From the 26th to the 27th of April, THE MAGIC RAIN’s free-entry ASEAN independent games showcase Indie Jam returned to Xsolla Curine Academy in KL Eco City Mall for its third instalment. The event celebrated upcoming indie titles and student demos from across the region, with this year’s showcase featuring games from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
The 2025 instalment of Indie Jam featured over 35 games in various stages of development, from early demos to games gearing up for their final release. A record high of 3,500 visitors had the opportunity to try out each game and leave their feedback for the developers, while also scoring exclusive merch from the Indie Jam game demo stamp rally.
One of the event’s key activities was the Indie Jam Student Game Jam, which saw ten student teams challenging themselves to create game demos based on the theme “Consume”. Each team had a week to execute their ideas, with the winners being determined via a combination of industry judges’ votes and public votes throughout the weekend.
Students from Asia Pacific University took home first place with their game Assimilation, winning RM60,000 in scholarships from Xsolla Curine Academy, as well as prizes sponsored by Xbox and gamescom asia x Thailand Game Show.
Indie Jam’s Industry Talks returned with a stacked lineup of gaming industry professionals from both local and international studios, including PlayStation Studios, Xbox, Larian Studios, Critical Reflex, Toge Productions, Neon Doctrine, Passion Republic, Springloaded Games, and more. Each speaker shared their experience and advice based on their respective game development journeys.
This year’s talks also took on a bit of an academic slant, with educators from Asia Pacific University and University of Wollongong Malaysia discussing their research on various aspects of the Malaysian gaming industry.
In collaboration with the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Global, Indie Jam also hosted the first IGDA Mentor Café in Asia. Taking place on 26th April, local industry professionals had the opportunity to offer support and advice to aspiring developers through unique one-on-one mentorship sessions.
Aside from the event itself, this year’s Indie Jam also expanded the event’s online presence through Indie Jam Direct, a livestream organised in collaboration with SEAGamethetic, showcasing all of the games featured at the event, which directed prospective players to official Indie Jam 2025 Steam and Itch.io pages, where they could wishlist or even try out some of the game demos themselves.
Streamers and content creators were also invited to showcase the games online during the After Jam livestream event. Held in partnership with streaming collective The Cham Drinkers, over 30 different content creators from across the ASEAN region had the opportunity to play games from Indie Jam, introducing these titles to their audiences in the process.
If you missed this year’s festivities, Indie Jam will be making its comeback in Q2 of 2026! For more updates, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and X/Twitter.
