New Delhi: The Game Developer Association of India (GDAI), the apex industry body representing India’s gaming ecosystem, has launched Supernova, a national incubation programme aimed at helping Indian gaming studios scale from game development to publishing and build globally competitive intellectual properties (IPs).
The programme is being developed in collaboration with global industry partners including Tencent, PhonePe’s Indus Appstore, 1312 Interactive and Sanchi Connect, among others. Supernova seeks to address key challenges faced by independent game developers, including access to structured mentorship, venture funding, publisher networks and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled production capabilities.
In its inaugural year, Supernova will support 40 high-potential gaming studios selected from across India. Applications for the programme are now open.
Designed to support studios at different stages of development — from student teams and early prototypes to publisher-ready and investment-ready companies — the incubation programme will provide founders with industry mentorship, publisher and investor readiness support, AI-focused development workflows and technical guidance.
The programme will also offer business, legal and intellectual property advisory, cloud infrastructure support, startup technology benefits, and direct access to publishers, platform holders and ecosystem partners.
The launch comes as India’s gaming industry continues to expand, with the country emerging as one of the world’s largest gaming markets by audience size. Industry reports indicate that the next phase of growth will depend on enabling developers to build sustainable studios through improved publishing opportunities, monetisation strategies, global market access and business support.
India’s gaming ecosystem currently comprises more than 2,000 companies and supports around 130,000 professionals. Through initiatives such as Supernova, GDAI aims to strengthen the developer ecosystem and contribute towards its broader vision of creating more than 2 million jobs in gaming by 2034.
Speaking on the launch, Rajan Navani, Board Member and Chairperson, GDAI Incubation Subcommittee, added, “India has all the ingredients to become a global powerhouse for game development, be it creative talent or entrepreneurial energy, and a rapidly growing domestic market. The next phase of growth will depend on our ability to help founders build sustainable studios capable of creating globally successful IP. Supernova is an important step towards building that long-term ecosystem.”
Shruti Verma, CEO, GDAI, said, “Over the past few months, our conversations with founders across India have revealed a common set of challenges. Many studios struggle to move from building games to building sustainable businesses, securing publisher access, raising growth capital, adopting AI-driven production workflows, and navigating the path from prototype to commercial success. Through Supernova, we’re bringing together mentorship, publishing access, AI expertise and industry networks to help founders build investment-ready, globally competitive game studios.”
The incubation programme will culminate with a Demo Day at the India Game Developer Conference (IGDC) 2026, where participating studios will present their games to publishers, investors and industry leaders from India and international markets.
GDAI said the first cohort of Supernova will be announced in August 2026, with applications closing on July 31, 2026.
