The IndieBeat: Tehran Game Convention shows global politics won’t stop gaming’s growth

The nonprofit Iran Computer and Video Games Foundation (IRCG) has wanted to bring international game developers to Tehran for over a decade, and it finally succeeded with the first Tehran Game Convention in 2017. The inaugural event drew larger crowds than the organization expected, and this year’s festival has only grown. It added the Gamistan Awards to recognize outstanding titles from all over the Middle East and North Africa as well as other emerging markets, and IRCG has plans to build up the event even more.

IRCG president Hasan Karimi says that his organization’s mission over the years has been to help local developers by sponsoring them to attend games events abroad and to negotiate global publishing deals. However, it was in a tricky spot because of a lack of financial resources as well as overcoming publishers’ fears. And sending developers abroad wasn’t ideal because it had to select only a handful of people.