The 2026 IndieCraft Secretariat announced the application status for the 2026 IndieCraft festival on May 11.

A total of 417 companies have applied, marking the highest number of submissions since 2019. By category, there are 295 companies in the domestic/community division and 122 in the Challenger (university student) division.

Document screening will continue until May 21, and the top 50 domestic teams and top 20 Challenger teams for the offline exhibition will be announced at the end of May. Selection results can be checked on the official IndieCraft website.

Selected developers will be granted access to export consultation meetings and training for AI-based platform data analysis programs. Additionally, they will receive free usage credits for Umodeler’s AI 3D solution 'Picoberry' and game fonts from Morisawa Korea.

During the offline exhibition held in conjunction with 2026 GXG from September 11 to 12, the user evaluation panel's scores will be aggregated to select the top 3 developers, who will be awarded prize money.

Lee Deok-hee, Head of the Strategic Industry Division at the Seongnam Industry Promotion Agency, stated, "The record-breaking turnout proves that IndieCraft has evolved beyond a simple competition into a platform where indie developers can find genuine growth opportunities." He added, "We will continue to leverage Seongnam's excellent game infrastructure to serve as a solid springboard for domestic indie developers aiming to challenge the global market."

Hwang Sung-ik, Chairman of the Korea Mobile Game Association, remarked, "It is truly heartening to see such a significant increase in participation from domestic indie developers, despite the increasingly difficult climate in the game industry. We are fully committed to identifying K-indie games that can compete on the global stage through a fair and rigorous judging process."