Key takeaways
- Karnataka announces Bengaluru GAFX 2026, Asia's largest AVGC conference, from February 27 to March 1.
- Event aims to unite creators, studios, and investors to foster AVGC and immersive media growth.
- Karnataka integrates extended reality into its AVGC policy, reflecting industry's rapid evolution.
- Bengaluru positioned as a global hub for next-generation storytelling and creative technologies.
- Theme 'Evolution Reloaded' emphasizes the convergence of human creativity with advanced technological innovations.
The Karnataka government, in association with the Association of Bangalore Animation Industry (ABAI) and Startup Karnataka, today announced the 7th edition of Bengaluru GAFX 2026, Asia’s largest annual conference and exhibition for the animation, visual effects, gaming, and comics (AVGC) sector, as well as extended reality, and immersive and interactive content.
The three-day event will be held from February 27 to March 1, at The Lalit Ashok, Bengaluru, bringing together creators, studios, technologists, investors, and global industry leaders from across the media and entertainment ecosystem.
Furthermore, in responses to AIM’s queries, Karnataka IT minister Priyank Kharge mentioned that the AVGC sector is also included in the Elevate scheme.
He further said that since the introduction of the first AVGC policy, XR has gained significant momentum and scale, prompting the government to formally integrate it into the new policy framework.
“Similarly, gaming and esports were not widely recognised at the time—not even by major international bodies. Today, esports is acknowledged at platforms such as the Commonwealth Games, reflecting how rapidly the sector has evolved.”
Bengaluru GAFX 2026 reflects the next phase of growth in the AVGC and immersive media industries, where human creativity converges with advanced technologies such as AI, real-time engines, virtual production, and immersive media to redefine storytelling, gameplay, and visual experiences.
The event underscores Karnataka’s ambition to strengthen India’s AVGC-XR and creative technology ecosystem while positioning the state as a global hub for next-generation storytelling.
“[The theme] ‘Evolution Reloaded’ reflects Karnataka’s belief that the next phase of AVGC growth will be driven by the convergence of deep technology and human creativity. GAFX embodies our ambition to position Karnataka as a global hub for creative technology and next-generation storytelling,” Kharge mentioned at the event.
Karnataka is India’s ‘orange economy’, where creativity, culture, and cutting-edge technology intersect.
The state accounts for nearly 20% of India’s media and entertainment industry, supported by over 300 AVGC-XR studios, a workforce of approximately 15,000 professionals, and a robust freelance and gig ecosystem. Bengaluru’s deep talent pool across digital content, gaming, VFX, XR, AI, and real-time technologies continues to anchor this leadership.
The vision of Bengaluru GAFX 2026 aligns closely with the Karnataka AVGC-XR Policy 2024-2029, India’s most progressive and future-ready AVGC policy framework. The policy supports IP creation, R&D, advanced skilling, global collaborations, and the adoption of AI-driven production pipelines and immersive technologies.
“Bengaluru GAFX reflects Karnataka’s long-term commitment to building a future-ready AVGC ecosystem across the entire value chain—from skilling and infrastructure to startups and global market access,” Manjula N, secretary to the government, state electronics and IT department, expressed.
Meanwhile, the AVGC centre of excellence (CoE), the operational backbone of the state’s creative technology ecosystem, has executed over 200 projects across domestic and international markets spanning animation, VFX, gaming, XR, and immersive content pipelines. It has also supported over 100 AVGC startups through incubation and shelter programmes, offering access to world-class infrastructure, licensed software, render capacity, and production-ready environments.
With AVGC CoE 2.0, the state is scaling this impact across Karnataka by extending access beyond Bengaluru to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, creating a distributed creative technology network. By integrating machine learning, cloud-based production pipelines, real-time engines, and XR authoring tools, the CoE aims to ensure Karnataka’s creative workforce and enterprises remain globally competitive and future-ready.
The summit will showcase special sessions on major Indian productions, including Kantara Chapter 1, Netflix’s Kurukshetra, Mahavatar Narasimha, Dhurandhar, and Lokah, alongside making-of sessions from Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated projects.
“Bengaluru GAFX, in partnership with the Karnataka government, has reshaped how the world values India’s creative talent,” Biren Ghose, president of ABAI, explained.
Meanwhile, in Budget 2026, an allocation of ₹250 crore has been made in the Demands for Grants for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for talent development in the AVGC sector, under which the government promotes India and its youth as leaders in content creation.
