Digital Dragons 2026: gamedev leaders met in the heart of Małopolska

Over 2,350 professionals from 56 countries gathered at the ICE Congress Centre, and more than 2,800 business meetings took place in the Business Networking Zone. 

The highlight of Monday evening was the Digital Dragons Awards ceremony, during which the prestigious ‘dragon eggs’ – the oldest and most highly regarded awards in the Polish video game industry, honouring the best titles of the past year – were presented.

The clear winner was Bloober Team and their latest title, Cronos: The New Dawn. The game won three awards: Best Polish Game of 2025, Best Polish Visual Game Art of 2025 and Best Polish Game Audio of 2025. The second big winner of the evening was 11 bit studios – their game, The Alters, was awarded for best game design (Best Polish Game Design of 2025) and best narrative (Best Polish Narrative of 2025).

In the mobile games category, the winner was Pixel Perfect Dude studio with their dynamic title #DRIVE Rally. International developers were also recognised – the Best Foreign Game of 2025 award went to Sandfall Interactive for the highly acclaimed Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Meanwhile, Grzegorz Wątroba was honoured with the prestigious Special Recognition Award for his lifetime achievement and outstanding contribution to the industry.

Supporting independent developers remains a core part of Digital Dragons’ identity. This year’s Indie Zone showcased an impressive 51 titles. The wide range of projects was striking: from innovative puzzle games, through atmospheric platformers, to elaborate RPGs with unique visuals. These productions competed for the Indie Dragons Awards, which were presented by an international jury comprising experienced industry experts, publishers and journalists.

Indie Zone participants – including graduates and participants of the Digital Dragons Accelerator – pitched their projects to potential publishers and investors (as part of the Digital Dragons Arena and the Digital Dragons Accelerator Demo Day) and competed for the public’s recognition in the Community Vote. The competition officially concluded with the presentation of trophies to the winners of the vote during Tuesday’s closing ceremony.

This year’s edition gained an even more international character thanks to the presence of Indie Zone studios on Steam – through a partnership with Untold Tales, the studios present at Digital Dragons received additional visibility with the world’s largest distributor of PC games. Meanwhile, AMD – the conference’s Indie Zone & Technology Partner – ensured on-site availability and exposure in Kraków itself by providing top-tier computer hardware.

Digital Dragons 2026 also offered a wealth of expert knowledge. The conference programme, highly praised by attendees, was packed with lectures and panel discussions addressing the key challenges facing modern game development – from programming and art direction to publishing and legal issues, as part of the Legal & Business Summit by Rymarz Zdort Maruta.

This year, eight lecture halls hosted distinguished guests from around the world. Among those sharing their experiences were Tina Nawrocki, a talented animator known for her work on Cuphead, and Guy Richards, representing the ID@Xbox programme, who outlined the prospects for the console market to independent developers. In addition to them, numerous experts representing leading global studios took to the stage, including Marcin Undak (Blizzard Entertainment), Katarzyna “Kafis” Zielińska (Techland) and others.

The conference programme featured lectures and panels dedicated to the audio aspect of games. Guests included leading musicians and sound designers from the industry, such as Wilbert Roget II and Pete Ward. Digital Dragons 2026 was also supported by companies and organisations associated with the audio sector: Audiokinetic (Audio Track Gold Sponsor), Commercial Audio (Audio Gear Partner) and ZAiKS (Audio Community Partner).

Among the industry giants were also leaders in the distribution market. Discussions with developers and consultations were held by representatives from Steam, Epic Games, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo. It was an extremely valuable experience for developers and, for the conference itself, a key distinguishing feature compared to other industry events.

Under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Institute of Creative Industries, and the Krakow Technology Park took place a session of the Polish gaming development Roundtable, with discussions regarding the industry’s development strategy.

The Expo Zone, featuring stands from the conference’s partners, proved very popular with attendees. Those looking for the latest hardware could visit the x-kom and Greencell stands. Of course, there was no shortage of game development studios, such as CD PROJEKT RED, Larian Studios, Rage Quit Games or Playtika. Companies creating innovative solutions for the industry also showcased their work, including 1Stop Translations.

The atmosphere of the conference encouraged a free exchange of experiences outside the official panels. Prestigious networking events (the Badge Pickup Party powered by Rage Quit Games and the Digital Dragons Party), including those dedicated to VIP ticket holders, created an excellent space for informal discussions and strengthening international business relationships. The anniversary edition of Digital Dragons once again proved that Kraków’s gaming industry festival is a unique meeting place combining business professionalism with an incredible, friendly atmosphere.

Województwo Małopolskie is the Main Partner of the event: the regional authorities are implementing a range of projects that serve innovation and economic development of Małopolska, and its attractiveness for investors. Małopolska is a perfect location for running business, particularly based on new technologies. Evidence of that is the number of new ventures growing every year, including dynamically developing tech start-ups. Thanks to the massive support given to entrepreneurship and the optimal utilization of EU funds and other public funds, Województwo Małopolskie positively stands out among other voivodships.

Krakow is a modern metropolis with over a million people working in it. Krakow is 132 thousand students, 23 higher education institutions, including 7 universities, over 280 international corporations employing nearly 101 thousand people in sectors such as finance, IT, services, research and development, business analytics. We base the development of the city, among others on intelligent management and strengthening the sector of modern services and research and development. That is why we focus on innovation and effective cooperation between science, business and local government.