A record-breaking edition powered by Management and Science University brings together gamers, developers, and industry voices from across the ASEAN region.
On April 4th and 5th, Indie Jam teamed up with Management and Science University for its fourth and largest ASEAN showcase yet. Organised by THE MAGIC RAIN in conjunction with MSU Engage Talent Sync Expo 2026, the annual indie game showcase and mini conference brought together gamers, developers, and industry voices from across the region, reinforcing its mission to celebrate and elevate the ASEAN game development scene.
This year’s edition featured over 60 games and demos from 8 countries, making it the largest indie game showcase in Malaysia and the most ambitious edition of Indie Jam so far. Participating studios represented a diverse international mix, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, and Brunei; further bolstered by international publishing partners Goldpact Goblins, Ysbryd Games, and Soft Source Publishing.
Indie Jam drew approximately 2,500 attendees across two days, including 15% international visitors from 28 countries, marking the event’s largest international crowd to date. Notably, half of attendees were students and fresh graduates while a quarter comprised industry professionals, reflecting the event’s core objective of connecting young developers with the broader industry.
This year’s event saw an expanded focus on facilitating mentorship, networking, and career pathways for emerging developers through initiatives like the Women In Games Asia Mentor Match, Digital Blacksmith School Art Portfolio Review, and Job and Internship Matching, which saw an overwhelming response from students and fresh graduates.
In partnership with Games For Change Hong Kong, Playing For The Planet, and the Tencent Institute of Games, Indie Jam also hosted its first international-level student competition, the inaugural Games For Change Student Game Jam Kuala Lumpur. This marked the final stop in the Games For Change Student Game Jam series, with game jams held earlier in Singapore and Hong Kong last month.
Based on the theme “Reefs and Rainforests”, eight student teams were challenged to conceptualise, develop, and market an original game in one week, culminating in public voting at the event and presentations to a panel of industry judges from Games For Change Hong Kong, Digital Blacksmith School, and Passion Republic.
The winning team from Asia Pacific University stole the show with their game, “Bear and Weevil versus Evil”, which depicted a Bear and Weevil duo on a mission to save their rainforest from the evil corporation. The team will go on to showcase their game at the Games for Change Hong Kong 2026 Festival this May, while the top three teams won scholarships worth RM60,000 from Yayasan MSU and tickets to Digital Blacksmith Workshop.
In addition to that, all participating teams were also given the opportunity to submit their games to international student awards, namely the G4C Student Challenge 2026 and Tencent’s Games Without Borders Awards 2026. All of the game jam submissions can be played on Itch.io here.
The first Indie Jam Pitch Competition powered by gamescom asia x Thailand Game Show made its debut this year, offering developers a pathway to showcase at Southeast Asia’s largest gaming business and consumer event this October. The grand prize of a sponsored Indie Booth was awarded to Nekogi Studios, an Indonesian studio developing a cozy-chaotic co-op platformer named Celene.
Ten runner-up studios were also selected to win Conference Passes to gamescom asia x Thailand Game Show 2026. They are 1+1 Studios (Malaysia), Basika Games (Philippines), Dreamonaut Studio PLT (Malaysia), Engram Interactive (Indonesia), InSpite (Singapore), Kotakoren (Malaysia), Monsoon Games (Singapore), TrueWorld Studios (Singapore), WilKGames (Brunei), and Xenoaisam Studio (Malaysia).
Complementing the physical event, Indie Jam launched its official Steam page in collaboration with Malaysia’s largest online game development community, GamesHQ. The Indie Jam 2026 Steam Page achieved over 1.8 million impressions within a week and was featured on the platform’s homepage, an editorial placement by Valve based on performance and user engagement metrics.
In addition to that, content creators around the world continue to amplify the showcase through After Jam, the official livestream event that takes place a week after the physical event, and Indie Jam Direct, the official video showcase that premiered on THE MAGIC RAIN Youtube channel.
“Indie Jam is a reminder that the future of games is not just global, it is also deeply local,” says Nathalie Tay, founder of Indie Jam. “Players want stories that reflect who they are, where they come from, and what they believe in. ASEAN developers are uniquely positioned to deliver exactly that, and we hope events like Indie Jam serve to open a few doors along the way.”
Follow Indie Jam on their website, Instagram, X, and Facebook for future event announcements.
