What we brought back from Mad Games Show

Back from Mad Games Show 2026

After two intense days in Madrid, we're back at the studio with a full notebook, a buzzing head, and one very clear idea: Mad Games Show has been a turning point for Krokanti Games. The event went well, really well. We met a lot of people, made dozens of contacts and, most importantly, we got a real sense of where our project actually sits within the Spanish video game ecosystem.

Let's be honest about one thing: we come from an industry that isn't the video game industry. Events like this are the ones that bring us closer to the people building the scene at a national and international level, and the ones that start putting us on the map as another player in this game. For an indie studio growing Padel Rivals, that kind of exposure is gold.

Business meeting at Mad Games Show 2026

The talks: high level and a dose of humility

The talks at Mad Games Show 2026 were genuinely interesting. From production and pitching publishers to last mile financing, design, and indie marketing. We took notes like there was no tomorrow.

What really hit us, though, was the IndieDevPlay floor: the games on show had brutal quality and polish. We walked out impressed and, at the same time, grounded. We realized without excuses that our game is still far from being ready to be shown as a finished product. Rather than discouraging us, that realization helped us sharpen our focus.

Talk at Mad Games Show 2026

MeetToMatch: publishers, investors, and last mile financing

The real core of the event, for us, was the MeetToMatch business meetings. Across two days we sat down with:

• National and international publishers with experience in sports and arcade games.
• Investors looking for indie studios with a clear, differentiated pitch.
• Last mile financing partners, crucial when you need to close a project with real guarantees.

From all of them we got feedback of invaluable value. On what we're doing well and, above all, on what we're not doing so well. It gave us a lot to think about on the drive home. Listening to people who have spent years shipping games, backing studios, and deciding what actually reaches the market is the kind of input you can't buy in any course.

Quick reminder: the single most useful thing you can do to support us right now is add Padel Rivals to your Steam wishlist. Every wishlist moves us closer to publishers, investors, and a better spot on the store. It's free, it's one click, and it helps us a lot.

MeetToMatch meetings at Mad Games Show 2026

A new direction: quality, arcade feel, and Padel Rivals for everyone

On the way back, and in the days after, we've been going through all that feedback, the real state of the project, our timelines, and what we can realistically deliver. And we've made some important calls. We're shifting the focus of Padel Rivals. Here are the pillars:

• Quality over speed. We're dropping the "let's ship as soon as possible" mindset to build a padel video game that can stand next to the best titles we saw on the show floor.
• Lean harder into arcade. Without giving up the rules and foundations of padel, we're pushing the game to be fun, competitive, and accessible, built for padel fans and for any player who enjoys a solid multiplayer experience.
• Fix the foundations first. Polishing what we already have and fixing what we know is shaky before scaling new features.
• Get to a private demo as soon as possible. Real player feedback is gold, and we want it sooner rather than later.

In practice, you'll see changes in our production rhythm: fewer flashy announcements, more deep work under the hood. It also means that when we show Padel Rivals again, it'll be something we're genuinely proud to put in front of people.

Thanks to Mad Games Show (and to everyone who pushed us)

Thanks to AEVI, DEV, the Mad Games Show team, and the MeetToMatch crew for running an event that actually works. And a special thanks to every publisher, investor, and fellow developer who sat down with us and told us the hard truths. Honest, tough feedback is the best gift you can give an indie studio.

We're leaving Madrid with our homework cut out. Time to close the studio door and get back out there when we have something truly worth showing.

Follow the journey

If you want to stay close to this new chapter of Padel Rivals:

• Add Padel Rivals to your Steam wishlist
• Join our Discord
• Follow us on Instagram

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See you on the courts. Next time you spot us in our Padel Rivals hoodie, the game will be one step closer to what we want it to be.

The Krokanti Games Team