At this year’s Busan Indie Connect Festival (BIC 2026), organizers handed Pearl Abyss a plaque of appreciation and revealed the newest lineup of games chosen for BIGEM, a program that helps indie titles shown at the festival reach players overseas. The announcement was made jointly by the Game Culture Foundation (led by chairman Yoo Byung-han), the Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency (BIPA, under acting director Lee Jae-duk), Pearl Abyss (CEO Huh Jin-young), and the Busan Indie Connect Festival Organizing Committee (chairman Joo Sung-pil).

In recognition of Pearl Abyss’s continued commitment to backing Korean indie creators and helping build a path for them onto the world stage, the BIC Organizing Committee presented the company with a plaque of appreciation. The committee then announced the 12 games chosen for this year’s group:

• HIPS N NOSES (Pepperstones Inc.)
• Upbrella (Ablu)
• Video Editor (ReturnTrue)
• Stardust: The Star and The Witch (Knife Studio)
• Jack the Ripper: Wanderers in the Fog (Chasing Fox)
• Oh! Robot: Legendary Mechanic (Garage Arts)
• Seven Trials (Newcore Games)
• Preservation System (Banjiha Games Inc.)
• SOOM (Smallboots)
• Period Survival: The Last Trial (Vaeirus)
• RE∀IVE (RHYSOMO)
• Farm Survivors: Thirty Days Left (Gemsters Inc.)

Games chosen for BIGEM receive wide-ranging support to help them grow in international markets. Selected from among the titles shown at BIC, these games get help attending major overseas game shows, setting up and running booths in other countries, focused local marketing, and direct meetings with global publishers and investors. All of this support is provided as a single, connected package rather than separate pieces.

BIGEM began in 2018, when Pearl Abyss looked for a way to support indie developers that went beyond simple sponsorship and offered them real, hands-on help. That idea led to the program’s official launch in 2022, and it has since grown year by year. Now in its fifth run in 2026, BIGEM has become a leading program backed by both private companies and public organizations to help strong Korean indie games find success abroad.