CEGA, the Centre of Excellence in Gaming and Animation, served as Pakistan’s official local host for Game Jam Plus 2026/27, giving the country’s game developers a place in an international event often described as the “World Cup of Game Development.” Local developers at CEGA Lahore recently wrapped up an intense, hands-on game jam that ran for 48 hours, in which participants built games within a tight time limit. CEGA said the aim of taking part was to celebrate its local developers and to give them a global platform.
Game Jam Plus, also known as GJ+, is an international movement that spans more than 50 countries and over 100 cities. According to the announcement, it connects more than 17,500 developers to mentorship, incubation and exposure to global investors. For a game developer in Pakistan, where the gaming industry is still taking shape and access to international networks can be limited, being part of a worldwide event of this kind offers a way to measure their work against peers in other countries and to reach mentors and investors who would otherwise be difficult to approach.
The jam also reflects the growing role of CEGA as a hub for Pakistan’s gaming and animation community. Earlier this year, the centre was also named as the venue for the Lahore Frames animation meetup, and it is hosting sessions at Karachi Frames, which shows how it has become a regular meeting point for creators and studios. The announcement did not say how many developers took part in the Lahore jam, how many teams submitted games, or whether any Pakistani entries will go forward in the wider Game Jam Plus programme, so the results of the local event are yet to be made clear.
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