Pakistan’s creative technology landscape took a step toward a new model at the flagship FuturePlay Investor Summit, hosted in Karachi by the Centre of Excellence in Gaming and Animation, an event that brought together local and global publishers, venture capitalists, angel investors, and creative tech executives to observe what organizers describe as a shift away from traditional outsourcing work and toward building and monetizing original intellectual property.
The summit showcased handpicked startups working across gaming, 3D animation, XR and metaverse technology, and Web3, each presenting market tested prototypes developed over six months of intensive incubation. Rather than pitching early concepts, these studios arrived with prototypes that had already gone through a structured validation process, positioning them closer to what investors would consider genuinely investment ready rather than still requiring significant proof of concept work.
CEGA itself operates through a public private partnership involving the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, Ignite the National Technology Fund, and Hum Network, combining government backing with private media sector involvement in a structure aimed at building out Pakistan’s gaming and animation ecosystem from the ground up. The summit also drew a notable international commitment, with Sony joining as the event’s official Creative Tech Partner, a signal that organizers are framing as evidence of the global viability of locally developed intellectual property coming out of Pakistan’s creative tech sector.
CEGA’s incubation model offers founders fully funded support with no equity taken in return, giving participating studios access to high end rendering facilities, direct mentorship from industry professionals, and publishing networks that can help move a finished project toward a commercial release. This zero equity structure differentiates CEGA from many conventional startup accelerators, potentially making it a more attractive entry point for creative studios wary of giving up ownership stakes at an early and often undervalued stage of their development.
Applications for CEGA’s Cohort 3 are set to open in September 2026, continuing a pipeline that organizers hope will further establish Pakistan as a significant hub for interactive media and gaming on the global stage. The summit’s emphasis on investor readiness, rather than simply technical training, suggests CEGA is positioning its cohorts specifically to attract international capital and partnerships, rather than solely building local capacity within Pakistan’s gaming and animation sector.
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