Can AVGC Labs Turn India from Gaming Market to Game Maker?

When the Union Budget 2026 announced government-backed AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics) creator labs across schools and colleges, the move was widely welcomed as a long-overdue intervention in India’s fragmented gaming talent pipeline. But beyond the optimism lies a tougher question: can these labs deliver real, job-ready talent, spark original Indian IP, and help the country move past its mobile-first, service-heavy reputation?

Industry leaders agree the intent is right. The challenge now is execution — from infrastructure and mentorship to funding, publishing access, and risk appetite.

For Vishal Parekh, Chief Operating Officer, CyberPowerPC India, the success of AVGC labs will hinge on how closely they replicate real studio environments. “India’s gaming workforce continues to face a gap in applied skills, particularly in real-time development, optimisation, and familiarity with production-grade tools. Students who train on infrastructure aligned with global standards enter the industry with greater confidence and the ability to contribute from day one.”

Parekh stresses that exposure to professional-grade systems is not a luxury but a necessity if India wants to nurture original IP and compete globally. He adds that dependable, high-performance infrastructure helps students focus on creation rather than technical constraints, shortening the distance between education and employability.

Sagar Nair, Head of Incubation, LVL Zero Incubator, echoes the long-term nature of the effort, cautioning against expecting instant results. “AVGC labs should be viewed as long-term capacity builders for the industry. Their real impact will be seen over several years, as they create a steady pipeline of talent that grows with the ecosystem rather than responding only to immediate hiring needs.”

According to Nair, India’s biggest gaps aren’t just technical, but conceptual from design maturity and systems thinking to understanding global quality benchmarks and end-to-end production ownership.

While mobile gaming will continue to dominate due to its scale, many believe AVGC labs can unlock experimentation beyond mobile-first formats if paired with the right ecosystem support.

Parekh sees infrastructure as a key enabler of ambition. “Classrooms that mirror professional environments give creators the confidence to experiment and look beyond mobile-first pathways… When they learn on capable, future-ready systems, their focus stays on creation rather than constraints.”

Nair adds that labs can lower the risk barrier for studios looking to explore PC, console, and premium games. “What has historically held studios back is not ambition, but risk. PC and console development demands deeper technical expertise, longer development cycles, and higher upfront investment.”

For Akshat Rathee, Co-founder and MD, NODWIN Gaming, the labs are necessary but not sufficient on their own. “These labs are a necessary precondition for experimentation, but experimentation itself requires risk capital and publishing ambition. Talent exposure enables possibility, but capital enables execution.”

Rathee points out that every creative industry from films to sports has followed a similar trajectory, where services come first and original IP follows once creators, capital, and confidence align.

Most industry voices agree that talent alone won’t turn India into a global game-making hub. Structural gaps remain. “For India to truly emerge as a global game-making hub, the focus must expand from talent creation to building a well-rounded ecosystem,” says Parekh, highlighting early-stage funding, mentorship, and market access as critical next steps. “The biggest gap is capital structure and risk appetite… Original IP is not ‘dhanda.’ It is a punt on vision, and most IPs fail before one succeeds.”

From an ecosystem lens, Rohit Agarwal, Founder, AlphaZegus Marketing, stresses the importance of measurable outcomes. “If the new AVGC labs can convert even 30–40 percent of interested students into employable creators with production-level skills, that could begin to bridge the talent gap meaningfully.” Aggarwal warns that skilling without clear pathways into studios and IP creation risks reinforcing India’s role as a service market rather than building creative ownership.

The consensus is clear: AVGC labs are a foundational step, not a finish line. Their success will depend on how well they integrate infrastructure, mentorship, funding, publishing access, and real-world exposure. If done right, they could help India shift from being one of the world’s largest gaming audiences to a credible exporter of original games and IP.

If done halfway, they risk becoming another well-intentioned policy that stops at installation numbers. The real test won’t be how many labs are launched — but how many games, studios, and global successes emerge from them.