Centre of Excellence in Gaming and Animation is hosting Session 2 of its Incubation Program, going behind the scenes of game publishing with Noman Ahsan, founder and chief executive officer of Creative Distrix and GameLyft. Ahsan brings more than 15 years of experience spanning game design, user acquisition, monetization, LiveOps, and publishing, a breadth of expertise that positions him to speak to the full lifecycle of a game rather than just the creative or technical side developers are typically most comfortable discussing. His credentials extend to speaking at GDC Festival of Gaming 2026, placing him among practitioners whose insight into publisher decision making carries weight beyond Pakistan’s domestic gaming scene alone.
The session is built around a question many first-time game developers underestimate until they are actually pitching, what specifically makes a publisher say yes to a game. Understanding what publishers evaluate matters considerably more than developers often assume, since a technically well-built game with weak monetization potential or unclear user acquisition strategy can struggle to secure publishing interest regardless of its creative merit, a gap that frequently separates hobbyist projects from commercially viable studios.
The session will break down the factors that can take a promising game from pitch to publishing, moving past surface-level advice about polish and presentation toward the more concrete commercial and operational considerations publishers actually weigh, including LiveOps readiness and monetization design baked in from early development rather than added as an afterthought. For founders in CEGA’s incubation cohorts, hearing this directly from someone who has operated on both the development and publishing sides offers a more grounded perspective than generic pitch coaching disconnected from how publishing deals actually get made.
Session 2 is scheduled for Tuesday, 29 September 2026, from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM, held physically in Lahore and virtually in Karachi, giving founders in both cities direct access regardless of location. The session doubles as an entry point for CEGA’s broader Incubation Cohort 3, which has opened applications inviting founders to apply through CEGA’s website before the cohort’s deadline closes, continuing CEGA’s effort to move promising game and animation ideas from early concept toward investor and publisher ready ventures.
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