Google Indie Games Accelerator: Indian game industry veteran speaks highly of Pakistani entrepreneurs

SINGAPORE: An Indian game industry veteran has recounted his interaction with young Pakistani entrepreneurs at Google’s “Indie Games Accelerator” programme, saying he found them “polite, professional and absolutely driven”.

Alok Kejriwal, CEO and Co-founder of Games2win, mentored a team of young Pakistani studio here in Singapore at Google’s Asia HQ during a session and was “honoured and surprised” by the “sweet” response from them.

“Yesterday, the moment I sat down for my first mentoring session, I saw the Pakistan Flag. I was mentoring a team from Pakistan! The moment we looked at each, we burst into a smile and chatted in Hindi. (Their Hindi was so polished compared to my 'Mumbaiya' Hinglish). I came across folks that were so polite, professional and absolutely driven. They had an awesome game that IS destined to do well. I gave them my best...,” he stated in his LinkedIn post.

The US tech giant has launched a four-month program for top indie game startups from Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia,  Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam who are looking to supercharge their growth on Android.

Two Pakistani game studios 'we.R.play' and 'Dreamnode Studios' are among the 30 others currently attending the bootcamp.

 This is a special edition of the Launchpad Accelerator program, designed in close collaboration with Google Play, featuring a comprehensive gaming curriculum and mentorship from top mobile gaming experts.

Sameer Hussain, working with Islamabad based game development studio ‘we.R.play’, thanked the Indian expert. “My mentor session with you was highlight of my day today. Gave us lot to think about. Most of that stuff is going into making my OKRs. Thanks a lot sir.”

Kejriwal, was overwhelmed with the response and said: “….it was SUCH an honor and surprise to receive this tweet. It was a moment of such unity for me. The KARMA of entrepreneurs is to help each other - all prejudices and mind blocks just melt away!”

Sami Kizilbash, Google's Developer Relations Ecosystem Regional Head, said they are deeply touched by Alok's comments about Pakistani participants. "We are inspired by how wholeheartedly the diverse group of founders and mentors came together to focus on building incredible experiences for mobile gamers," he added.

The Programme bootcamp 1 will conclude today, while the Graduation bootcamp is scheduled for Nov 27-29 in Singapore.