By: Graham Walker
[Irvine, CA | July 11, 2025] — The Indie Game Creator Connect Stage, hosted by the Leading Entrepreneur Alliance (LEA) and leading venture capital firm Sunstone Management, took place on July 11 at Sunstone’s Irvine headquarters. Focused on independent game innovation and cross-border creative exchange, the event drew nearly 100 participants, including indie game developers, startup founders, tech investors, and interactive design professionals. The event attracted executives and investors from LACI(Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator), UpHonest Capital, Upfront Ventures, and Fika Ventures, as well as professionals from EA, Riot Games, Amazon Games, Nintendo, Sony Games, and Blizzard Entertainment. The gathering was met with enthusiastic feedback from attendees and marked another milestone in LEA’s commitment to fostering a globally connected entrepreneurship ecosystem.
As one of LEA’s key annual events, the showcase featured carefully selected game development teams from within its membership. These featured creators were chosen based on product readiness, creative originality, and strong growth potential. The afternoon opened with a welcome address by Jasmine Jiang, SVP of Investment Operations at Sunstone Management, who emphasized the value of indie games as a vehicle for cultural and technological innovation. Charles Hu, Chairperson of LEA and CMO of cleantech firm Reverse Energy Solutions, followed with opening remarks. He reaffirmed LEA’s mission to serve early-stage founders by connecting them with capital, talent, and strategic support. The collaboration with Sunstone, he noted, reflects LEA’s goal of leveraging capital to empower its member companies to scale faster, access global opportunities, and build long-term success.
(Chao Hu, President of Leading Entrepreneur Alliance, giving the speech on behalf of the Host Organization)
The program was structured into two main components: Demo Showcases and a Panel Sharing Session, both of which spotlighted original IPs, technical depth, and narrative experimentation.
During the Demo session, two projects drew strong interest from both the audience and investors. Tale of Time, developed by Nix Du (Congzhou Du) and Alex Wang (Tianyou Wang), is an unorthodox puzzle game that weaves 4,000 years of Chinese history into a compelling time-traveling adventure. Using the mystical concept of the BaGua, players shift through history by factors of 8, 64, 512, and beyond, solving puzzles that explore cultural heritage and intergenerational identity.
The second demo, Petch: Bone Quest, presented by Gianna Zhan’s team, is a location-based mobile game that gamifies real-life pet care. Inspired by Pokémon GO and social board games, users earn “bone points” by walking their dogs, visiting dog parks, and interacting with real-world pet venues. The game also incorporates AI-driven companion features via “Mochi AI” to deepen emotional engagement and daily companionship between pet owners and their animals.
(The project was presented to investors and entrepreneurs on-site.)
The panel discussion brought further depth to the creative dialogue. Haoyun Zhang, creator of Letgo: Balloon, opened the session by introducing his poetic, physics-based narrative experience, in which players embody a drifting red balloon as it traverses cityscapes and human emotion. The project was praised for its unique approach to loneliness, beauty, and transience in interactive form.
The second panel featured Junpu Yang (CEO) and Yao Lu (COO) of Chatwo, who presented Soul’s Journey, a VR social adventure designed for Western Gen Z and young adult players. With immersive visuals and dynamic flight mechanics, the game fosters emotional connection through virtual collaboration and exploration, earning comparisons to “Sky: Children of the Light.”
The event concluded with a live playtesting and networking session. Investors, creators, and technologists connected informally, with many expressing strong interest in ongoing conversations with presenting teams. Several participants noted the event’s high quality of curation and the strength of the projects showcased, with many attendees inquiring about joining LEA and participating in future industry programs.
According to the organizers, similar events are already being planned for Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London, with a continued focus on vertical industry showcases and early-stage investor engagement.
“Independent games are more than products—they’re platforms of expression for the next generation,” said Charles Hu. “At LEA, we’re committed to building an open, global platform for creative founders to grow across cultures and borders. We welcome more creators, investors, and ecosystem partners to join us in building what’s next.”
The Indie Game Creator Connect Stage marked an important step in LEA’s expansion into the gaming and interactive media space, highlighting both the innovation of its member founders and the organization’s ability to convene capital, talent, and opportunity at scale.
