CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government signed partnerships with leading gaming companies on Thursday at the India Game Developer Conference (IGDC) in Chennai, as part of its initiatives for long-term investment in game development, design and immersive media.
Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were inked with Nazara Technologies, Lakshya Digital and Reliance Games, alongside a skilling and research tie-up between the Game Developer Association of India (GDAI) and Hindustan University in the presence of Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin. IT Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan was also present on the occasion.
Speaking on the second day of IGDC 2025, Udhayanidhi who described himself as “an avid gamer”, positioned the state’s animation, visual effects, gaming, comics and extended reality (AVGC-XR) agenda as the next chapter in a decades-long digital push.
He traced the roots of TN’s tech-led development to former chief minister M Karunanidhi, crediting him with establishing India’s first IT department in 1998 and introducing computer education in schools. That legacy, he said, has been expanded under CM M K Stalin.
Sridhar Muppidi, chairperson of GDAI, said that TN has set a benchmark for how states could cultivate innovation and a youth-led digital economy.
Cross-state collaboration also featured at the event. Kerala’s AVGC-XR network signed partnerships, including an MoU linking a Kerala-based studio with Datsi School, the CSR arm of Zebu Animation, to jointly develop and co-own original intellectual property (IP), a model billed as a first for student-led game creation in India.