Opening of 'Burning Beaver Indie Game & Culture Festival 2024' Today
Baek Min-jeong, Future Lab Center Director, "We Will Expand the Base of Indie Game Development Environment"
"With unwavering support for indie game creators and aspiring creators, we will expand the base of the indie game development environment."
On the 29th, Baek Min-jeong, Head of Smilegate Future Lab Center, stated this at the press conference for the ‘Burning Beaver Indie Game & Culture Festival 2024’ held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Jung-gu, Seoul. She said, "I believe indie games are the starting point and seed of the creative ecosystem, and we will continue to support indie games."
Burning Beaver is an event organized by the Smilegate Future Lab Foundation to support domestic indie game developers and creators. Now in its third year, the event is held for three days from today until December 1st at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Jung-gu, Seoul.
The Future Lab Foundation, which planned this event, was established in June to systematically implement the theory of ‘lifelong learning’ research and to plan growth support programs tailored to each life cycle based on this. Kwon Hyuk-bin, founder of Smilegate Group and CVO (Chief Vision Officer), serves as the chairman.
Regarding the role of the Future Lab Foundation, Director Baek explained, "Ultimately, the goal is to create an ecosystem that runs well without corporate efforts or commercial purposes," adding, "The foundation supports the early stages of creation, while Stove provides commercial support later on, striving to assist all areas of ecosystem building."
She continued, "I believe that if everyone learns and explores what they want from childhood to youth, they can all live happy lives," and said, "The foundation’s purpose is not to change the country or the world, but to strive to make things better than they are now."
Burning Beaver prioritizes the ‘creator experience and value.’ Therefore, the Future Lab Foundation fully covers all expenses for participating developers. Hwang Joo-hoon, team leader of the Future Lab Creation Team, said, "We prepared the program hoping Burning Beaver will be a festival where everyone grows," and explained, "We support all essential elements, from demo devices to accommodation and meals, so that passionate creators never have to give up."
This year, a total of 83 teams participated. Visitors can enjoy about 90 indie games at each booth. The event’s concept is ‘Chef and Cooking,’ where creators, as ‘chefs,’ showcase games with their unique colors in their own spaces.
Especially at the Stove Indie booth, publishing titles such as ‘Over-Immersion Prohibited 2,’ ‘V.E.D.A,’ and ‘Storm Maid,’ which gained attention through the indie game feedback program ‘Wise Demo Life,’ are showcased.
The FMV game ‘Over-Immersion Prohibited 2’ (developed by Monster Guide) is the sequel to ‘Over-Immersion Prohibited 1,’ which attracted attention for its realistic story and excellent quality. ‘V.E.D.A’ (developed by Triple Games) is a soul-like anticipated title that has participated in various global game exhibitions and won numerous indie game awards, earning recognition from many indie game fans.
The maid caf? management tycoon game ‘Storm Maid’ (developed by Burger Duck Games) is a title that achieved excellent records in various indicators such as user satisfaction, average playtime, and number of reviews among the participants of ‘Wise Demo Life.’
Another publishing game from Stove Indie, ‘Archetype Blue,’ is also available. This deck-building roguelite strategy game is a new work developed by ‘Codename Bom,’ a rising star in the indie game scene, featuring elegant pixel graphics, strategic gameplay, and a philosophical scenario.
At the Stove Indie booth, an Indie Game Creator Meeting Zone is operated where creators can discuss business matters such as publishing and listing with Stove Indie. Pre-reservations for using the meeting zone were accepted for participating teams, and creators attending as general visitors can also apply for meetings on-site if they have a demo build or are preparing their next work.
In addition to this event, the Future Lab Foundation plans to support various programs to expand the creator ecosystem. They intend to extend programs supported at the Future Lab Foundation headquarters nationwide online and expand the stage of Burning Beaver globally. Team leader Hwang said, “We do not think indie games are limited to Korea. This year, there has been support from overseas,” and added, “We are considering ways to allow overseas development teams to participate.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
