, and their asset stores are packed with 3D models, sounds, and code snippets you can plug in. In fact, Unity’s huge community and asset repository make development way easier than it used to be. As one blog put it, thanks to modern tech “indie developers can create games that rival those made by big studios”. So if you’ve got a killer game idea but limited resources, rest assured the tools are there to back you up.
Games as Human Art: Beyond tech, games are a way to infuse real human emotion into tech. I loved talks on how games let us express empathy, joy, fear, and all kinds of feels. A character’s struggle or triumph can make players literally feel their heart race or want to laugh. That connection — making players relate to characters — is something unique to games. As one source explains, when players “relate to the characters and feel the stakes, every success and failure becomes personal”. In other words, games aren’t just code and pixels; they’re a medium where developers pour in human touch and make us care. We saw many examples at IGDC of small studios creating powerful, emotional experiences on a budget. It was inspiring to see tech and heart come together.
What’s In It for You?
If you’re reading this, chances are you’re a gamer or thinking about a future in games (or maybe both). Good news – IGDC taught us where the industry is headed, and Centurion University is jumping on board too. We’re launching new Diploma and Certificate programs in Game Development (covering design, programming, art, animation, etc.) that will be taught in a hybrid format.
Diploma & Certificate Courses: Comprehensive training in game design, development, and production. These programs will cover everything from art and animation to coding game mechanics.
Industry Tie-Ins: The curriculum is aligned with industry standards, including Unity and Unreal Engine certification. (After all, Unity’s versatility and asset store make it one of the top engines for indie and pro devs)
Get Ready to Level Up: Whether you’re a student planning your career, or a gamer who wants to turn passion into profession, these courses are for you. If IGDC sparked that fire in you, fill out our interest form and stay tuned for details. (Seriously, fill it – your future game-dev squad is waiting.)
Gaming and game dev are exploding in India right now, and IGDC 2025 was proof. The community is thriving, the tools are there, and there are more paths than ever to make it a career. I’m super excited for what comes next – and I hope you are too. See you at the next level!
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